HomeMy WebLinkAbout20200175 Boger Porch Renovation Supplental Information Zimbra amber.upton@saratoga-springs.org
Fwd: 41 George Street, Boger residence
From : Suzanne Singer Boger <sbsboger@g ma i l.com> Thu, Mar 18, 2021 05:02 PM
Subject : Fwd: 41 George Street, Boger residence 1 attachment
To : amber upton <amber.upton@saratoga-springs.org>
Cc :Amanda Tucker <amanda.tucker@saratoga-springs.org>
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Amber please see below. I had the wrong email address for you in the first email.
Suzanne Singer Boger
*Please pardon errors and odd autocorrects! Thank you.
Begin forwarded message:
From: Suzanne Singer Boger <SBSBoger@gmail.com>
Date: March 18, 2021 at 4:47:18 PM EDT
To: Amanda Tucker <amanda.tucker@saratoga-springs.org>
Cc: john.donnelly@saratoga-springs.org, amber.upton@saratogasprings.org,
"John W. Boger" <jwb@hrfmlaw.com>
Subject: 41 George Street, Boger residence
Hi Amanda,
Pursuant to my phone call with you on 3/16 and my husband, John's, discussions
with Jack Donnelly, I am writing to provide the info you requested re: our roof.
We purchased 41 George Street slightly over a year ago in a decades-long dream
to live in and restore an historic home in Saratoga Springs. As you know, we did
anticipate the need to address the roof from our initial home inspection by Rich
Martin (former long-time Chair of the DRC) prior to the purchase of our home
when he deemed the roof"at the end of its life." (as discussed and inspection
material provided in first DRC meeting) So in order to garner more knowledge
from additional professionals about the roof's status and its impact on our
historical home we spent several months soliciting additional counsel on this
matter. Please see attached that information:
1)We purposely did our original inspection by widely respected and past long-term
chair of DRC, Rich Martin, given his extensive experience with historical
preservation in Saratoga both on DRC and as an independent contractor on many
historic homes in Saratoga, including several gems on the North Broadway
corridor. (As referenced above)
2) We engaged Karl V. Sbardella to come access the roof from Fair Haven,
Vermont and owner of Sardella Slate Inc. Karl is a widely respected slate roof
specialist through the northeast. Upon inspection of the roof, he agreed with Rich
Martin and stated that"The existing slate roof has met its life expectancy due to
being soft/'punky' and the lack of underlayment and over-all condition." Further
Karl said that simply"repairing it would not guarantee against leaks and ongoing
issues" or protect the historic structure. Lastly, Karl told us in conversation at the
time of inspection that it would be impossible to recreate the original pattern as
those colors of slate were not currently available to be mined in modern times and
that much of the patterning was a result of coincidental fading over more than
century.
3) We also engaged SB Engineering PLLC Structural Solutions to access the roof
from an engineering perspective. Scott Burlingame, Professional Engineer,
informed us that the roof structure is framed with 2x6 rafters spaced at 20 in and
that rafter size and spacing would be "undersized" based on current design
practices and building codes. "Furthermore, the addition of insulation within the
home (required to meet the current energy codes) will lead to an increased snow
load on the existing roof and increase the stress on the existing rafters." Mr.
Burlingame concluded that for safety and to protect the structure we should
"consider removing the existing slate roofing and replacing the material with a
lighter weight roof, such as asphalt shingles."
You may recall just prior to Christmas we had an almost 3 foot snow storm
followed quickly by a 3+ in rainfall. The home had extensive leaks and concerns
and we had just literally spent our savings on the restoration of our historic home.
Having already received the above referenced professional assessments and the
fact we were trying to save this historic house, we had an emergent and highly
time sensitive need to move quickly.
-I did call the City of Saratoga Springs, NY two times between Christmas and New
Year's in the hopes of getting emergent guidance. I left 2 messages on the main
city voicemail because I didn't know who to contact or how to reach anyone
during the holiday; but received no response.
-As time was of the essence we hired a highly reputable roofing company who has
completed multiple projects within the historic district, including ones in which
other homeowners were approved by DRC and the City to replace the roof from
slate to asphalt.
-In doing so we also followed the recommendations of the roofing
company as well as other homeowners we spoke to in the historic district whom
the DRC recently approved a roof replacement with asphalt, and utilized the same
architectural shingles that are have been repeatedly approved by DRC/City of
Saratoga Springs in order to maintain architectural historic integrity.
After spending years searching for our family's perfect historical home in Saratoga
Springs to preserve and make our (rest of) forever home, we have been
conscientious and meticulous in saving 41 George Street. We have followed the
DRC mandates without exception. During our original DRC zoom meeting a board
member even expressed appreciation and complemented us on how nice it is to
see homeowners utilizing appropriate materials and going the lengths to
historically restore their home. We have encountered numerous additional
significant costs in this process including asbestos abatement, replacement of the
City water line in the street which had been left unmaintained and deteriorated,
but have never wavered from the goal of preserving our historical home.
In sum, we believed we had done all we were supposed to in order to fully vet the
resolution of a failed roof in an emergent situation. We always were trying to save
this house so we emergently (and having already done a thorough, professional
investigation into the structure, possible remedies and DRC's previous rulings on
other homes in the neighborhood) put a roof on it. We saved the house in what
could have otherwise been catastrophic.
If you need any further information or have any questions, please do not hesitate
to contact us.
Many thanks for your assistance in this matter,
Suzanne & John Boger
Suzanne Singer Boger
518-366-0950
John W. Boger
518-366-0951
Suzanne Singer Boger
*Please pardon errors and odd autocorrects! Thank you.
Doc - Mar 18 2021 - 4-31 PM.pdf
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