MAINTENANCE-FREE BUILDINGS?

In a word, no. This whole phrase is an oxymoron. There is no such thing. I think this is the most common misnomer about historic buildings and buildings in general. Owning historic buildings and structures is not a job for the timid. When people consider buying property, the first thing they ask me is, "What do I do first ?" My response is that you have to literally stand back and look at the building envelope. Forget about plaster work and floors, stripping wallpaper and replumbing bathrooms. If you don't address the envelope, all that plaster work is in vein, the money spent renting the floor sander is gone. Look at the foundation and the roof, the outside walls and the wall openings. And if you're not the type to climb that 40 foot ladder and inspect your slates or standing-seam terne plate roof, find a professional to look at it at least once a year, preferably at the first break of spring. Have him check your flashings, your gutters systems, your chimneys. Make sure if something needs paint or attention it's addressed before water comes into your attic and down three floors to your parlor. If problems are addressed early enough, they become maintenance issues, and a little spent every year replacing broken slates, and cleaning debris off the roof and out of the gutters is money well spent. (You know the axiom, "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later'") Once you have addressed the envelope, go inside and commence stripping that 1970s harvest gold wallpaper.

Vinyl siding really bugs me, not so much for the aesthetic issues, which are many, but because it's put on to make a building "maintenance-free." Nine times out of ten the reason vinyl siding, or any synthetic siding for that matter, goes up is because a property owner gets tired of painting every couple of years (which should send up a red flag). With proper preparation, a good quality paint, and proper application, a paint job should last a good seven years or more. If it doesn't , there is something else going on: e.g., roof and gutter problems, landscaping issues, etc. So, without addressing these issues, on goes the vinyl siding, generally right over the clapboard, or worse yet over the asphalt (insulbrick), asbestos, and aluminum, which are already layered on top of the clapboard. But this time the owner is tired of painting the aluminum siding, which means that siding has aged enough so that it's no longer "maintenance-free." (On a project in Indiana, I had the fortune or misfortune of stripping off 5 courses of siding: 2 of asphalt, asbestos, aluminum and vinyl, before getting to the original 1860s poplar clapboard siding). See the cycle here ? Synthetic siding exacerbates moisture problems. Often they're not noticed until the plaster starts to stain and crumble.

I just came across an appropriate article from a 1993 issue of Old House Journal that addresses the issue of removing "Substitute Siding." For a copy, contact me at the City Building, 998 Monmouth Street. John Paquette is the Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Newport. He can be reached at the City Building via phone: 292-3666, or e-mail: jpaquette@cityofnewportky.org.