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What's in a word #21313 10/11/09 09:11 AM
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Ken Hume Offline OP
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Hi,

Following the posts made recently on the "Tie Beam Break" thread in the "Engineering" forum I thought that it might be worth exploring what we actually mean by the following words and indeed can these be placed into any kind of preference order in respect of work to be done to old buildings :-

Conservation, Preservation, Restoration, Refurbishment, Repair, Replacement, Salvage, Reuse, Conversion, Change, Alter.

Are there any other buzz words used in this arena ?


Regards

Ken Hume

Last edited by Ken Hume; 10/11/09 09:12 AM.

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Re: What's in a word [Re: Ken Hume] #21314 10/11/09 10:42 AM
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Stabilization comes to mind, I think that fits in well. It depends on the term or length in which one keeps the stabilization in place.

On the lighter side: fudge and muck it up.

Tim

Re: What's in a word [Re: TIMBEAL] #21315 10/11/09 11:09 AM
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Each of those has a certain $$$$ stigma / cachet attached to it. The first 2-3 words usually mean $$$$$$$ while the last one usually means $.


Mike Beganyi Design and Consulting, LLC.
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Re: What's in a word [Re: bmike] #21316 10/11/09 01:47 PM
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Thane O'Dell Offline
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To me it doesn't matter so much what you do or what word you use to describe what you are doing so long as it doesn't include words like: Raze, demolish, burn, nail, 2x4, and most of all the word "Code". Isn't that an ugly word? Or is it just me?

Thane


Life is short so put your heart into something that will last a long time.
Re: What's in a word [Re: Thane O'Dell] #21317 10/11/09 02:40 PM
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Ken Hume Offline OP
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Hi Thane,

I think that one of your words fits nicely into the sequence :-

Conservation, Preservation, Restoration, Refurbishment, Repair, Replacement, Delapidate, Demolish, Salvage, Reuse, Conversion, Change, Alter

Regards

Ken Hume


Looking back to see the way ahead !
Re: What's in a word [Re: Ken Hume] #21318 10/11/09 04:14 PM
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Thane O'Dell Offline
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Ken,
I guess I missed the point of your original post and veered off on a tangent. I see now that this a lesson in english grammer... something I never exceled at in school.
Hey Ken you forgot the simplest, most common word: "Fix". Yeh, I got one.(clapping)
Sorry Ken. I couldn't help myself.


Life is short so put your heart into something that will last a long time.
Re: What's in a word [Re: Thane O'Dell] #21319 10/11/09 04:46 PM
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Adaptive reuse is one buzzword I've worked under. It was in response to what a friend refers to as a remuddle.

Re: What's in a word [Re: Don P] #21320 10/11/09 09:37 PM
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Ken Hume Offline OP
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Hi Thane & Don,

The list is now revised to include your suggestions :-

Conservation, Preservation, Restoration, Refurbishment, Repair (Fix), Replacement, Delapidate, Demolish, Salvage, Reuse, Conversion (Adaptive Reuse), Change, Alter.

I think that we must recognise that there are bound to be slight differences in interpretation or understanding of the meaning of US / UK terminology.

Can we now have a go at defining what these words mean ? This is not a grammer lesson but more an attempt at defining legitimate approaches that could be employed with buildings under differing circumstances.

e.g.

"Preservation" - works aimed at stabilising the current condition of a building without making fundamental improvement changes to same.

"Restoration" - works aimed at taking a building back to a previously known condition generally at a recognised period in time. Could imply removal or reversal of later alterations and additions.

Agree / disagree ?

Regards

Ken Hume




Regards

Ken Hume




Looking back to see the way ahead !
Re: What's in a word [Re: Ken Hume] #21321 10/11/09 10:01 PM
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Is Preservation engineered stabilization where any thing goes as long as you keep the original fabric as is. Modern floor joist with hangers along side weakened, dilapidated floor joist.

