El Presidio de Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara Contractors Association 2006 Award for Outstanding Craftsmanship by a Subcontractor

The construction of realistic Mission era Roof Framing for a new adobe building was this project's scope of work. The newly reconstructed two-room building at El Presidio de Santa Barbara, built on existing sandstone foundations, will be used as the Presidio Visitor Center. This unique framing project required the use of authentic materials and detailing to match the original Presidio construction.

The unique materials used presented some of the special challenges of the project. The rafters were yellow pine poles or vigas that were naturally tapered and bent, certainly not "run of the mill" lumber. Each individual pole had to be carefully fit into place, taking care to maintain a head and tail diameter consistent with those seen elsewhere in the Presidio complex. The pine pole rafters appear to be fastened using only rawhide strap ties. These un-tanned straps were truly authentic in both appearance and smell. They retained the animal hair on the outside surface and some of the animal flesh on the inside, so had to be refrigerated until use.

Building code and seismic requirements were a bit more relaxed in 1700's. This re-creation had to meet current building code and seismic requirements, but in a concealed manner. This required the installation of several types of unusually difficult internal connections.

The 18th Century roofing system of clay tile over a layer of adobe mud required continuous support. This support was provided by a layer of green bamboo-like canes, which in this case was actually an exotic weed- Arundo donax. Fitting round canes onto round pole rafters to make a flat roof plane was another of the special challenges of this job. To meet building code requirements and provide a more consistent surface for the tile roof, a layer of plywood roof sheathing was installed over the entire pole rafter/ arundo cane/adobe plaster assembly.

This historically accurate re-creation of one of Santa Barbara's very first buildings made this a project we are very proud to have helped construct.