- Insulate the attic (this is where the majority of your heat loss will occur - though the replacement window and door companies would have you believe it is on the walls of the house - heat rises.)
- Zoned heating system (heat only the areas of the house you "live" in).
- Bleed radiators and clean forced-air vents.
- Have your furnace serviced.
- Change your furnace filters once a month.
- Install a programmable thermostat (turn the heat down at night when you are in bed and during the day when you are away).
- Insulate duct work and hot water pipes in cool spaces. Install foam inserts behind electrical receptacles and light switches (they sale the inserts (with precut holes) for behind the covers at any hardware store).
- Close fireplace dampers (when the fireplace is not in use - we have had a call from someone not sure why their house was filling with smoke).
- Set ceiling fans to low and switch direction so the hot air is being forced downward from the ceiling.
- Make sure bathroom fans have functioning dampers.
- Keep your original windows maintained (caulk, fix glazing, replace broken panes, repair wooden parts, and install weather stripping).
- Install storm windows.
- Use lined curtains, working shutters, and insulated window shades.
- Caulk holes at exterior penetrations (mail chutes, etc.) only use exterior-grade caulking for this job.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
15 Steps to Weatherize Your Home
The November/December 2009 issue of Preservation Magazine featured an article, Getting Ready for Winter: 15 Steps to Efficiency. These tips are taken from this article.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Columbia Market House
Work on the Columbia Market commenced on October 12, 2009 with a 120 day project schedule, since this is a "working" market with stand holders open for business on Thursdays and Fridays, work is to be done in 10 hour days, Monday through Wednesday with Saturday and Sunday optional work days. Historic Restorations is restoring the fourteen original windows. On site the entire windows are removed and the openings are secured with plywood, in the shop the old glass is gently removed, cleaned and labeled for re-installation at the end of the process. The wood mullions, rails and stiles are stripped of their old paint and sanded in preparation for a fresh coat of paint. Any rot or damaged wood is repaired or replaced, if necessary. After one coat of primer the windows are reunited with their original glass and any extra glass that may have been purchased to replace broken panes . Meanwhile, on site in Columbia, the exterior and interior window trim is being prepared to receive the refurbished windows, wood filler, sanding and missing pieces are used to create an exceptionable frame and architectural detail for form and function. Today Historic Restorations is about half way through our portion of this project, we are thrilled with the transformation and honored to be a part of this historic buildings story. If you ever get to this little river town, on a Thursday or Friday, stop by the Market, the oldest in the United States or have a virtual visit, www.columbiahistoricmarkethouse.com
Friday, October 23, 2009
Trick or Treat
This time of year people become a little more curious about supernatural happenings - going on in strange and normal places, looking for a sign or some kind of message , that to this point may have gone unnoticed as we live in our own worlds.
It seems appropriate that on Monday of this week I took a call from Harrisburg Area Community College, that informed us of a class offering with five people signed up for it, the class name "Dating Your Older Building". The four people who showed up for the class were eager to learn what to look for when trying to determine the time period of a building, how the region influenced what materials were best to use in their construction, how prosperous the community was, trends in the style of architectural detail that notes an era in our collective built history. Many of the earliest homes no longer exist, as they were intended to be temporary, what we see today are second homes that were built to last.
Before the call we were unprepared, by the end of our class time, Chuck and Danielle had presented a capsulized examination of house history and had engaged the 'students' in discussion
beyond our nine o'clock ending time.
When you pause and look at our built environment you can begin to see past the shadows of what is accepted as ordinary and notice the nuance of the story in our homes, tell tale signs...just waiting to be discovered.
It seems appropriate that on Monday of this week I took a call from Harrisburg Area Community College, that informed us of a class offering with five people signed up for it, the class name "Dating Your Older Building". The four people who showed up for the class were eager to learn what to look for when trying to determine the time period of a building, how the region influenced what materials were best to use in their construction, how prosperous the community was, trends in the style of architectural detail that notes an era in our collective built history. Many of the earliest homes no longer exist, as they were intended to be temporary, what we see today are second homes that were built to last.