While you may restore a barn you disassembled and replace whole pieces with new stock using similar technology to remake the offending pieces.

I think that is similar to what Ken said, so I would agree.

I can see cases where you would want to do one or the other or a bit of both.

Tim

Re: What's in a word [Re: Ken Hume] #21322 10/11/09 10:07 PM
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Re: What's in a word [Re: Ken Hume] #21323 10/12/09 12:22 AM
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Quote:
"Preservation" - works aimed at stabilising the current condition of a building without making fundamental improvement changes to same.

"Restoration" - works aimed at taking a building back to a previously known condition generally at a recognised period in time. Could imply removal or reversal of later alterations and additions.

Agree / disagree ?


This makes some sense ken but I should ask if when preserving a building and it has some bad rot in places, can you repair, replace or otherwise restore a single or multiple pieces while still preserving the whole?




Life is short so put your heart into something that will last a long time.
Re: What's in a word [Re: Don P] #21324 10/12/09 08:31 AM
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Hi Tim,

Preservation might be appropriate for a museum artifact where further deterioration of that artefact is desired but there is no intention to repair, restore or use same. If the source of what is causing detrioration to an item can be halted by applying some form of protection e.g. like applying a cover to stop rain falling on a building then we would be using a preventative method and so we now need to add another word to the list - prevention.

If a building is taken apart and some of the parts are changed out with new pieces or deteriorated pieces are repaired then we have probably entered the restoration arena.

"Conservation (Adaptive reuse)" is where techniques including preservation, restoration or repair are used with the intention that the building might experience a new usefulness and an extended working life.

This new use might not be the same as the previous use but care should be taken to ensure that the origins of the building are not overly compromised and preferably that changes made are potentially reversible.

The addition of a splint floor joist or rafter enables the original item to be "preserved" in place even after its own usefulness has been compromised and facilitates the conservation of the building. This technique could be applied where a "patchwork" of repairs is to be avoided but ongoing use is required.

So the list now reads :-

Conservation, Preservation, Prevention, Restoration, Refurbishment, Repair (Fix), Replacement, Delapidate, Demolish, Salvage, Reuse, Conversion (Adaptive Reuse), Change, Alter.

Regards

Ken Hume




Looking back to see the way ahead !
Re: What's in a word [Re: Ken Hume] #21325 10/12/09 09:35 AM
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Hi Thane,

You have posed quite a profound question and the answer to same is probably dependant on the scale of the intervention required together with the period of time over which these small changes are made.

If a small localised problem exists e.g. a leaking roof, then one might simply take the view that any intervention that takes place should simply be classed as ongoing "maintainence". A new word for the list. Maintainence is attending to all of those routine little tasks that need to be done from time to time to help keep things ticking over. However, when an underlying problem is neglected then this will at some stage likely end up requiring an intervention that might well require elements of repair, replacement, prevention to arrest any future deterioration and ensure ongoing functionality and so should this not be viewed more as conservation rather than preservation.

I understand that the Japanese have over centuries routinely taken their buildings apart to repair and replace defective parts then reassemble the building thereby ensuring the perceived continued prescence and hence preservation of that building as part of the landscape. From a distance it probably appears to be the same building but closer inspection might reveal otherwise e.g. evidence of circular saw marks where previously a hewn surface might have been seen and so the intervention might be viewed locally more as conservation or maybe even restoration than preservation. The answer might quite literally depend upon your viewpoint.

So the list is now updated to include :-

Conservation, Preservation, Restoration, Refurbishment, Maintenance, Repair (Fix), Replacement, Delapidate, Demolish, Salvage, Reuse, Conversion (Adaptive Reuse), Change, Alter.

Please be my guest and introduce us to new words and arguments that might fit into this chain of thought.

Regards

Ken Hume


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Re: What's in a word [Re: Don P] #21326 10/12/09 10:04 AM
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Hi Don,

Please forgive my not answering your thread in sequence but I had to go off, read and digest your reference article which is very good and a "must" to read in respect of this thread.

