Wash House Repairs

During the summer of 2023, the Preservation team uncovered rot in the door surround of the 18th-century wash house on the south lane. The issue was uncovered during a routine inspection undertaken after removing paint from the east (or lane) side of the building. Once the door surround and several siding boards were removed for repair, additional rot was found in the sill—the lowest horizontal member of the frame that sits directly on the foundation—and the door posts, and it was discovered that the vertical wall frame members were not securely attached to the sill.

The assessment determined that a portion of the sill needed to be replaced. This part of the sill was, in fact, an earlier repair from the 1940s. In addition, the vertical framing members needed to be attached to the sill. The replacement of this sill and its connections mirrored the work that will be carried out on the Mansion (where the original sills were removed and replaced by brick early in the 20th century) during the upcoming Mansion Revitalization Project. The wash house repairs gave the Preservation team a chance to practice, on a smaller scale, the work they will complete on the Mansion.