Village Historic Mariemont Memorial Church Floor Undergoes Restoration

By Matthew Ayer

Previous articles have featured the following aspects of our Village’s landmark, nationally significant stone church building on Cherry Lane: its architect and general features of the building; symbolic elements; the original stone roof and its replacement; restoration of the church bell; the building’s masonry; and its metalwork. As the building approaches its 100th year of use dating to 1926, its owner, the Thomas J. Emery Memorial Foundation, recently sponsored restoration of the church’s original limestone floor.

When constructed, the Mariemont Company engaged the region’s finest stone mason, Otto Kadon and Company, and utilized limestone from a hillside quarry at the base of Indian Hill Road. This stone was cut into semi-regular blocks for the church’s main structure. The more complex designs of door, window trim and other features required a stone that could be chiseled onsite in every dimension. Oolitic limestone quarried in the Bedford, Indiana area was brought to Mariemont via rail for this more intricate stonework.

For the main church floor, the local limestone was quarried in slabs, then sawcut to a uniform thickness, but retaining natural randomness in shape, color, and size. Similar to a flagstone patio, the cut pieces were mortared in place atop a concrete base, as one giant jigsaw puzzle. Then the stone was polished to a more-or-less even surface.

After nearly 100 years of use, the floor remains in structurally excellent condition, but became severely pitted in places, most especially near entrances to the building. As explained by Mariemont resident and Professional Geologist Rick Boone, “Limestone is a sedimentary rock largely composed of calcium carbonate. While limestone can dissolve in slightly acidic rainwater, as the limestone caverns of Kentucky can attest, this is a rather slow process. However, the application of de-icing salts to melt snow and ice can result in limestone deterioration. As a porous rock, limestone allows melted snow and ice containing the de-icing salts in solution to penetrate the rock pores. When the water evaporates, the salt recrystallizes creating pressure and damaging the limestone (sub florescence). The damage can be seen in the spalling and pitting of the limestone.” Simply put, years of congregants tracking salt on their shoes in winter was the most likely cause of these pits.

Several contractors have looked at the floor over the years with no one interested in developing a suitable repair process until this winter when Browning Chapman offered to complete a test area for Emery Memorial’s approval. The company had experience with slate and travertine but had never restored a polished limestone floor. One of its co-owners, Gordon Chapman, expressed interest in the history of this National Historic Landmark building, its unusual floor, and he personally supervised the early mock-ups and color matches. They developed a process in a test area, then were commissioned to restore the aisleways and foyers throughout the building. On completion in late February, they responded to the following questions:

What was the overall goal of the project?

“As requested by Emery Memorial, we wanted to blend in with the 100-year-old floor, with part of its beauty being the variety and imperfections of the quarried/sawed/ polished limestone.”

What was the biggest challenge?

“Trying to match the varying colors of the floor. We learned a lot performing the trials before proceeding with the full-scale repairs. We completed six to eight mock-ups to perfect the process.”

What was the process, step by step?

“1. Survey the floor to identify which spalls/imperfections would be repaired.

2. Clean out the cavities and remove any loose or scaled pieces of stone.

3. Clean cavities with an acid cleaner and then neutralize.

4. Apply densifier to the surrounding stone.

5. Fill the larger/deeper cavities with a special epoxy with color added to match the surrounding stone. Epoxy was placed in multiple lifts depending on the depth of the cavity, then was screeded flush. We used 4 to 5 different colors and then we had to blend different colors together to try and match each individual stone because it seemed like no two stones were the same color.

6. Polish the stones and the patches all at once.

7. Apply a densifier and a semi-gloss finish material.”

Did the project meet your and Emery Memorial’s goals?

“The project was challenging, and we had to redo some areas multiple times while we learned the best repair procedures and color formulations. Emery Memorial wanted to maintain the character of the century-old floor but wanted to eliminate any trip hazards and severe defects. We had to survey the floor and repair only the larger spalled areas while leaving most of the small, natural imperfections as they were. Browning Chapman was honored to have the opportunity to be part of this project.”

This contractor successfully restored the floor to its natural variation while seamlessly repairing the spalling/pitting. The final finish provides protection from salt, and the plan is to use a compatible deicer into the future. It was a pleasure working with Browning Chapman from start to finish. They truly went the extra mile to meet the project objectives. When the work was inspected by Lee Carter, Chair of the Emery Memorial Board of Trustees, he expressed his usual standard of performance: “I believe that Mary Emery would approve.”

Matthew Ayer routinely conducts tours of the Memorial Church. Your family or group can contact him at 513-335-0059.

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