In 2009 a survey of the Jenkins Court Building in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania was conducted and a restoration plan formed. The description below was part of the Scope of Work prepared at that time.
Originally, the building was a Strawbridge and Clothier store. It opened in 1931, the same year the Empire State Building was finished. In the Jenkintown store, as in the more famous Manhattan skyscraper, many of the components that constitute the Art Deco architectural style are bound by joints. The original design called for these joints to be closed with sealant or mortar.
These two means of closing the space between architectural elements are fundamentally different in both how they are maintained and in how they are replaced. Construction standards call for sealant (caulk) joints to be replaced periodically and although mortar joints can deteriorate, replacing them, in many cases, isn’t considered normal building maintenance. Practices and even the trades employed in these two types of joint restoration are significantly different.
