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