Cornice Repair/Replacement

[peetah]

I've had no luck trying to find a contractor to repair (although I suspect it'll largely be a replace job) the cornice on a 3 story row-home. Similar to this thread in the SW Center City forum (http://www.philadelphiaspeaks.com/fo...placement.html) roofers, gutter guys, and carpenters won't touch the job. Any recommendations?

I know the thread mentions Chris Stock, but I haven't had any luck reaching out to him. Anyone with any other recommendations?

[D-man]

In a similar vain, I'm looking for someone who would be willing to just check-out my cornice and give me an estimate. The cornice on my 3-story row is covered with aluminum siding, and has been that way since before I bought the house 10 years ago. I just want someone to peek under the siding and tell me what's underneath there (the cornice may be preserved and just require some scraping and painting, it may be rotted and require extensive repair, or it may be totally gone). I figured Stock could do the work and was going to give him a call when I finally gotten around to it, but was wondering if there were any other contractors out there with this skill set.

If the cornice is still there, I definitely want to restore it. I believe most of the homes on my block no longer have a cornice, but my house has a piece of aluminum siding that slants on an angle from the bottom edge of the roof overhang, back towards the outside wall of the house. Per The Philadelphia Rowhouse Manual, this indicates to me that there is something behind it. With so many of the 100 years old houses on my block being "modernized", it would be nice to expose some original details.

[Satchel]

The Preservation Alliance provides a directory of contractors. Might be worth a look:
Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia

[stonefly]

Not sure how useful this may be, but I have called the resource center at the Chestnut Hill Historical Society before to ask a question. They have lists of contractors and may know of one that can do cornice work.

215 247-0417 x203

Chestnut Hill Historical Society

Kind of along the lines of the previous post.

[MtAiryMan]

I'm interested to see if you had any luck with finding a person that does such work. I've looking into this in the past without much luck. Wondering if you called the sheetmetal workers trade school could they could come up with a lead? I also spoke with a roofer once after observing his flashing work but have not been able to get a hold of him since.

Good luck!

Another thought is attending the historic home show that usually takes place around this time of year in the Mt Airy section of the city.

[Ptolemy]

Another source is:

The University City Historical Society. They also have a list of contractors who specialize in restoring older homes.

Philadelphia - University City Historical Society

[Lyceum]

In the Roxborough Developmental Corp.'s business directory, CTS PAINT PROS. is listed as doing cornices. This company also did a lot of the work on historical buildings in Roxborough, including the curret RDC office. Here is the web site: CTS PAINT PROS. - Home - Philadelphia, PA
It is hard to find folks to do work on cornices; I will be looking at having a cornice rebuilt/repaired next year. I hope it works out for you!