The Earthquake, Aug. 23, 2011

On August 23, 2011, Central Virginia experienced an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale, considered a 100-year earthquake

Seven of our 182 churches in the Diocese sustained earthquake damage. Out of those, four have asked the Diocese for help in paying for the damages they incurred.

It would take almost  4 ½ years to repair and repay the costs of the earthquake at St. George’s – about $92,000

We did not have earthquake insurance. However, it takes damage over 10% of your building value for claims. The building was valued at $5,000,000 so it would have taken damages of $500,000 and above

We did add earthquake to our building policy. It is another considered peril added to building policy .

earthquakepicturesummary

 

Extent of the Damage

  1. Damage to two outside chimneys. Their stability was compromised.
  2. Cracks above the center aisle door in the Narthex.
  3. Cracks on the arches, beams and ceiling areas within the church.
  4. Debris around and inside the Parson Organ, completed in 2009.
  5. Touchup needed for the decorative paint which was a part of our renovation 2007-2009.
  6. Nail popping issues in Faulkner Hall.
  7.  

Expenses

Contractors

  1. Herlong and Associates. In September, 2011, we paid $2,220 for Herlong and Associates (architects) to investigate cracks in the Nave/Narthex walls. A month later we paid $250 to  Magic Touch Painting to repair some nail popping issues in Faulkner Hall that were blamed on the earthquake. The room had just been renovated.
  1. Daniel and Company – After the August, 2011 earthquake the Church signed a contract with Daniel & Company, Inc. on October 14, 2011 for  the main earthquake repair work to the Church.  The Daniel contract was for $78,000 for outside and inside work.  

The following was the scope of work:

Area of church

Interior/Exterior

Description

Narthex

Interior

center aisle door

Nave

Interior

opposite side of wall to center aisle door

Nave

Interior

column at west (rear) wall

Nave

Interior

ceiling/wall joint under Gallery at west wall

Nave

Interior

wall above arch at the Chancel

Nave

Interior

crack at underside of southeast arch

Nave

Interior

crack at northeast box beam

Nave

Interior

repair water damaged plaster at south wall of Chancel

Nave

Interior

ceiling near northwest window

Gallery

Interior

wall and cornice joint on south wall at H.C. lift.

Gallery

Interior

ceiling above west wall return grille.

Gallery

Interior

ceiling box beam at northwest corner

Gallery

Interior

column at west (rear) wall

Gallery

Interior

plaster crack at ceiling

North Chimney

Exterior

remove and rebuild the chimney down to the stone cap at the bottom of the arches

South Chimney

Exterior

repoint the cracked and deteriorated mortar joints.

North Chimney and South Chimney

Exterior

Painting North and South Chimney

Narthex

Interior

Mason repair

The cost breakdown was as follows:

Cost Breakdown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXTERIOR

 

 

INTERIOR

 

Total

Superintendent

            2,250

 

 Superintendent

            2,250

            4,500

Telephone

                 75

 

 Telephone

                 75

               150

Barricades

               410

 

 Barricades

            1,200

            1,610

Trucking

               400

 

 Trucking

               400

               800

Scaffolding

            7,540

 

 Scaffolding

            5,315

          12,855

 

 

 

 

 

 

Masonry

 

 

 Plaster

 

 

North Chimney

          10,000

 

 Plaster Patching

            9,470

          19,470

South Chimney

            1,500

 

 Ornamental Plaster

            1,050

            2,550

Painting – Chimneys

            1,150

 

 Painting

            5,000

            6,150

 

 

 

 Decorative Painting

 

                  –  

 

 

 

 Mason Reconstruction

            2,500

            2,500

Slate Shingles Leak

            5,000

 

 

 

            5,000

Slate Shingles T&M

            7,300

 

 

 

            7,300

 

 

 

 Temporary Protection

               470

               470

 

 

 

 Travel

               100

               100

Site Restoration

               210

 

 Job Site Cleanup

               550

               760

Total

        35,835

 

 Total

        28,380

        64,215

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Labor

 

            2,637

 

 

 

Va. State Sales Tax

 

               237

 

 

 

Overhead

0.12

            8,051

 

 

 

Fee

0.03

            2,254

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Builders Risk

 

               232

 

 

 

Indemnification

 

               233

 

 

 

Business License

 

               124

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

        77,983

We did an intense investigation of the church just after the event to understand what had happened and the extent of the damage.

The final Daniel cost was less than anticipated at $65,204 so that it was accurately projected. The assumptions of the extent of the work were correct.  We were able to schedule it so that it had a limited impact over the life of church.  The beneficiaries of the work was the church – for safety in securing the chimneys, for taking the time to understanding the extent of the damage and in the end for maintaining the church at the same level of repair as existed at the time of the end of the renovation in 2009.

Work began in the same month (Oct, 2011) for repairs the two chimneys in the rear of the church.   That work was completed first in early fall due to its critical nature. In December, 2011, work  to repair cracks above the center aisle door in the Narthex was begun. The remainder of the interior work was completed in July, 2012 after the program year concluded.

  1. Parsons Organ Builders. Another key area was the new Pipe organ built and maintained by Parsons Pipe Organ Builders. In 2011 they had cleaned the Festival Trumpet pipe due to particles in the pipe from the earthquake. We paid for some improvements to prevent this from happening again. We had to pay for covering and uncovering the organ during the Daniel interior renovation which was done in June and July, 2012. Robert B. Payne provided prep work for the process which involved capping off the exhaust duct.
  1. Thomas Moore. As part of the interior repairs, we hired Thomas Moore and Associates who created the decorative paint work during the renovation of the Church (2007-2009) to retouch the work.
  • Donations

The church received matching donations from 18 parishioners totaling $26,950

We received an unsolicited donation from the United Daughters of the Confederacy

Two grants from the Missionary Society Grant and Wall Foundation were part of an extensive calling and letter campaign through a number of Virginia foundations. We were disappointed with the number of rejections and non-responses.

The IRS refund health care costs was applied to the earthquake. This is a refund based on the Affordable Care Act of 2010, credits for small business employers who provide health care for their employers.

  1. Statement of the Project

Earthquake Relief

   
     

Expenses

 

(Paid), Received

Daniels & Co.

 

-65,204

Decorative Paint – Thomas Moore

 

-9,450

Herlong Architects

 

-2,220

Robert B. Payne – prep for organ repair

 

-550

Parsons – Festival Trumpet cleaning

 

-2,900

Parsons – Cover, Uncover Tune Organ for Daniels Repair

 

-11,030

 

Magic Touch Painting

 

-250

Misc

 

-27

     

Total Expenses

 

-91,631

     

Receipts

 

 

Diocese of Va

 

13,500

United Daughters Confederacy

 

100

IRS refund health care costs, 2010 tax year rec. 2011 applied to this account

5,290

Parishioner Donations

 

26,950

Missionary Society Grant

 

2,000

Wall Foundation

 

1,500

     

Total Receipts

 

49,340

     

NET

 

-42,291

 

 Update – We received another $5,902 in June, 2013 from the Diocese

Individual donations allowed us to pay all costs by the end of 2015