Maintaining Historic Buildings

Practical Preservation Podcast featuring Lauren Dillion of Master of Plaster

Lauren Dillion of Master of Plaster joined the Practical Preservation podcast to discuss: Her introduction to plaster as an art form The different types of plaster (I really didn’t know there were so many) – lime (there are different types of lime!), gypsum, and clay Lauren answered all of my lime wash questions Plus you …

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Porches, Doors, and Historic Preservation

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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Practical Preservation Podcast featuring Robert Young, PhD of University of Utah

Robert Young, PhD of the University of Utah’s College of Architecture + Planning joined the Practical Preservation podcast to discuss the intersection of sustainability and preservation. During our discussion we discussed how stewardship of existing buildings is the ultimate green building (plus it is large scale recycling). Some of the other topics we discussed are: …

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Practical Preservation Podcast featuring Alison Hardy from Window Woman of New England

Alison Hardy from Window Woman of New England joins me to discuss the state of window restoration.  If you’d ever wondered what preservationist discuss this episode is for you.  We discuss: Can your windows be saved or are they really beyond repair? Repair vs. Replacement mindset The education process to combat the replacement window marketing …

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Put Replacement Windows to Shame: What that Nice Salesperson Doesn't Want You to Know

“We regret much of what we’ve built; we regret much of what we’ve torn down. But we’ve never regretted preserving anything.” -Daniel Sack Original windows serve a dual purpose of providing ventilation and light while being an important part of the buildings architectural design. These windows are constantly under attack from the marketing forces of …

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Wood Window Restoration Project at Anselma Mill

  We recently completed a historic wood window restoration project at the Mill at Anselma. Those who are into vintage and historic architecture can check this out as this mill is a gem of historic architecture in our country – the most complete example of a functioning historic grist mill in the entire country. History …

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Preservation in Progress: Historic Porch Restoration at the Harris-Cameron Mansion in Harrisburg, PA

History of the Harris-Cameron Mansion in Harrisburg, PA   In the early 1700′s, Harrisburg’s founder John Harris Sr. immigrated to the area from Yorkshire, England after receiving a land grant.  When he first arrived, Harris Sr. built a homestead on the bank of the Susquehanna River and established a trading post, and then a successful ferry business …

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How Complete Restorations Happen: A Case Study of the Mylin House

The Mylin House project was a complete interior restoration project that we had been very much looking forward to doing.  The Willow Valley Retirement Community hired Historic Restorations to restore the first floor of both the original farmhouse and the addition to use as a community center in keeping with their preservation of the original …

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Energy Efficiency and Historical Wood Windows

Wood windows are an integral part of the innate energy efficiency of historical buildings. If we have learned anything from history it is that sometimes with all our modern advancements we do ourselves more harm than good. Most site here and constructors have started to adopt them because of the numerous benefits. Advancements in technology …

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How to Put a Maintenance Plan in Place, A Case Study of the Trinity Church Oxford in Philadelphia

  Maintenance Plans for Historic Home & Buildings Recently we completed a maintenance appraisal for the Trinity Church Oxford in Philadelphia.  The church purchased the appraisal to evaluate several key areas they knew needed immediate attention and ended up with not only our recommendations for remediating the emergent needs on their buildings – but a …

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