Baptist church gets stained glass repairs

Aug 19, 2015 at 12:22 am by Observer-Review


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Baptist church gets stained glass repairs

DUNDEE--The Dundee Baptist Church completed a project to repair some of their stained glass windows last week. The total project focused on four windows in the church, along with the windows located in the building's tower, costing approximately $32,000 total. The project is taking some two weeks to complete. The work includes the large window facing Seneca Street and a smaller window to its left, along with the two windows directly across from it.
Chris Dieter, project supervisor with Bovard Studio Inc. of Fairfield, Iowa, said they had a four man crew working on the windows, replacing mismatched or broken glass pieces. Dieter added the contract also called for a new protective storm window covering, as the old coverings were not functioning well. Dieter noted it is important to have proper ventilation as well, or else condensation can form, which will cause the lead in the stained glass window to decay faster. He said some of the lead is from the late 1800s.
"A good lifespan for a stained glass window is 100 years," Dieter said. "Some of these panels are due."
Dieter mentioned some wood restoration work also needed to be done, as the largest window had some rotten wood at the bottom. He said the wood damage was not included in the preliminary cost estimate for the window restoration, which was originally closer to $28,000. Dieter is also adding reinforcement bars to the windows in order to help hold them flat. This is not the first time Bovard has worked with the Dundee Baptist Church, with Dietar noting they did similar work in 2009 on the building's south side stained glass windows.
While Dieter noted his crew was replacing individual pieces, he added they were not redoing or replacing entire windows. He said there is a process called "releading" that involves tearing all pieces apart, cleaning them and putting them back together. To do this, Dieter said they first make a rubbing of the window once it is removed from the frame in order to record the pattern of the lead lines. He then would soak a window in water to soften the lead before tearing apart and washing each piece of glass. The window would then be reassembled on the rubbing using all new lead.
"They need [releading] but it's the money," Dieter said. "It is a very time consuming process."

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