Before the call we were unprepared, by the end of our class time, Chuck and Danielle had presented a capsulized examination of house history and had engaged the 'students' in discussion
beyond our nine o'clock ending time.
When you pause and look at our built environment you can begin to see past the shadows of what is accepted as ordinary and notice the nuance of the story in our homes, tell tale signs...just waiting to be discovered.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
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. They are located at http://www.traditionalproductreports.com/ and they are available by subscribing to their newsletter. The reports include articles about products, case studies, installation/treatment tips, and where to buy replacement products.
Topics include:
This is a valuable resource complied in a central location for anyone interested in restoring or preserving their own historic building. They are located at http://www.traditionalproductreports.com/ and they are available by subscribing to their newsletter. The reports include articles about products, case studies, installation/treatment tips, and where to buy replacement products.
Topics include:
- doors
- windows
- hardware
- interior finishes/fixtures
- metalworking
- timber frame
- and many more ...
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
"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 Chestnut - now converted into apartments - adaptive reuse). The project was being criticised for running $91,000 over budget and this was in response to the critics. The discussion of quality materials, true craftsmanship, and sustainability are all issues we regularly deal with - it just goes to show the more things change the more they stay the same.
"With the scientific and commercial development of our people comes the ever increasing necessity for better and larger high school buildings that shall adequately meet in all their parts the necessities of these schools; and they should, like all other important civic buildings, be erected in the most thorough, substantial manner, fundamentally sound in all their parts, with the polish of fine workmanship, to the end that they may not only exert an elevating and refining influence upon the scholars within their walls, but also represent the intelligent, liberal, and progressive spirit of the community.
The modern high school is, therefore more complex in form and more elaborate in appointments than like buildings of some years ago, and necessarily more expensive in its cost. In the construction of this building we have employed the best of what we deemed reasonably necessary to fully meet not only the demands of today, but of many years of the future.
We have not attempted to build with cheap materials and poor workmanship, but rather to build strong and substantial with the best material and workmanship, and at the lowest possible cost. Solid and enduring work is the basis of true economy, and time will prove the wisdom of building well.
I also desire to refer to the great fidelity and honesty of purpose with which the builder performed the work he assumed in the erection and completion of this building. The thought uppermost in his mind seems ever to have been, not how he might realize the greatest profit from this undertaking, but how the greatest strength, durability and beauty of finish might be secured."
- C. Emlem Urban
The speech was given on December 22, 1905 at the opening of the Stevens High School (corner of North Charlotte and West Chestnut - now converted into apartments - adaptive reuse). The project was being criticised for running $91,000 over budget and this was in response to the critics. The discussion of quality materials, true craftsmanship, and sustainability are all issues we regularly deal with - it just goes to show the more things change the more they stay the same.
"With the scientific and commercial development of our people comes the ever increasing necessity for better and larger high school buildings that shall adequately meet in all their parts the necessities of these schools; and they should, like all other important civic buildings, be erected in the most thorough, substantial manner, fundamentally sound in all their parts, with the polish of fine workmanship, to the end that they may not only exert an elevating and refining influence upon the scholars within their walls, but also represent the intelligent, liberal, and progressive spirit of the community.
The modern high school is, therefore more complex in form and more elaborate in appointments than like buildings of some years ago, and necessarily more expensive in its cost. In the construction of this building we have employed the best of what we deemed reasonably necessary to fully meet not only the demands of today, but of many years of the future.
We have not attempted to build with cheap materials and poor workmanship, but rather to build strong and substantial with the best material and workmanship, and at the lowest possible cost. Solid and enduring work is the basis of true economy, and time will prove the wisdom of building well.
I also desire to refer to the great fidelity and honesty of purpose with which the builder performed the work he assumed in the erection and completion of this building. The thought uppermost in his mind seems ever to have been, not how he might realize the greatest profit from this undertaking, but how the greatest strength, durability and beauty of finish might be secured."
