Wright Chat

By the way ... I like the temporary solution of the red rail to the balcony parapet. For this Wright "purist" it's a creative continuation out of Wright's later career moves. You could do a lot worse with something else. Will be interested to see what the permanent solution is.

One of the features at this house that I vividly remember was at the entrance. There is a planter that extends both inside and outside the glass wall to the right of the door. It just so happens that the limestone edge on the planter is at the exact height necessary to seat and put on your booties!

I know Wright was prescient, but did he see Wright & Like tours in Greenberg's future?

New to the chat room. It is kind of nervous and humbling to hear people talking about the house and our work. I have found it to be a healthy sounding board.

I wish the railing was not such a focal point. I never wanted it to attract attention. There is a long and somewhat interesting story behind it if one wants to hear it. It has been a moss green color for 4 years now.

I was very surprised at Wientraub's penmanship on the house. Clearly he was never here. The clerestory windows can be seen in one photo, look at the far upper right corner . Very interesting story on that book as well, it might explain the confusion.

I have a theory on the master bedroom fireplace but only an educated guess.

I couldn't comment on this site without mentioning my appreciation and admiration for the effort and patience John has shown towards us. A very good man to throw ideas past.

I am not on the chat as much as I like but always feel free to ask questions. I will try to post some updated photos now that the 2014 Wright/like tour is done.

Dave

I was not ignoring the 2013 questions about the SCJ Research Tower. I don’t visit Chat regularly and had not read this thread until just now, after our visit there Saturday during Wright and Like.
John, the tower did not close because of building codes, but it could not reopen for fulltime use because it was no longer grandfathered in. Ironically the building proposed by Dr. J.V. Steinle, the R&D director, is very much like the old St. Mary’s Hospital building into which SCJ’s R&D moved in 1981. Steinle’s building allowed for expansion, Wright’s did not. The company began to outgrow the tower quickly. The carport became the “carport labs� in 1957, just seven years after the tower opened.

Wright had wanted two (small) elevators and two (small) staircases. Steinle overruled him to get a larger elevator and stairs. The stairs are narrower than code, but the company got a variance for them. An employee made an unspecified safety complaint to the state in 1968. The state asked the company to look at ways to modify the tower, acknowledging that SCJ was grandfathered in on the variance on the stairs. Plans were drawn at TAA for an external staircase. That was not done. Firewalls, which disrupted the open floor circulation, were installed in the 1970s (but removed during the recent restoration project).

The building is open for tours for the first time thanks to a newly-granted local building department variance which allows for groups of no more than 25 in temporary occupancy (tours).

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =1&theater

I hoped this clean-up would link correctly. Not sure what the problem is.

I am confident the problem is us. I still am unsure how to get the photo to post on the site. Perhaps Facebook is not the proper venue.

Are other readers seeing the image ?

I haven't posted from Facebook. Your images must be "hosted" before they are posted, and Facebook presumably does the hosting -- providing an online address for each photo.

I tried removing the S from https, as that is sometimes advised.

You may e-mail me your images if you like, and I'll post them for you.

SDR

Owner Dave sends this new photo of the house:





Here's an example of brickwork without raked joints; it doesn't seem to suffer at all from that choice.

SDR

Dave, it really is looking fantastic! Thanks for sharing...

Are these Norman bricks (11 9/16" long)? I might be wrong, but I think the joints are raked:
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It appears that all joints, both horizontal and vertical, are tooled; the bed joints certainly aren't deeply raked as Wright often specified. Every Wright house seems to have its own version of brickwork. I believe the most commonly seen is a raked joint at least 3/8" deep. 1/2" is perhaps the preferred dimension, based on what I see in photos from all periods.

Here's Baird, an interesting prewar example:




What is the rake at Lamberson, Peter ?

SDR

About 3/8" to 1/2":

Wall caps are one thing; I find it hard to believe that the face of a brick wall could receive enough infiltration from deep raking to structurally degrade the wall. But I haven't seen everything, by a long shot.

It's a pleasure to see the Greenberg house receive its due. That mahogany sure looks great. It would be fun to learn what process was used to create the dentil detail on the eave. Wright's "dotted lines" are dandy, even away from the desert. The rowlock course and the dentil molding complement each other nicely; they enliven the drawings and the construction identically, it seems.

It must be such a pleasure to take part in a project like this one . . .for all involved.

SDR

I think one of the main problems is water sitting on top of the flush head joint. With the freeze thaw cycle, the head joint will pop off, creating the opportunity for even more moisture to enter. (probably not a problem in California...)

http://www.masonryconstruction.com/bric ... oints.aspx

That's an admirably clear description of the issues.

It would be interesting to know how different masons working on Wright's jobs (for instance) have understood and dealt with those problems. Is there a reason the bed joint can't be compressed during or after raking, to seal the joint better ? Is it always necessary to wait before cleaning the recess of excess mortar ?

Can the head joint be reduced in width, and perhaps buttered with something other than mortar -- a synthetic adhesive substance like silicone, for instance ? I assume that almost all of the strength of the wall is in the bed joints.

Has anyone looked for such a solution ? (This wouldn't apply to an addition to existing brickwork, of course.) The mortar and the synthetic would have to be compatible; the synthetic might want to be fast-drying so as to be firm before the bed joint is raked . . .

SDR