First Palo Alto United Methodist Church

Sika is proud to announce that the First United Methodist Church restoration project won the 2020 ICRI Award of Merit in the Special Projects category! We are honored to continue to be acknowledged by ICRI for our project submissions. To learn more about the awards Sika has won, click here!

The church was established in Palo Alto in 1894. The original building wasa traditional white stucco house of worship building. This small church underwent several additions between 1896-1914. During 1948 and 1952 the building was enlarged and remodeled due to congregation size continuing to grow.

In 1957, the congregation recognized the need for a larger and more modern building. In addition, they wanted the new church to be a place where the community could meet for musical and cultural events. The church selected Carlton Arthur Steiner of Berkeley as the architect who helped them design a “Contemporary Gothic” style building which was nontraditional and architecturally impressive. The general contractor was Theo G. Meyerand Sons of San Francisco. The building process took two years and cost approximately $1,350,000 to finish.

The construction of the new building included 19 poured-in-place concrete columns that extend from beneath the basement-level upward and meet 73 feet above the main aisle. Other basic structural elements were also poured in place. The roof panels, however, were precast. 1,500 small glass windows were installed from a high interior scaffold. Inside, the face of the church balcony was undulated to improve the acoustics. Circular lighting fixtures, made of spun steel with a brass finish, weigh 600 lbs andwere bolted to the roof.

In addition to worship services, the use of the building includes weddings, concerts, memorials, youth activities, etc. The wear and tear of the building over the years prompted the congregation to make a major investment to improving ongoing structural issues to the building.

Due to weathering and aging, the building was experiencing water leaks in more than 50 different locations. A series of buckets would be strategically placed before a rainstorm to mitigate additional damage to the building until repairs could be made. It was determined that the leaks were caused by the failure of the wet seal at the stained-glass windows’ as well as cracked and spalled concrete. In addition, many of the stained-glass windows were cracked requiring replacement before the wet seal could be installed. Further investigation revealed the building’s concrete façade had experienced cracking and spalling caused primarily by insufficient concrete cover over the steel reinforcement. The roof membrane under the tile had also beganto fail.

The congregation agreed to take steps to repair the building to mitigate further damage. This work included replacing the wet seal of all the windows, replacing the cracked colored glass, repairing the spalled concrete, sealing the façade cracks, repairing the failed membrane under the roof tiles, coating the façade, and installing urethane deck coating at the podium.

See the complete list of Sika products used on the First United Methodist Church!