- C. Emlem Urban
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Affordable Housing
Lancaster, Pa is the oldest inland city in the United States. Lancaster City also boast itself as the largest designated historic district in the U. S. with it's four square miles of structures that tell the story of this settlement's life since 1730.
We live in the city and enjoy the urban feel of a downtown area stepping over the cusp into revitalization and neighborhoods that tell how the citizens prospered and moved away from the city center, yet remained connected through the grid of streets layed out like the spokes of a wheel. In our neighborhood homes were built with brick and mortar in the late Victorian Architectural age 1870-1910. A middle class community mix of professional trades people, doctors, attorneys and middle management of local industries. Getting to my point. The past four months I have watched a beautiful home be ravaged by people who I am sure have good intentions. Before the recent remodel the home was divided into two separate living spaces, O.K. the use of this building did not change. The goal of the homeowners is to create income producing units at an affordable price - Great Idea. Here's where I start to have "issues" with what I've seen as the answer to the question of housing that is considered "affordable". All of the original double hung solid wood windows were removed from their openings and replaced with an "inexpensive" plastic replacement window. The original windows, weights and sash cords were tossed into a dumpster. Solid wood exterior and interior doors were last seen stacked on the front porch. Interior trim that surrounded the original windows, doors, original base boards in the house has been removed and sent to a landfill. Plaster walls have been covered with drywall. If you were to walk into this house today you would see freshly painted walls- white, new wall to wall carpet - covering hardwood floors, modern windows, masonite exterior doors and hollow core interior doors, trim purchased from Home Depot.
My question is, why must a place be cheapened so that the house will be considered affordable? What does that say about the attitude of the person who has made the offer of this space to the people who will live there?
I believe that the goal could have been achieved without losing the architectural detail of the original house parts, parts that could have been repaired with some knowledge and thoughtful care. Now the material that was put into this house was designed to be destroyed or obsolete in just a few years. The house will never be the same, the future holds more neglect and destruction in the wake of creating "affordable housing".
We live in the city and enjoy the urban feel of a downtown area stepping over the cusp into revitalization and neighborhoods that tell how the citizens prospered and moved away from the city center, yet remained connected through the grid of streets layed out like the spokes of a wheel. In our neighborhood homes were built with brick and mortar in the late Victorian Architectural age 1870-1910. A middle class community mix of professional trades people, doctors, attorneys and middle management of local industries. Getting to my point. The past four months I have watched a beautiful home be ravaged by people who I am sure have good intentions. Before the recent remodel the home was divided into two separate living spaces, O.K. the use of this building did not change. The goal of the homeowners is to create income producing units at an affordable price - Great Idea. Here's where I start to have "issues" with what I've seen as the answer to the question of housing that is considered "affordable". All of the original double hung solid wood windows were removed from their openings and replaced with an "inexpensive" plastic replacement window. The original windows, weights and sash cords were tossed into a dumpster. Solid wood exterior and interior doors were last seen stacked on the front porch. Interior trim that surrounded the original windows, doors, original base boards in the house has been removed and sent to a landfill. Plaster walls have been covered with drywall. If you were to walk into this house today you would see freshly painted walls- white, new wall to wall carpet - covering hardwood floors, modern windows, masonite exterior doors and hollow core interior doors, trim purchased from Home Depot.
My question is, why must a place be cheapened so that the house will be considered affordable? What does that say about the attitude of the person who has made the offer of this space to the people who will live there?
I believe that the goal could have been achieved without losing the architectural detail of the original house parts, parts that could have been repaired with some knowledge and thoughtful care. Now the material that was put into this house was designed to be destroyed or obsolete in just a few years. The house will never be the same, the future holds more neglect and destruction in the wake of creating "affordable housing".
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
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 the reuse of buildings, green news, research, and other green building/preservation resources.
This is a valuable site to continue your education about preservation and sustainability be sure to visit and revisit often http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/sustainability/.
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 the reuse of buildings, green news, research, and other green building/preservation resources.
This is a valuable site to continue your education about preservation and sustainability be sure to visit and revisit often http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/sustainability/.
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