Classical rot managment in Decatur. Where does the water want to go?

They're fixing a little rot at Decatur's First Baptist Church and it made me pay attention.

 

The rot is way up there, the rot we can see.

It's hard to miss First Baptist. It's a big Gibbs style church on a suburban-sized parcel on the north edge of downtown Decatur Georgia. It's big right down to its super chunky quoins and dentils

 
Everybody "knows" that Ivey & Crook, Architects designed the current building.

I consulted Lewis Edmund Crook, Jr., Architect, 1898-1967: A Twentieth-Century Traditionalist in the Deep South by William R. Mitchell Jr to learn more. It says, ""Job 513 First Baptist Church Alterations 1948." Alternations? Must investigate.


I drive by twice a week but it's become so familiar I don't pay much attention.


Ugh.


Ugh.


This corner's not looking too hot.


I used Photoshop to give us X-Ray vision.


This is so complex. Where will the water go?.


What about those black corners? All 4 corners of the tower are black. The tower is the bottom section of the steeple.The level above is the belfry, see Steeple Anatomy.

Now that I'm paying attention to brick, I notice the Flemish bond alternating with 5 rows of stretcher bond. Is that the right terminology?


I'm sorry about the rot but happy it made me pay attention.