Wood & Millwork

Practical Preservation Podcast Featuring Mike Kennedy of Lower City Joinery

Leave a Comment / Practical Preservation Podcast, Wood & Millwork / By

Mike Kennedy of Lower City Joinery, located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, joined the Practical Preservation Podcast to discuss his custom woodworking business. We covered multiple topics, including: How home improvement shows served as Mike’s original inspiration to do woodworking Mike’s varied background in the industry, from working for a new-build window and door manufacturing company …

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Traditional Joinery

Leave a Comment / Help for Historic Home Owners, help for historic homeowners, Historic Preservation, Historic preservation and restoration education, historical integrity, How to Preserve a Building, Materials, Products Materials and Methods, Traditional Joinery, Wood & Millwork / By

TRADITIONAL JOINERY  is a term we’ve all heard as a hallmark of historical millwork.  But what is it and why is it so important in preservation of historic buildings?   1880’s joiner shop in Germany. Image source: Wikipedia’s Entry on a Joiner What is Traditional Joinery? Joinery in general is the woodworking technique that joins …

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Save Your Wood Windows

Leave a Comment / Architectural & Building Character, Historic Preservation, Historic Wood Windows, Maintaining Historic Buildings, Products Materials and Methods, Wood & Millwork / By

Did you know that historical wood windows are one of the most vulnerable and at-risk elements of our architectural heritage? Preservation Virginia has proclaimed historical windows endangered, saying, “Historic wooden windows are destroyed daily in lieu of new, inferior windows.  Salesman convince owners and architectural review boards members that replacement windows are superior to historic …

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Porches, Doors, and Historic Preservation

Leave a Comment / Architectural & Building Character, Colonial Architecture, Help for Historic Home Owners, Historic Preservation, Historic Restoration, Historical Architectural Styles, Maintaining Historic Buildings, Traditional and Vernacular, Wood & Millwork, Wood Restoration / By

At first glance, porches and doors may seem like no more than a way to get in or out of a home or business.   But there is much more to these architectural gateways.  They are frequently exemplary examples of carpentry that give us a peek into the artisanship of our architectural history and have …

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Preservation Spotlight: Somerset Door & Column Company

Preservation in Progress, Products & Materials, Resources for Historic Restorations, Wood & Millwork, Wood Restoration / By

We recently completed a historic porch restoration at the Harris-Cameron mansion in Harrisburg, PA.  Part of the project involved fabricating new wood columns to match a few existing column we were salvaging.  For that work we turned to Somerset Door & Column Company. For over 100 years, Somerset Door & Column Company has manufactured architectural …

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Put Plastic Windows to Shame

Architectural & Building Character, Historic Preservation, Historic Rehabilitation, Historic Restoration, Historic Wood Windows, Historical Architectural Styles, Historical Architecture, Preservation Education, Wood & Millwork, Wood Restoration / By

  Even if you decide I’m too long-winded, or that I’m preaching to the choir, to read this entire post – MAKE SURE YOU SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM to get your free copy of a report on how to make wood windows last for generations we recently wrote.   Why Save Historic Wood Windows? Did you …

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Traditional Joinery: What it is and why is it important in preservation?

Historic Preservation, Historic Restoration, Historic Wood Windows, Historical Architecture, Products & Materials, Uncategorized, Wood & Millwork, Wood Restoration / By

  Traditional joinery is a term we’ve all heard as a hallmark of historical millwork.  But what is it and why is it so important in preservation of historic buildings? What is Traditional Joinery? Joinery in general is the woodworking technique that joins together two pieces of wood.  What a joint looks like, how strong …

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HIDDEN GEM: Big Spring Farm

Colonial Architecture, Community Preservation, Historic Preservation, Historical Architecture, Local Preservation, State Preservation, Uncategorized, Wood & Millwork / By

We’ve added Big Spring Farm to our Hidden Gem list for a good reason.  With no website, no official or regular hours, no main contact information, no obvious advertisements, and yet huge preservation efforts and achievements – Big Spring Farm may very well be our most hidden gem of all. Somewhere around 5am Saturday morning, …

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Customizing a kitchen in Old Town, Lancaster

Architectural & Building Character, Colonial Architecture, Community Preservation, Historic Preservation, Historical Architecture, Local Preservation, Uncategorized, Wood & Millwork / By

Sometimes preservation takes you on new, surprising paths… Yes, we have kitchens on the brain thanks to a recent custom kitchen project (that turned out to be good fodder for some really cool pictures of our millwork process, so you get to ogle them). The traditional approach to creating a custom kitchen is one we …

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