Static condition of stone and brick structures

Supporting structures of the building are suitably strong, which means there is no risk of collapse, but an increasing number of static problems begin to show.

Most of the facade is covered with poor quality stone, it was wet at several places which now froze over, frozen gaps and plants growing in some of these gaps loosened some of the stones. In its present condition, there is a risk of accidents happening, and the situation may quickly become worse without suitable measures.

Cracks beginning to show at the top floor of the bell tower, require immediate action; the appropriate method has to be determined by the leading architect in the course of construction planning.

The condition of wooden structures

The static investigation found that the approximately 110-year-old roof structures are now outdated. They can only support the structure generally well because at the time of their construction it was customary to use oversized structures, especially on important buildings.

The roof structure had been seriously damaged in the second World War, and it was reconstructed only partially:several sections are still seriously fractured. Reconstruction works after the war were not always up to the professional standards.

There is a larger section in the church roof structure - the section of the south side aisle connected to the Matthias tower - which has to be completely rebuilt. Almost all of its structural elements are worn out, repairs and temporary support structures could only stop the roof from falling down. Probably as a result of temporary reconstruction works after the war, the slightly descending roof structures of side chancels are not uniform. There are no serious static problems comparable to the ones mentioned above, but full reconstruction is advisable according to suitable plans.

There are 165 structural elements in the roof railing which need to be replaced and another 51 of them has to be repaired. Provided that the recommended measures are taken, all parts of the structure will be suitable and have suitable reserves to last even longer.
Repairs of the roof structure is problematic, as all clay tiles and brass plates have to be removed and the works carried out under a protective foil. This foil, however, does not give full protection against the rain, which means an extreme risk for wall paintings inside the church, therefore repairs have to be undertaken with utmost care and a strict schedule.
The wood protection investigation found 122 instances of harmful biological activity in the wooden roof structure: three fungus species and four insect species.

Theboarding of all brass-covered roof sections (748 m2) is seriously damaged, and the condition of staving under clay-covered sections (2340 m2) is also unfit, both need to be replaced.

Engineering problems

An expert opinion prepared in October 2001 requires the installation of 7 wall-mounted hydrants in the building and 2 standing hydrants of the south side of the building, without which suitable fire protection would not be possible. Wires crossing fire-sealed section borders have to be covered with suitable fire-resistant material.

Heating in the church is now operated through 28 heat storage Elekthermax devices with 168 kW built-in capacity. The church building is estimated to require 615 kW heating capacity (with the necessary additions a further 255 kW). Output of the installed devices is therefore significantly lower than necessary. The solution to the problem of necessary ventilation would require additional heating capacity (270 kW).

The building is visited by believers, concert audience and tourists in great numbers, it can receive 1000 people. Winter heating does not always manage to increase wall temperature above dew point, and as a result, water vapour condenses on the wall, leaves dripping marks on the paintings, and accelerates the deterioration of the condition of the walls. During high tourist season the church cannot be ventilated in the traditional way; constant stuffy air has caused several people to feel ill or faint. The church hall requires 31 000 m3/h air supply, the addition a further 12 000 m3/h.

Electricity

The expert opinion finished in October 2001 came as no surprise: it is now inevitable to renovate all electric power, heating and lighting devices.

Lighting devices installed in the 1970s are worn out,
lighting solutions are inefficient. Partial circuit wires are unfortunately MM wall wires with aluminium conductors, and are in direct contact with the plastering. This is an outdated solution - and at the time of its creation, it was already an unsophisticated method -, its replacement will require a significant amount of chiselling, which raises special concerns for the paintings on the walls.

It is necessary to installa new main distributor instead of the 30-year-old one. A fire signalling system is another requirement, currently nonexistent in the church, as well as a modern telephone and data communication system, a traffic organiser system to serve the increasing number of tourists, video surveillance and property protection systems and networks.

The old lightning conductor system of the church does not meet the present requirements. It is inevitable to provide suitable protection against lightning!

Lighting technology

The lighting system in the church is 30 years old, and can no longer fulfil its function because of its outdated technology, insufficient lighting capacity andstrong dazzling effect.

Experts recommended a lighting system for the building in a study, which would fulfil all the arising needs and would include some of the partially renovated pre-WW2 devices (reconstructed festoon chandeliers with incorporated modern lanterns). The planned system is able to meet various demands (liturgy, concerts, tourism, and artwork protection).