It seems once again that there might well be a juxtaposition in the use of the words Preservation and Conservation between the UK and USA.

Who is correct ?

One of the major features of the English language is that it is continually moving forward and the meaning(s) understood for the use of the same words will change with time. Is this just simply a case of the USA being out of synchronisation with the UK ?

For us "preservation" means just that i.e. its more akin in modern parlance to "freeze frame" whereas "conservation" allows a little more freedom to move forward recognising that for a building to remain relevant to society and its future occupants that some changes might be required e.g. the addition of indoor plumbing, telephone & electric cables, provision of a garage rather than carriage shed and stable or possibly allowing "adaptive reuse" of a carriage shed to become a garage !

Regards

Ken Hume



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Re: What's in a word [Re: Ken Hume] #21327 10/12/09 10:36 AM
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An excellent conversation, and one I am happy to see happening, for two reasons. Our trade is inextricably tied to preservation, and that being the case it would be nice if when we invoked one of these words its use was coming from a common sense of things. Discussions like this one, can only help.

The words on the list are open to conjecture, and for most people they are often used interchangeably, To those who have a deep interest in preservation however, then, as the article Don cites suggests each word has a distinctive meaning, though this meaning might shift somewhat depending where on the spectrum, one comes from...

Maybe this is all just so obvious and might could've remained unsaid, all the same and again, I'm happy to see the discussion happening.


"We build too many walls and not enough bridges" - Isaac Newton

http://bridgewright.wordpress.com/

Re: What's in a word [Re: Will Truax] #21328 10/12/09 10:56 AM
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Another word which popped out on Don's list was Replication.

Here is an example of a local building on the Historical building list. I see this often. Someone has a building with lime plaster which has cracked and possibly fallen out in places or it has needed to be removed for some reason. The fix is always with modern joint compound and then a latex paint on top of that, sometimes painting the whole interior. Is this a repair, fix or a change? Is it right?

Tim

Last edited by TIMBEAL; 10/12/09 10:57 AM.
Re: What's in a word [Re: TIMBEAL] #21329 10/12/09 04:06 PM
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Ken Hume Offline OP
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Hi Will & Tim,

The loss of historic fabric especially plaster is now viewed with great concern since this tends to be lime based plaster fixed to a split lath backing. The split lath costs a small fortune to replace today and hence cheaper alternatives are sometimes employed (split cane roll). Cracked plaster is in itself not a very good reason for stripping a wall back to the bare frame though this often happens (commonly referred to as "gutting"). Using different materials (synthetic & laytex) to effect a "repair" is indeed a "change" but might not well be regarded as a "fix" since it could potentially cause more problems than it solves. Further advice in this respect can be obtained in the "Old House Handbook" by Marianne Suhr and Roger Hunt (ISBN 978-0-7112-2772-9).

The making of a replica is an interesting concept and one with which I have been involved several times. Though the materials, conversion, layout and cutting methods might be different, expecially on close up inspection, the building pattern can be perfectly preserved in the replica. Most people insure their properties against fire but nearly allways forget to make proper drawing records of their building so that they can actually rebuild following such a catastrophe.

The list now reads :-

Conservation, Preservation, Restoration, Refurbishment, Maintenance, Repair (Fix), Replacement, Delapidate, Demolish, Salvage, Replicataton, Reuse, Conversion (Adaptive Reuse), Change, Alter.

Regards

Ken Hume


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Re: What's in a word [Re: TIMBEAL] #21330 10/12/09 04:19 PM
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Replication and Reconstruction might be interchangeable. However, Reconstruction has the scale of being disciplined on what is known of a previous building now not present.

My man Benjamin's house.


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Re: What's in a word [Re: mo] #21331 10/13/09 01:00 AM
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Sometimes "preservation carpenter" is just a fancy name for a maintaince person, but preservation is a completely different field than restoration, rehabilitation etc. Many people do not realize this and call a restoration person for a building they really want "preserved". Even architects have this problem and a preservation architect is in a very different field than a regular architect. I use quotes on "preserved" because this word, like the word perminant, can imply eternal life which is not true for any building. Thus, "impermanent architectre" is a misnomer.

