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WORKING WITH HISTORIC BUILDINGS

Maintaining Your Historic Home: A Practical Guide for Homeowners

A practical maintenance guide for property owners of historic houses. This guide is intended to help people understand how to maintain, repair, and preserve details of their historic houses. More specifically, the guide will help homeowners maintain the architectural uniqueness of their home and protect it from insensitive alterations by preserving original building materials and design standards. 

Homeowner’s Guide to Asbestos

A comprehensive guide outlining common places asbestos may be located in buildings and what to do should you suspect asbestos in your home.

More Coming Soon

January 03, 2018

Learning about asbestos abatement

The Mesothelioma Center

The Mesothelioma Center has an online resource for understanding what asbestos is, where it may be in your home, and how to hire a professional company to safely contain or remove asbestos from your building or home.  

September 01, 2017

Updated in 2017 - Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties

National Park Service

The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties are only regulatory for projects receiving Historic Preservation Fund grant assistance and other federally-assisted projects.

 

Otherwise, these Guidelines are intended to provide general guidance for work on any historic building. They're a great resource for when you want to take on projects to preserve the historic character of a property you care for.

The Guidelines cover preserving, rehabilitating, restoring and reconstructing historic buildings. 

July 18, 2017

How to Research Your House's History: Part Two

National Trust for Historic Preservation

Part of living in an old house is being lucky enough to live in a place that was witness to dozens of lives. But if you don't know its history, where can you start? A while back, we brought you 10 tips to tackle your historic house's history. This was a great introduction into what kind of things you should look for to get started—tax records, Sanborn maps, deeds, and titles. However, where these documents can be found and how they can be used isn't always common sense. If your first thought was "what's a Sanborn map?" read below for part two of how to research your historic house's history. (Hint: Sanborn maps are really cool!)

January 17, 2017

6 Low-Cost, Energy-Saving Tips for Homeowners

National Trust for Historic Preservation

We in the preservation movement already know that older buildings have a lighter environmental impact than newly constructed buildings. Preservation Green Lab’s very first report, The Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse, found that, in nearly every scenario, the reuse of an existing building is more environmentally friendly than its demolition—even when the new building that replaces it is “green.”

September 07, 2016

Ten Principles for ReUrbanism: Reuse and Reinvestment in the 21st Century

National Trust for Historic Preservation

Using new research, data, tools, and strategies, the NTHP commitment to the reuse, reinvestment, and revitalization of cities—which they describe as ReUrbanism—seeks nothing less than to transform both the perception and practice of preservation, responding to the issues cities face today.

August 09, 2016

10 Tips to Preserve Places from the Recent Past

National Trust for Historic Preservation

In the preservation world, the term “recent past” most commonly refers to historic places younger than 50 years old. Modernism, which is another term often associated with the recent past, is generally defined as a style that began to flourish in the United States in the 1930s. Both describe places and cultural resources that are among the most under-appreciated and vulnerable aspects of our nation’s heritage.

June 24, 2016

Every Door Deserves to be Functional

Rob Cagnetta, Heritage Restoration Blog

Doors are perhaps the most used, abused, and neglected parts of a house. We rely on doors to separate us from weather, people, and things. We slam them shut, whip them open, and use all parts of our body to open and shut them. 

May 27, 2016

House Remedies: Peeling paint, rotting wood signal water woes

Rob Cagnetta, Heritage Restoration | Providence Journal

Water is not always a building’s friend; the battle to stay dry is essential to a healthy and low-maintenance structure. A good building envelope and drainage controls, when properly done, should direct water infiltration and moisture. Beyond controlling water, there are equally important controls for moisture, dehumidification and airflow.

January 19, 2016

13 Things You Should Know About Retrofitting Historic Windows

National Trust for Historic Preservation

Windows are the most visible, yet most commonly underappreciated, components of older and historic homes and buildings. In addition to adding beauty and character, original windows serve a great purpose—they connect the outside of the building to the inside and, as an integral part of the architecture, offer invaluable clues to a building's history.

January 12, 2016

10 Tips: Restoring vs. Rehabilitating Your Historic House

National Trust for Historic Preservation

historic homeownership brings with it a unique set of questions, decisions, and goals. Let's address one of the most basic questions first: Should you restore or rehabilitate your house?

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