VERSATEX Trimboard Historic Restoration and Preservation
Whether you’re restoring a national landmark or refurbishing an early 19th century church to its original Greek/Gothic Revival style, VERSATEX cellular PVC trim is your product of choice. VERSATEX provides the beauty and fine craftsmanship that you admire in a premium wood trim while providing the durability and protection against the forces of nature that architects are demanding of all exterior building products. VERSATEX cellular PVC can be easily shaped, milled and moulded to replicate the style of any historical wood profile. Many historical preservationists have approved the use of VERSATEX to replace traditional wood designs in order to maintain theauthenticity and original appearance of a historic building.
Kinsman Presbyterian Church Project
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Historic Church Replicates the 1800’s with High-Tech VERSATEX PVC Trim
Drawings from Library of Congress Help Contractors Reconstruct Unique Spire
Kinsman, OH — Not every contractor is ready to tackle such an ambitious project as historic church restoration. But with help from technical experts at a local millwork design and manufacturing shop, an experienced restoration contractor, a manufacturer of low-maintenance building materials, and a faithful congregation, miracles are happening at the Kinsman Presbyterian Church in Kinsman, Ohio.
Stratton Creek Wood Work in Kinsman was asked to reconstruct the entire top of the church and restore it to its original 1800’s splendor, including spires, railing and gingerbread. They knew, because of the unique designs, they needed a material that was easy to machine and bend, and that would last well into the future – preserving the authentic historic church building and protecting the church members’ important investment.
In the early 19th century, wood was the only available material for construction of this nature. Today, however, wood need not be the obvious choice. VERSATEX, a leading manufacturer of PVC trim and sheet products that are long-lasting, low-maintenance alternatives to wood, is doing their best to offer both innovative products and technical support that will help contractors make the transition from wood to alternative products.
“We do a lot of intricate restoration work, and started using cellular PVC for our outside work about 4 years ago,” says Bill Sandrock, Stratton Creek Wood Work president. “We tried a couple of brands, but switched to VERSATEX because it’s a denser product with fewer voids.” He went on to say, “To get to the thickness of the wood panels we’re replacing, we laminate the PVC sheet to give us the thickness we need. Some other products we tried were a bit on the thin side and VERSATEX has always been a consistent thickness. And it glues up better as well.”
VERSATEX is building a reputation in the industry for their product knowledge and techniques for the intricacies of working with PVC trim and sheet products. In this case, the millwork company led the way with new techniques and processes that Versatex had not yet tried. “We pride ourselves on both the level of technical information we have developed for working with PVC products in the field, and the real-time access we offer to millwork shops and contractors,” says John Pace, VERSATEX president. “On this job, as intricate as it was, the millwork shop showed us a few things we hadn’t thought possible before.”
The Kinsman Presbyterian Church project took over a year to get organized and funded, and is really a testament to the persistence and dedication of a whole host of people — members of the congregation and professionals in the building trade. A complete photographic history of the project is available, as well as a copy of the original architect’s drawing from the Library of Congress.
Contact information is available for those people who were most involved with this project, including the church leadership, members of the community, and the building contractor. Should you require follow-up information about this story, we would be pleased to help make those introductions.