"Poverty is preservation" since people without the money to remodel, restore, etc. leave things alone and thus preserve it.

The word "code" is a mixed blessing! It gives the power of how an old building is changed to a code officer who sometimes does not know the meaning of the words preservation, restoration, etc. Energy codes and stairway codes are good ideas but can very effectively destroy historic buildings! National codes also destroy the regional variation which makes historic buildings interesting on a cultural level. But, codes are a "minimum standard", helping to assure the quality of buildings.

The different meanings of words in various countries are not right or wrong, just different. You just have to remember which country you are talking about!

Jim


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Re: What's in a word [Re: Housewright] #21334 10/13/09 08:04 AM
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Originally Posted By: Housewright


"Poverty is preservation" since people without the money to remodel, restore, etc. leave things alone and thus preserve it.

Jim


I like that statement Jim. Just down the road from the empty barn we looked at and lifted the floor boards on is a farm house which is very original, the elderly lady who lived there did minimal up keep and made no changes to the house which had been in her family for generations. The plaster is original and has not been touched, if I recall rightly not even wall paper, just raw plaster in need of some crack work and a fresh coat of lime wash. The barn on the other hand, allowed sheep manure to pile up over the years attacking the sills also the minimal stone foundation has done a job on the the sills which were not touched by rot, have shifted causing some stress here and there. A case where I wouldn't say poverty but more old time frugalness has won out.

Tim

Re: What's in a word [Re: Thane O'Dell] #21335 10/13/09 08:08 AM
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Hello,
Can I turn the question around for a try? Here goes anyway. I'm working on a, let's say, project, a part of which is a window, badly rotted by now. This window is not original but has been there for some time and I decided to keep it. Taking it out I pried up the wooden strips holding shards of broken glass panes, bundled them and set them, with the nails, aside. Then I cut out water rotted wood and lightly cleaned off the whole window.
With PVAC glue I glued in new wood but, consciously, not of the same species, just what I had on hand, imagining that's what a carpenter in a village would have done 100 years ago. I shaped the pieces with hand tools, some of which had been standing in that place as long as the window itself had been. With the wood strips and original nails I had set aside I put 125 year-old hand made glass panes in where the broken ones had been and remounted the window.
So, if my accounting is complete and correct, just what did I do?

Don W.

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Re: What's in a word [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #21336 10/13/09 08:45 AM
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Hi Don W,

If you had made the changes to the window whilst it was still in position I would suggest that this might be classed as a repair provided you had chosen to use "like for like" materials but by you own confession you deliberately choose to employ offcuts of a dissimilar nature and hence this might actually be more akin to a fix. Thus in our word list maybe we need to separate out both the terms "repair" and "fix" since there might well be quite a definite distiction between the two.

Given that you choose to remove the window, dissassemble and then make changes to same using dissimilar materials then depending on how much was replaced you might well have possibly have strayed into the territory of salvage - because the window was removed and is now effectively no longer part of the building but is being repaired for reuse i.e. it is being saved or salvaged but is not quite being restored.

Our list of words is now revised as follows :-

Conservation, Preservation, Restoration, Refurbishment, Maintenance, Repair, Fix, Replacement, Delapidate, Demolish, Salvage, Replicataton, Reuse, Conversion (Adaptive Reuse), Change, Alter.

Regards

Ken Hume


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Re: What's in a word [Re: mo] #21337 10/13/09 09:13 AM
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Hi Mo,

Franklin's house looks to be a bit drafty !

The contrast that you draw between replication and reconstruction is interesting. I think that we need to add reconstruction to the list.

