Sometimes We Hang Loose: Extensive Door Repair on Murphy Mausoleum
By Kellea Roberson, Preservation Intern
Detached doors on the Murphy Mauseleum
One of Oakland Cemetery’s defining features is its vast number of mausoleums. These mausoleums provide a private and permanent resting place for the residents and offer an interesting look into the variety of funerary arts. While these structures often appear sound and stable, they require regular maintenance.
The preservation team was recently solicited to attend to door issues of the Murphy Mausoleum these past weeks. The brass doors on the mausoleum seemed to be “hanging loose” from the structure entirely. After further investigation, we discovered that the upper bar anchored into the marble walls was compromised and detaching from the wall. It would need to be reattached for the doors to hang properly.
After assessing how the doors were hung originally, we began removing them so we could clean and restore the brass doors.
As we removed the two heavy brass doors, the upper anchor bar and the door plate, we noticed that the door plate had a lot of corrosion that affected the pivot hinge of the left door.
Mike, our Preservation Specialist, noted that this was what probably caused the upper anchor bar to come out of the wall to begin with; the pivot hinge was corroded to the two spacers that sat under the door plate, which caused the entire mechanism to rotate when the door was being opened.
However, those plates should be stationery, and the hinge should be the only component moving. Once we knew that these pieces should be separated, we thought of ways to get rid of the corrosion and separate the pieces. Luckily, we had a few extra cans of Coca-Cola from illumine, and we soaked the pieces in the solution in hopes it would eat away the corrosion.
Whilst the door plate was soaking, we began cleaning the doors to get rid of the layers of grime and patina that were produced by oxidation over a long period.
We removed the glass panels from the doors that were attached by hinges, and started our cleaning process with our trusty D-2 Biological Solution to loosen the grime and get the first layer off. After pressure washing the solution off, we dried the door and used Brasso metal polish to “provide a brilliant shine that removed [the] tarnish!” With the amount of Brasso and D-2 that we and our volunteers used, we probably deserved to be sponsored by both brands!
After pressure washing all the nooks and crannies, the brass doors didn’t have the brilliant shine as promised by Brasso but rather still had a base layer of patina that reminded viewers of its historical age and acted as a protective layer. Which depending on who you talk to the patina is necessary for accurately understanding this historical artifact, though that’s a discussion for another blog post!
After a day, the door plate was removed from the Coca-Cola, and it became easier to remove the pieces stuck together.
Volunteers and Director of Preservation Ashley Shares cleaning the first layer of grime with D-2 Biological Solution
The two spacers that were corroded to the pivot hinge needed to be welded back to the door plate so the door could function without further issues, which led us back to Jeffry Loy’s studio. We visited Jeffry’s studio back in the fall and had a training day where he discussed cast iron and helped guide us in restoring a cast iron grave cover.
Jeffry is a blacksmith, welder, and visual artist who has a wealth of knowledge in metalwork. He was able to weld the two spacers to the bottom of the door plate, as well as school us on the subtle differences between bronze and brass.
Jeffry setting up his TIG welding machine
He shared that the difference is in the percentage of the present elements. Brass and bronze are both copper-based alloys, though brass is primarily composed of copper and zinc, and bronze is composed of copper and tin. While we still struggled with telling the difference upon looking at it, Jeffry noted that brass typically has a brighter, yellow tint and bronze has a warmer rose-gold tint. Jeffry also shared that we should provide a protective layer, and he recommended some type of automotive wax to coat the doors.
Taking Jeffry’s advice, we coated wax on the doors before working to hang them back up. We noted that to get the pivot hinges to sit into the sockets on the upper anchor bar and door plate, we’d need to first sit the doors into the sockets on the door plate and then situate the peg into the bar socket and then attach the bar to the wall. That sounds like a lot; however, it was a straightforward process and luckily, we had a team of three able to support the weight of the doors whilst the anchor bar was being attached.
Ashley tightening the new bolts while rehanging the door
To attach the upper anchor bar, we used lead anchors to fasten the bolts into. Since the bolts are being attached to marble stone, lead’s malleable properties allow for it to be a great filler for the bolt to anchor into the marble. Operating the doors was the next task to ensure that they were functioning right, and then we placed the glass panes back into the doors carefully.
Overall, this project was a great experience for the crew, because we don’t often work with both metal and mausoleum doors.
While hanging loose and relaxing is necessary in some ways, loose and hanging doors are a hazard for the mausoleums at Oakland Cemetery, which can cause further harm to the doors themselves and the mausoleums. This project taught us the most efficient ways to attach doors to stone mausoleums, which require knowledge of both stone properties and effective anchoring methods.
If you find yourself wandering around Oakland Cemetery, you can find the Murphy Mausoleum just north of the Bell Tower and see the upright brass doors that adorn the structure.
