The Importance of Historical Restoration
If you are a person like me, and you enjoy looking at buildings as you walk around Society Hill, there is a pleasant visual consistency to all the neighborhood: handsome red brick framed by wood windows and trim, painted in neutral historical colors, all complimented by replica lighting, cobblestones, and an old growth tree canopy.
So what exactly is historical restoration and why does it matter? Restoration painting is meant to preserve the architectural details of a house without cutting corners or using cheap materials.
It’s almost like we are having a conversation with the architects and builders of yesteryear, coming into direct contact with the very same materials and artistry used by skilled craftsmen long ago. It’s our job to restore back to what was “original.”
Sometimes we are scraping old paint down to the bare wood and we can actually touch a piece of wood that began its growth from a seed 500 years ago, installed by skilled hands before the advent of power tools and other fancy gadgets.
Unfortunately, over the years an historical house often gets a hodgepodge of work done to it, and one can only scratch their head to why on earth did they cover that beautiful wood siding with vinyl? Or, why was the old caulk left on the brick which makes a sloppy edge? What was the mindset of the person who worked on this building: were they conscientious, caring, and skilled in their craft, or were they inexpensive and lacked the integrity and knowledge to care enough to do the job right?
Our goal is to take things back to the original condition and work from there. Whether it’s painting, masonry or carpentry, we handle anything that is needed.
For example, we worked at Charles and Margo’s house at 234 S Third. The cast iron balcony is of great historical significance. Our task was to preserve it. Instead of just painting directly over somewhat rusty metal, we applied a special oil-based rust-inhibitive primer, then a full coat of oil gloss paint. Over time, the paint will wear down: it’s doing its job, functioning as the outermost architectural layer of the house, rebuffing the wind and rain, preventing oxidation. 10 years from now, instead of having to do a lots of prep work, a coat of paint will do the job.
We also painted the windows. Sometimes an old window hasn’t been touched in 40 years! We always follow the same formula to do the work. We divide it into three phases:
- Demolition and Discovery
- Repair
- Paint
The first phase of D&D (as we call it) consists of scraping and sanding. The messy work! This is also a time of discovery. Is there wood rot? Do we need to take out all the caulk where it meets the trim? Will we need to do wood or masonry repair? Demolition is the time to make these decisions.
After everything has been scraped and sanded, and any rotted wood has been dug out, then we seal everything in with an oil-based primer. This stops the oxidation process. It seals in any lead or oil-based paint, which will react badly with water-base paint applied on top. We like to say that oil primer is like double-sided, sticky tape. It sticks to everything, and everything sticks to it!
The next phase is repair, namely applying wood fill, repairing wood, problem solving those items that are too expensive to replace but must be repaired.
Then we have to let things dry.
Any patching or glazing work will be sanded. Then we have to apply oil primer on top of any work that we have repaired. We called this “the primer sandwich”. The repair material sits in between two layers of primer. Skip this step, and apply paint directly to wood, filler, or patch, and the paint just will not stick properly.
The last step before painting is caulking. We like to view caulk as a type of paint. It provides a seal from the weather. It also gives us a chance to create clean lines where two colors meet.
The final phase is painting. This is the fun stuff! No more noise and mess. The quiet of a brush gliding over freshly laid primer. This is our reward after all that hard, dirty work.
After everything is completed, we use a razor blade and scrape the windows and windex them to shine.
We like to think that the craftsman who built these homes would be proud of the work we are doing. We’re not “kicking the can down the lane” and avoiding doing the hard work. We are protecting and beautifying these historical structures for future generations to enjoy.