My understanding of "reconstruction" might be that a building is rebuilt on its original site using whatever original materials, information and accounts are to hand in an attempt to create or show the likely original building whereas a "replica" would be an all new building not necessarily built on the site of the original building. For example I once visited Anne Hathaways cottage on Vancouver Island and a very good replica this is too having visited and compared this with the original which is still standing in Staffordshire, England.

The list now reads :-

Conservation, Preservation, Restoration, Refurbishment, Maintenance, Repair, Fix, Replacement, Delapidate, Demolish, Salvage, Reconstruction, Replicataton, Reuse, Conversion (Adaptive Reuse), Change, Alter.

Regards

Ken Hume




Looking back to see the way ahead !
Re: What's in a word [Re: Housewright] #21338 10/13/09 09:38 AM
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Hi Jim,

You have introduced the term "rehabilitation" into the discussion and I wonder if this has the same meaning (to you) as "refurbishment" (to me)? I am adding this to the list.

"Refurbishment" is a term used mainly by commercial property developers when they take on existing office blocks or old warehouses and modernise same for commercial gain not necessarily taking great care to conserve all features of a building.

I watched a TV programme last night about how a Hugenot church built in brick lane in London was first transformed into a Jewish Synagogue and then later converted into a Muslim Mosque. In the latter change of use all of the ornate Jewish internal woodwork including seats, panelling and dividers was ripped out and junked because Muslims have no need for this in their places of worship. Was this a case of Refurbishment, Rehabilitation or demolition ?

I agree with your point about buildings being best preserved by poor people simply because they don't have loads of money with which they can indulge their flights of fancy. When I was undertaking research for my dissertation I examined about 90 vernacular mainly timber framed houses and both quantified and catagorised changes that had been made over the past 117 years. In nearly all cases the biggest changes made were driven by an excess of available money. One does have to recognise that this form of preservation does carry with it a higher risk of incurring delapidation in the medium to longer term.

The list now reads :-

Conservation, Preservation, Restoration, Refurbishment, Rehabilitation, Maintenance, Repair, Fix, Replacement, Delapidate, Demolish, Salvage, Reconstruction, Replicataton, Reuse, Conversion (Adaptive Reuse), Change, Alter.

Regards

Ken Hume


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Re: What's in a word [Re: Ken Hume] #21339 10/13/09 10:04 AM
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So, Ken, Hello,
if it is a salvage job then, why is it not a fix or restoration? Because I took it out of context?
Then I would say the window was in a wall with rotted and weakened framing etc...- mortice & tenon work (visible in the second half of image clip) - which I also re-did - (was it restored?) which is part of the barn which I am also trying to, preserve. Or have I got it all wrong?
I would like to know what I'm doing, actually, now that you've got me thinking.
Don W

Re: What's in a word [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #21341 10/13/09 01:04 PM
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Ken -

Any chance we can get your list in a more degenerating order (within quibbling distance, at least) maybe something like this (with some editing):

Conservation, Preservation, Restoration, Refurbishment, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Replicataton, Reuse, Conversion (Adaptive Reuse), Change, Alter, Repair and Maintain(ence), Salvage, Replacement, Demolish.

To me, repair and maintain should probably not be in the list... as most buildings need TLC through normal use this would fit into conservation / good use / preservation - so unless we are talking about wholesale changes (which fit into reconstruction or rehabilitation) I think repair and maintain(ence) are just parts of the everyday life of a building (replacing broken panes of glass, touching up plaster, tuck pointing, etc... and the Japanese might argue that replacements of certain post bottoms and other wood components are just part of 'maintain'...)


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Re: What's in a word [Re: bmike] #21342 10/13/09 02:08 PM
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Hi,
to me this sounds like imposing subjective values on what to now has been approached somewhat objectively. The implication is that conservation, for example, is superior to than say, fixing. If that is so, how and why? If anything, categorize alphabetically or chronologically.
I also question the relevance of the Japanese example. I believe they take apart and then rebuilt particular temples or structures, over regular time-spans of for example 25 or 200 years or something I don't know. Like I said though I think this is a very different topic containing elements of Zen Buddhism.

