Article

Building 22 Windows Restoration

Building 22 from the front. It is made from grey brick, has a sign saying “USS Constitution Museum” over the door, and has 27 windows visible. Several of these windows are in disrepair, with chipping paint.
USS Constitution Museum, March 2024.

Student Conservation Association photo, M. Lin.

One of the ongoing projects of the Student Conservation Association's Massachusetts Historic Preservation Corps (SCA HPC) is to repair and restore the windows of Building 22—part of the USS Constitution Museum—in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Rather than simply replacing the windows, repairing them preserves the historic material of the building and creates less waste. The project began in 2020 and will continue until all windows in the building have been restored.

Site History

A black and white photo giving a view of the Charlestown Navy Yard from above. In the midground is a dry dock with a navy ship. Behind it and to the left is Building 22. Several industrial buildings are throughout the Navy Yard.
A historic photo of the dry dock in use. Building 22 is visible to the left.

Boston National Historical Park, BOSTS-S772-2

Building 22, built in 1832, was designed by architect and engineer Alexander Parris.[1] Parris also designed several other Navy Yard structures. Building 22 served as the pumphouse for the Navy Yard's first dry dock, as well as the machine shop and blockmaker's shop.[2] In 1976, after the closure of the Navy Yard, Building 22 became home to the USS Constitution Museum.[3]

Project Overview

As wooden windows age, they degrade over time, requiring the paint and any damaged or rotting wood to be replaced. This is to both ensure that the windows do not have any further degradation, and to prevent water damage to the surrounding structure. Although replacing the old wooden windows with new, vinyl windows is a possibility, preservationists typically prefer to repair the existing wooden frame rather than replace it entirely. This practice keeps as much of the original building's material intact as possible. It also is more eco-friendly since it avoids replacing natural material with plastic.

Over 20 windows have been restored to date, with the 2024 Historic Preservation Corps crew having restored 9 of Building 22's windows.

Window with all the paint either chipping off or entirely missing. The visible wood is weathered and grey. The glass panes are four horizontal by three vertical. Window with all the paint either chipping off or entirely missing. The visible wood is weathered and grey. The glass panes are four horizontal by three vertical.

Left image
One of the windows BEFORE restoration. March - April 2024.
Credit: Student Conservation Association photo, M. Lin

Right image
One of the windows AFTER restoration. March - April 2024.
Credit: Student Conservation Association photo, N. Kinni

Preservation Efforts

Due to decades of exposure to the elements, most of Building 22's windows were in rough shape, with heavily chipped paint, rotting wood, and cracked glass. Reversing the damage to the windows every few decades is vital to ensuring the stability of both the windows themselves and the building as a whole. Recognizing this need, the Historic Preservation Corps has stepped in to preserve the windows.

The first step of the process was to remove the windows and bring them back to the Historic Preservation Corp's workshop. As the windows had been previously painted with lead paint, crew memers had to take special precautions to remove the windows. They laid down plastic sheeting around the windows and instituted proper cleanup procedures to prevent the spread of stray lead paint chips.

A Historic Preservation Corps member standing on a platform in front of a window, vacuuming it in preparation for removal. Around them the furniture and walls are covered with semi-clear plastic sheeting.
Crew member removing one of the windows. The crew used plastic sheeting to prevent lead paint chips from falling onto the floor and furniture. April 2024.

Student Conservation Association photo, R. Davis

Upon their arrival at the shop, the windows were organized and individually assessed for any specific repairs or replacement parts they needed.

A closeup of the bottom right corner of one of the windows. Most of the wood is dark brown and heavily weathered. The bottom rail, the bottom portion of the left stile, and some of the muntin bars have been replaced by newer, brighter tan wood.
A dutchman repair is a repair in which parts of the window that are too rotted or damaged are cut off and replaced with newly cut pieces of wood.

Student Conservation Association photo, N. Kinni

The crew removed the lead paint using paint scrapers and heat guns, wearing proper equipment—such as respirators and safety goggles—to prevent lead contamination. After they stripped the paint and removed the glass panes, crew members made any necessary wood repairs. Smaller holes were filled with wood filler. More intense damage, such as rotting wood, required the crew to make dutchman repairs, in which the original, damaged area of wood is cut off and replaced with a newly-cut piece of wood matching the original frame.

Five crew members working on windows. All of them are wearing protective gear such as respirators, gloves, safety glasses, and aprons, and using tools such as scrapers and vacuums.
Several crew members scraping and sanding glaze and lead paint off of the windows. In the bottom right, the windows are placed on a downdraft table, which sucks up any paint chips or dust.

Student Conservation Association photo, M. Kaiser

After they completed all wood repairs, crew members cut replacement glass and secured the panes to the wooden frame using metal fasteners and glaze, a clay-like material that hardens over time. Once the glaze dried, crew members painted the windows with one coat of primer and two topcoats before bringing the windows back to the site for reinstallation.

A closeup of a window with two crew members working on it. The window has freshly applied glaze on it, connecting the glass to the muntin bars. The crew members are each holding a putty knife and smoothing out the glaze.
Two crew members applying new glaze to the windows, smoothing them out with putty knives. April 2024.

Student Conservation Association photo, A. Lueth

Contributed by: Greg Bsales, SCA Historic Preservation Corps Crew Member

Footnotes

[1] Stephen P. Carlson, Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study vol. 1. Boston, MA: Division of Cultural Resources, Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, 2010, 38. NPS History.

[2] Stephen P. Carlson, Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study vol. 1. Boston, MA: Division of Cultural Resources, Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, 2010, 33-38, 60. NPS History.

[3] Stephen P. Carlson, Charlestown Navy Yard Historic Resource Study vol. 1. Boston, MA: Division of Cultural Resources, Boston National Historical Park, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, 2010, 177. NPS History.

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Boston National Historical Park

Last updated: September 5, 2024