Traditional Product Reports

Restore Media (publishers of Old House Journal, Traditional Building, and Period Homes along with many other avenues to promote traditional trades and preservation) has developed a web site devoted to reports on traditional products. This is a valuable resource complied in a central location for anyone interested in restoring or preserving their own historic building. …

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"Time will prove the wisdom of building well"

Sometimes I find gems buried in the piles of papers on my desk. This is from the Winter 2008-2009, HARBnews, published by the Historic Architectural Board of Review of the City of Lancaster. The speech was given on December 22, 1905 at the opening of the Stevens High School (corner of North Charlotte and West …

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The National Trust's Sustainability Initiative

The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently launched a website devoted to providing “green building” resources to home and business owners. The site includes: Tips for homeowners*10 green things for under $10*wood window facts (to educate yourself when the replacement window salesperson knocks on the door)*energy efficiency tips There is also information for businesses, about …

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Building History Day at the Ephrata Cloister

On Saturday, June 6, 2009 the Ephrata Cloister hosted their Building History Day. This was a day with traditional crafts being demonstrated, speakers on the topic of historic building and the evolution of domestic architecture, and tours of the unrestored floors of the Sisters’ House. We were invited over the winter to host a seminar …

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Maintenance is Preservation

There is even more great content here and it’s all available for members! Sign up for a membership to the Keperling Preservation Hub℠ and you’ll get instant access to: One on one consultation call Coffee Breaks: twice-a-month web meetings where we answer questions YOU and other members submit How-to Videos, Training Videos, and Coffee Break …

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Encouragement Award

Last Saturday, Chuck and Lois went to lunch at the Preservation League of Staten Island to receive an ‘Encouragement Award’. Recognizing the work underway (but not yet completed) at the George W. Curtis house – we have completed the front facade restoration including the front porch, missing architectural details (aluminum siding installers love straight edges …

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Webinar – Traditional Durable/ Sustainable Products

Tuesday afternoon I sat in on a webinar focused on what traditional products teach us about durability and sustainability (essentially green building). I am going to pass some the information from the webinar along during this post – next week I will be back to sharing information from the Traditional Building Conference. *In order to …

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Sympathetic Additions to Historic Buildings

Some thoughts about Sympathetic Additions from the Traditional Building Show:-The Secretary of Interiors Standards advise against any addition to a historic building-Protect the historic integrity of the building by making any changes reversible-Avoid construction in front of building-Minimize the loss of historic material-Make a definite separation between new and old construction-Avoid radical change in form …

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Preservation is Green Building

Some thoughts from the Traditional Building Conference:-Existing buildings are inherently green (embodied energy) tearing down to make a new green building uses more energy than it saves-Changes made to “modernize” a building have contributed to the perception of the poor energy performance-An important part of green building should be the materials should both be durable …

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