Re: What's in a word [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #21345 10/13/09 03:18 PM
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Originally Posted By: Cecile en Don Wa
Hi,
to me this sounds like imposing subjective values on what to now has been approached somewhat objectively. The implication is that conservation, for example, is superior to than say, fixing. If that is so, how and why? If anything, categorize alphabetically or chronologically.
I also question the relevance of the Japanese example. I believe they take apart and then rebuilt particular temples or structures, over regular time-spans of for example 25 or 200 years or something I don't know. Like I said though I think this is a very different topic containing elements of Zen Buddhism.


OK, so forget about the Japanese reference. I was interested in how more than just our anglo referenced minds might look at that list.

How has this been objective? Isn't language by its nature subjective? The only way to have this work objectively would be to have a formula for applying each term: (but then we could say the formula's were being subjective or politicized or partisan)

Quote:
IF Building A has 75% of its original roof and / or 100% of its original foundation + 80% of glazing intact - the addition and car port put on by the Brady's in the '70s + 10 of 12 daisy wheels and maker's marks + hewn floor joists THEN the building qualifies for conservation IF the client has 60% deposit in cash with bank financing for the balance. OR call in the salvage crew.


And I think that to some extent there is a value issue that should be reinforced. In a world with dwindling resources, dwindling piles of money to throw around at projects (old and new), and environmental resource issues due to over consumption of our consumer economy... doesn't it make more sense to conserve and reuse than to tear down, demolish, and rebuild? To me a continuum of best practices would have that list be in a somewhat hierarchical line.

Or, perhaps there needs to be 2-3 different lists... depending on one's world view, trade, social outlook, etc... If you run a salvage company every older out of plumb building might start to look like $$, and if you run a conservation / restoration business every out of plumb building looks like an opportunity to get in there and make some $$ getting it back to its former glory... and if you like smashing things - every out of plumb building looks like an opportunity to bring in the wrecking ball and dumpsters.

Last edited by bmike; 10/13/09 03:23 PM.

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Re: What's in a word [Re: bmike] #21349 10/13/09 10:33 PM
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I just wonder- doubt really - if, lets say a Zen monk, or even someone steeped in a truly non-anglo mind-set, would be considering the concept of preservation and the rest of it. What we chat about here is by it's nature, I fear a relatively recent, probably almost exclusively, mid/central European thing. Not to say that they don't do it in Asia at this time.
And it's just got me thinking, on a personal level understand, am I bothered or would I be bothered if someone labeled my work - on this barn, for example - as a salvage job? Or someone said I'm fixin' it up not restoring it. And here is where it gets a bit Eastern now, but my first reaction would be or was, rooted in my ego. Now I am not discounting the distinctions. I find them critical and very important in that being clear headed at this level will influence the many large and small decisions ahead, decisions with short and long term consequences impacting those things written of up there- resources and money and the environment and all that. But in the end, to me I am every bit as happy repairing something as I would be restoring something. Yanagi writes of the utilitarian tea bowls made in their thousands by Korean - what's the English word now- pot bakers, you know, someone who makes cups and plates and vases with clay on a wheel... anyway, can't think o' the word, but these Koreans- slaves they were- made these things constantly, non-stop, never looking up from the potting wheel, they slapped glaze on unevenly or whatever and stacked them on top of each other in ovens. But the bowls they made are the models or the inspiration for potters - that's it, potters!- now, who get the highest prices for their tea bowls.
Makes me think of the hand hewn rail road ties mentioned in another place on this web site. Would this not be the height of achievement for any timber framer around here these days? So if you say that what I'm doing is a-fixin' that barn door, that makes me think of ol' gramps and the grandpa of gramps maybe and what their relationship is to that one over there trying to figure out if that nick on a post was done with an ax head or an adze and how high that post was propped up at the time. Yeah it is all pretty subjective.
Can I just add this, that the floor of my barn is clay in no small part due to the parsimoniousness of the old man who lived here up until he died a few years ago. And this floor is a pain. It's pitted and uneven, I've got to keep the rabbits off it or they dig it up, and on humid Fall days, it is as slippery as an ice rink and all the neighbors say, "you gotta throw dawn a slab of cement over that" by which they mean hire someone to came and do that. I hate cement though and have recently switched to lime- from limestone or seashells it doesn't matter, but it is beautiful, that floor, you don't see many like it either.

