St. Mary's Church-Byron Center, Michigan

This historic church located in Byron Center, Michigan and dates back to the mid-late 1800's. After a recent roof repair by the Church this issue reoccurred, so further examination was needed.

Building Restoration Inc. was contracted to conduct a thorough investigation. In an effort to get a better understanding of the building's existing state, Wightman was contacted to conduct 3D analysis of the structure using laser scanning technology.

Laser scanning activities were conducted on the facility with a focus on the facade, roof and steeple areas along with some scans of the interior of the building. Then a variety of analysis techniques were leveraged from the laser scan point cloud to identify and isolate potential aspects of the building that might be contributing to the ongoing problems.

After coordination with Building Restoration, analysis pinpointed several locations within the structure that revealed the larger story. Pronounced bowing in the main stone facade walls, roof sag and distortion in the rafter members, in the area of the dormers, illustrated for our client possible spatial trends in the building.

Enlightened by the reality of the building's posture, Building Restoration and the Church are discussing possible restoration and stabilization options to fix the water infiltration and to halt the ongoing strain within the structure.