Reconstruction Day 2

Work onsite continued today as planned.  No more problems have been found with the reassembly process, although having to resize the holes in all of the panels is slowing down the reconstruction somewhat.  Despite this setback, the exterior front wall as well as five panels of each of the side walls were back in place by the end of today.  The roofing panels are also being put back in place as the side walls are put up.  This will help make the frame more sturdy and keep the wall panels in place.  MCC will return to campus tomorrow to continue work.

The partially reconstructed side wall with two window openings towards the front

A view inside--the wooden divisions between each of the panels are thermal spacers to prevent the steel  panels from touching one another.  These will not be visible once the interior walls are in place.

The first completed wall facing onto Mohegan Avenue with one of the partial side walls

The MCC crew hard at work reinstalling the exterior wall panels

One of the roof panels waiting to be put back in place

Reconstruction Day 1

Onsite reconstruction began today!  MCC returned to Connecticut College yesterday to unload materials and begin setting up and today started putting all the carefully restored parts back together.  So far they have rebuilt one exterior wall at the front of the house. All of the pieces are made to fit together perfectly, and watching the MCC crew reassemble the panels and bolt them into place allows you to imagine what the original construction of the house must have been like.  The panels look completely different now that they are repaired and repainted.  Unfortunately the layers of paint put on the panels made them very slightly thicker so larger holes had to be drilled in the base of each panel to enable them to be bolted to the foundation and all fit together properly.  It is amazing that such a small difference in the panel size could affect the fit of the joints, but it goes to show how precisely each of the parts was made and how snugly they all fit together.  This necessary adjustment caused a minor setback in the reconstruction since some of the panels that had already been put in place had to be taken down again to adjust the fit.  However, the wall was back up by the end of the day and the MCC crew will continue to make progress on reconstructing the exterior of the house throughout the week. 

It's great to see what all the restored pieces look like, and it will be very exciting to see them come back together!

The first completed wall at the end of day one

Attaching one of the exterior panels to the foundation.  Each of the exterior panels, seen here on the ground, has been placed around the perimeter of the foundation according to where it belongs in the wall.

Securing two of the panels together 

Photos by Doug Royalty

Ceiling panel skins and stiffeners have been replaced and the panel either repaired or replaced

Panel mock-ups of the interior paint system.  The walls will either be painted yellow or grey, and ceilings will be white

Stack of new wood spacers for roof and ceiling panels

Steel interior partition wall studs that have been treated and painted

Part of the trellis and hood that have been restored and reassembled

new thermal spacers with new joint covers attached

The final steps to the Steel House restoration are being completed by MCC.  The ceiling panel components have all been repaired or replaced as necessary and the panels are now in the process of being painted.

Most of the interior panels are still at the fabricator's shop for continuing work.  Mock-ups of the interior paint system have been done on several of the panels.

All the new thermal wood spacers for the ceiling panels have been manufactured. The new steel joint covers have been attached to the wooden thermal wall spacers.  They now await their final coating.

The steel beams used in the roof construction along with the steel studs used in the partition walls have been treated and repainted.

All of the trellis and hood assembly parts have been restored, including the trellis posts and bench seat which have been prefabricated to match the originals.  All of these components have been primed and painted.

The MCC crew should be returning to Connecticut College next week to begin work on the reconstruction.  It will be exciting to see all of the restored parts return to campus, and to watch Rusty be rebuilt!

Completed exterior panels sent out to be metalized and painted

New steel joint covers to be attached to wooden thermal spacers

Repaired and repainted woodwork for the house's interior

Hardware restored and polished and awaiting reassembly

The newly manufactured wooden trellis to replace the heavily damaged original

Garage hardware currently undergoing treatment 

Almost all of the necessary repairs to the Steel House have been completed!  All exterior panels have been fully repaired and they have been delivered to the workshop in Long Island where they will be blasted, metalized, primed, and receive their finishing coat.

The new steel joint covers for the replacement thermal spacers have also arrived at the MCC workshop.  they each need to be sized and attached to the fully-reparied wooden spacers.

Some of the interior wooden doors, frames, and trim needed restoration.  The bathroom and mechanical closet doors have been repaired and repainted, along with all the interior trim.  The associated hardware has also been cleaned and polished.

The trellis that originally sat near the front door needed extensive restoration.  In order to keep as much of the original house material as possible the hood that was originally over the front door is undergoing extensive treatment.  the trellis panels needed to be replaced, and have been recreated to replicate the originals.

The existing garage door hardware is receiving treatment to prepare it for reinstallation.  The restoration is in its final stages, and MCC should be back on site soon to start reassembly!

The new garage door that has been manufactured to replace the original 

A panels showing a seam repair with a new bottom flange 

The repaired and  reassembled thermal spacers with U-channels 

restoration work on interior woodwork--the bathroom and mechanical closet doors have been stripped of paint in preparation for the restoration process 

The new fireplace screen made to fit the original framing

The bathroom and kitchen fans, which have been restored. The Photo shows their various components before they were reassembled