New Hope for Endangered Windows
"Three preservation organizations recently proclaimed their states’ historic windows as endangered. Are these promotional efforts doing any good?"
Plaster Repairs
"I have an 1890's building with plaster walls probably from the 1920's or before. The plaster was installed for wallpaper since it has a rather rough texture. In one room, a skim coat of finish plaster had been put over the top of this original plaster (date unknown) and has developed several cracks both along cracks in the original plaster..."
Lockset Cleaning
"I have an old front door mortise lockset that is complete, but doesn't work very well. The bolt doesn't really spring very well. What are the steps for cleaning and restoring this thing?"
Piano Load
"On a home built in 1750, would it be possible for the weight of an upright piano to cause damage to the beams in the basement?"
Gutter Talk
"Do you recommend, as my regular hardware store owner does, preserving gutters with a 50/50 mix of raw (not boiled) linseed oil and paint thinner - or do you recommend something better?"
Boring Bugs
"There are signs of wood boring bugs in my timbers. The main concern here in mid-coast Maine are carpenter ants and powder post beetles..."
Exterior Paint and Clapboards
"I live in an old farmhouse in Vermont. The oldest part of the house still has it's original clapboards that date to about 1830. Much to my dismay, the new paint is already peeling rather dramatically..."
Floor Finish
"What steps would you recommend in refinishing an old strip-wood (fir) floor in a high traffic area?"
Chimney Flue Lining
“I own a 1772 center chimney cape. The chimney is original with four fireplaces, one bake oven, and it serves the furnace and a water heater. I don't want to use any of the fireplaces until I have it repaired..."
Stripping Painted Floors
"I want to remove paint from my old wide pine floors. I understand that historically most of these floors were painted, but I'd prefer to go with an unpainted butcher's wax finish..."
Window Condensation
"By this time of year the conscientious homeowner has restored their fine old windows, installed weatherstripping and had new storm windows installed. A week later condensation and frost is building up and they cannot see out the windows..."
Pumping Mortar
"Have you had experience with pumping mortar into a stone wall for a repointing project? We had request to use the pump machine called the Putzmeister, a company known for large concrete projects..."