Leakages through the roof

The main reasons for earlier and present leakages are displaced clay tiles. (During the post-WW2 reconstruction the tiles were not affixed properly; in addition, several pieces are now old, extreme weather conditions wore them, and deficiencies of the staving also play a part in their sliding down.

As a tile slides down, it does not only create a gap on the clay surface, but it
punches holes on the brass structure covering the lower layer of the roof surface, and this way water gets straight into the stone structures with frescos on them. Brass structures of the roof and facades are almost 50 years old, and most of their foundations are now worn out (primarily as a result of poor ventilation and gradually decreasing water insulation capacity).
It is clear that the above mentioned processes will intensify with the years, and brass structures will reach the end of their professionally accepted life cycles (50-70 years).
Taking into account the relevant findings in the static and wood protection expert opinions, different colours of the present roof (made in the 1950’s) and the original (19th century) one, as well as the condition of decorative brass- and ironwork, lightning conductor system and decorative lighting devices, the entire roof needs to be renovated: roof underlay replaced (3088 m2), glazed Zsolnay clay tiles reaffixed (141 843 pcs), new brass plate structures built in (1330 m2).

Flooring

The originalfloor tiles of the church are also from the Zsolnay factory, made from glazed tiles patented in the 19th century under the brand name "pyrogranite".
Floor tiles in the atrium in front of the Mary gate are now dangerous; the flooring of the church hall does not reflect the original arrangement (still present in less frequently used rooms) in any way, not to mention certain technical deficiencies.
It is therefore recommended to have a significant portion (1190 m2) of pyrogranite floor tiles replaced.

Doors and windows

Of all the doors and windows in the building, 44 artisticoak doors and gates with applied wrought-iron parts represent the greatest cultural and material value. The expert opinion recommends the artistic renovation and restoration of these doors (and the replacement of one interior door); the incorporation of completely new structures instead of worn out old ones is only recommended at less important locations, primarily in the case of staircase tower windows.

Glass windows

Each of the coloured lead-glass windows from 1887-1896, which play a crucial role in defining the atmosphere of the church, desperately needs restoration. As a result of necessary repairs over the past 110 years, and the lack of the protective glass in certain places, general problems show to various extents, but are present with all of the windows. These phenomena are the
sunken and/or broken lead structure, which causes the windows to bend,
breaks and cracks on the glass pieces, fading and peeling glass paint, and the unprofessional replacement or blocking of missing pieces done decades ago.

József Perlaki glass painter, artist, gave expert opinion on the condition of the windows in September 2000, and found that approximately 80% of the windows (148m2) needed restoration. The owners, however, had such serious and justified quality concerns about some of the remaining 20 percent of the surface (windows restored after the 1994 explosion), which make their reconstruction necessary.

Frescos, decorative painting

An assessment done by ÁMRK (State Monument Reconstruction and Restoration Centre) in October 1999 found it necessary to completely restoredamaged frescos by Bertalan Székely and Károly Lotz (approximately 90 m2), completely repaint damaged sections of the decorative painting (approximately 630 m2), and clean the whole of the wall surface with solvents.

The expert opinion only concerns the restoration of wall paintings and decorative paintings damaged by leakages, and obviously does not include either damages caused after 1999 or correcting mistakes made during the 1930 and 1960 repainting. These two factors increase the scope and expense of the necessary repair works significantly.

The condition of stone carvings

Stone carvings and external stone facing of the church building eroded disastrously by the summer of 2001, as a joint consequence of
corrosion of the unprofessionallyfitted gudgeons and iron clasps,

missing fugua, unsuitable cements,used during previous renovations, and intrastructure mixing of rough and hard limestone

The Mary gatewas a separate issue, as there are no other gates of similar quality with figurative decorations remaining on the present territory of Hungary. Since the reconstruction of 1960-70 its condition has been revolting. Its restoration and presentation requires modern technology, professional dedication and special attention.

It is also necessary to clean and skilfully supplement thehard limestone embrasures of the main gate.

Assessment of the built-in stone

The expert opinion listed ten different kinds of observable deterioration on the building:

Necessary measures and costly further examinations:

• Reinforcing the structure of the bell tower
• Surface cleaning (1110 m2) and assessment of the stone under the black shell
• Replacing deteriorating rough limestone of the facades (870 m2)
• Repairing and replacing the fugue
• Detailed examination of the condition of the tower and stone ornaments
• Uncovering the underlying wall layers, analyzing the salt content of cover stones
• Detailed photogrammetric assessment
• Preparing a detailed realisation plan with the participation of a static architect, stone carver and scaffolding expert