Don Wagstaff

Last edited by Cecile en Don Wa; 10/13/09 10:34 PM.
Re: What's in a word [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #21353 10/14/09 09:51 AM
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Ken Hume Offline OP
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Hi Mike & Don,

I'm afraid that you have both lost me just a bit.

In the first instance I am simply trying to establish what we mean by the various words that tend to be used in the field of historic buildings. I agree that when "we" manage to assemble a list of words that are typically employed and we agree meanings and understandings for those words then we can most probably reorder these words into a more logical framework if indeed that helps.

Re "Maintainence" :- It is a reality (in Europe) that most historic buildings are now covered by some form of protective legislation and this tends to exclude maintenance. So, it might be important to understand where maintenance finishes and repair takes over.

Regards

Ken Hume

Last edited by Ken Hume; 10/14/09 09:52 AM.

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Re: What's in a word [Re: Ken Hume] #21357 10/14/09 01:32 PM
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bmike Offline
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Ken -

I'm just looking for a hierarchy... or a timeline... or something.

Basically from 'pristine and new' on down through 'loved and worn' to 'scrap it and start over'.

Your list did that, by the words you chose and were added - but they were intermixed. I think a range of progression would be helpful... but your mileage may vary.



Mike Beganyi Design and Consulting, LLC.
www.mikebeganyi.com
Re: What's in a word [Re: bmike] #21359 10/14/09 06:44 PM
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Cecile en Don Wa Offline
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Maybe it's a sign the list is complete. Only thing is, I'm trying to get a hand on this poverty thing someone brought up that I find interesting.

Don Wagstaff

Re: What's in a word [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #21367 10/15/09 10:02 AM
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TIMBEAL Offline
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I think there could be two types of poverty, one would destroy a building through neglect the other would preserve via the effect of not spending money on up keep in effect no changes are made. It would still be taken care of though.

Tim

Re: What's in a word [Re: TIMBEAL] #21369 10/15/09 01:29 PM
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Cecile en Don Wa Offline
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Yes, and how does it relate to defining terms used in building, like preservation and repair etc...?

Don Wagstaff

Re: What's in a word [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #21373 10/15/09 02:18 PM
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Ken Hume Offline OP
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Hi Don,

"Maintenance" and "Repair" can help delay "Delapidation".

Regards

Ken Hume


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Re: What's in a word [Re: Ken Hume] #21375 10/15/09 04:53 PM
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Cecile en Don Wa Offline
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Hello,

And more: enhance aging!

Don Wagstaff




Re: What's in a word [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #21549 10/26/09 09:48 AM
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Ken Hume Offline OP
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Hi,

Will T's recent post of the link to the Dalzeil (pronounced Dal-yell) barn at :

http://www.dalzielbarn.com/pages/TheBarn/NorthAmericanBarns.html

provides a very good example of "preservation" in action.

The quality of photographs taken and posted on this website are excellent and it tells a good story of the hundreds of years of working and family history associated with this barn however that is all now at an end. The barn has been both "repaired" and "restored" with many of its artefacts removed and now exhibits a clinical cleanliness that would never have existed in its entire working life (apart from raising day) and its very sad that this is now just a museum piece with no real function other than acting as a building pattern.

I recognise the need for craftsmen and the public to be able to have access to museum piece buildings in order to study and learn but I remain in a quandry if this really is the best remaining use for this wonderfull building.

Regards

Ken Hume


Looking back to see the way ahead !
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