First phase of T.C. Walker House renovations completed

The first phase of renovations to the T.C. Walker House on Main Street in Gloucester has been completed, according to Bob Baer, a project manager for Mark Turner Construction.

“The only thing that we are lacking right now is handrails for two added brick stairs which is probably about three weeks off right now,” said Baer. “Everything else is complete. I think we will be pulling the construction trailer out of there next week.”

One of the things that needed to be done to the home was raising the house.

Baer said that the house has to be raised not only to put in a new foundation but also to receive new mechanical systems (air conditioning and heating).

Some of the other renovations that Baer said were completed included repairing the framing and windows, installing a new roof, put on new siding and replacing the downstairs floor deck flooring. Materials used were at the direction of The Livas Group, which were the architects for the project.

Baer said that they did not use wood, rather that Hardie Board (a cement product that mimics wood) was used for the siding. He also said that asphalt shingles were on the roof before and were replaced with new asphalt shingles. The porch roof was also asphalt shingles and was replaced with a metal roof, which was what it was originally. The windmill also remains and the windows on the house are the original windows.

“The windows are all the same, they were just restored,” said Baer. “We reglazed them and put new counterweight pulleys on them and made them all operable, so they all open and close.”

Other parts of the home that are original include the main entry doors and the main superstructure of the house. Everything inside of the home is also all still original.

“We just replaced everything that was rotten,” he said.

This first phase of the project took about seven months to complete.

“We had some weather delays, but it’s been about seven months from beginning to end,” said Baer.

The T.C. Walker House Preservation Project will soon move on to the next phase of the project.

“The house is currently a shell inside,” said Baer. “It’s ready for what we are going to call phase two.”

Baer said that they were the contractors for the exterior work.

“Our portion of the contract was just the exterior and to make it weather-tight and sealed up so the second phase can go,” he said.

Baer said that the next phase would include adding a new HVAC system, new electrical, new plastering and new finishes on the inside.

The T.C. Walker House was the home of Walker, a lawyer, county supervisor and a school superintendent who was enslaved prior to the Civil War. The house was built around 1880 and was donated to Hampton University in 1977. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

 Author: Ruby Williams, Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal