Every once and awhile I have to get off the old house care kick and opine about the state of things. Since the 1970’s, experts have cautioned the lack of trades training will someday have a profound impact on the…
Fix or Toss?
Repairability: to restore to a good or sound condition after decay or damage; mend; to renew by any process of making good, strengthening. Fixing stuff has been replaced by buying new stuff. But it’s not because we don’t want to…
Why Bother Saving Buildings?
Buildings are more than just design and assembly. They are a snapshot of life. The parts are the technology, skill, and materials of a time, while the style is the culture. As buildings age, some get overlooked, fall apart or…
Timber Frames
We live in a culture of impatience and instant gratification. But for the first European American settlers, nothing was instant. When the Pilgrims finally landed in Plymouth of December 1620, they were hungry, weary, and desperate. They arrived without a…
Monuments
Monuments are left to recognize a person or event. We inscribe epitaphs defining their social relevancy to our cultural heritage, be it artistic, historical, political, technical or architectural importance. We have plaques on old houses identifying historical figures that had…
Every Building Has A Story
Every old building has a story. That story is told through what we see now, but sometimes there is a lot more to tell. We can certainly understand a building’s evolution by physical clues, but sometimes the clues are masked…
Facing the Cold
Your building is fighting the cold. But how prepared is it? Is it winning? Or is it losing at your expense? Can every building be treated the same? What is the best way to resist the cold with reasonable effort…
Craft vs Assembly
Once and awhile I get a frustrating call about someone hiring a contractor where the skills did not match the promise. Sometimes the work is poor, isn’t finished, or is in such a state that it needs to be redone. …
Saving Old Buildings
More historic buildings are here by chance than you think. Consider this. According to census data, there are over 330,000 Rhode Island buildings over 30 years old, with maybe 250,000 in the 50 years or older category of “historic”. There…
How can we all work to preserve Rhode Island buildings?
I have been in Rhode Island for almost 30 years. I love our community and the friends that are our family, the beauty and diversity of our landscapes and vistas, and without a doubt, I am crazy about the buildings.…