It didn’t take much to convince the
Garfields to take Shelt’s advice. “We decided
to take a leap and to trust what Greg was
recommending. He was like the calm in the
storm,” says Bari.
Patience and TLC
The couple dove into the restoration. The
first step, after getting the plumbing fixed:
Dry everything. ServPro handled this part
of the process. After an extreme water
event, it’s important to completely dry
out a house, otherwise mold can set in.
This is accomplished using industrial-sized
blowers and dehumidifiers and, depending
on the extent of the damage, can take days.
Companies like ServPro have meters to
detect how much water is in the wood and
walls and will continue drying until the levels
are acceptable.
Next came the demolition, also handled
by ServPro, but under the careful watch of
Shelt and the Garfields. “Usually they come
in with sledgehammers and all that,” says
Shelt. “But we asked them to take everything
out piece by piece.” That means the doors
and each and every piece of trim were
carefully removed by hand as was the original
hardware on each door.
It was evident that the wall between
the foyer and the dining room needed to
be replaced. “But they wanted to just tear
the wall out, including the plaster crown
molding, which wasn’t damaged at all. So
we had them cut it at the top and leave the
crown molding intact, then take out the wall
piece by piece as well,” explains Shelt.
Shelt then replaced the walls in the
foyer, the dining room, and the basement
40 SHAKERONLINE.COM | FALL 2014
closet, as well as the ceiling in the foyer and
the basement closet, and began the monthslong
process of restoring the woodwork.
“We took all the wood down to the
basement and started stripping it,” says
Shelt, whose staff includes several graduates
from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Next,
the wood was sanded by hand and stained to
match the original woodwork. “Then we put a
coat of polyurethane on it and put it all back
together, like a jigsaw puzzle.”
The floors on the first floor and the
basement were repaired and refinished.
While ServPro had recommended cutting out
significant sections of the home’s flooring,
in the end, after the wood had dried, only a
couple of pieces needed to be replaced. The
foyer’s sandstone floor was undamaged.
Last came insulating and finishing the
walls, which also took Shelt’s experience with
older Heights homes.
“The plaster in the foyer had a texture to
it, so we mimicked the texture in there,” he
explains. In the basement, the walls also had
a particular texture, which Shelt copied by
adding sand to the new plaster, then adding
extra layers of paint to match the original.
“Old plaster may have 15 layers of paint on it,”
Shelt says. Last, but hardly least, about half
the dining room was repainted by Romeo.
Lessons Learned
In all, the restoration took months, but
walking into the Garfield’s home today, you’d
never know that it had once been the scene
of a major water disaster. Only the French
door is missing, which is still being restored
in Shelt’s workshop near Taylor Road.
It’s an experience that, says Bari, has
given her plenty of perspective on what
it takes to both prevent and recover from
such an event. On the prevention side (see
sidebar below), the Garfields had always taken
precautions: insulating pipes, for example. But
having a boiler, they of course never turned
their water off entirely during the winter.
After the pipe burst, however, at the
suggestion of their plumber they added a
dedicated pipe that feeds water to the boiler,
which is mandatory for it to work, thanks
to today’s autorefill systems, but allows the
Garfields to shut the water off to the rest of
the house when they’re away.
Shelt also recommends this approach
to his clients, particularly if they travel
frequently during the winter. “If a pipe
bursts in the basement, it’s just the
basement. But if a pipe bursts somewhere
else, it’s not going to just flow,” he explains.
Indeed, if the pipe had burst on the
Outside:
Roof and chimney: Have a professional check for deterioration or loose
shingles on the roof, as well as the flashing around the chimney. Cleaning
the chimney and checking for bird nests are jobs for a professional. Make
sure that the damper opens and closes properly.
Gutters: Usually a job for a professional. Gutters must be free of debris
and properly pitched so that water can flow freely. This also helps prevent
ice dams.
Heinz Akers, the City of Shaker
Heights building commissioner,
offers some tips about what
a homeowner can do to help
avoid the catastrophes that can
occur in a home due to winter
weather. Some are simple
enough to DIY, others require
the services of a professional.
For contractors who advertise
with Shaker Life, check the
advertiser index on the last
page of the magazine.
Winterizing
Your
Home