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Preservation Brief Number 10
Exterior
Paint Problems on Historic Woodwork
Kay D. Weeks and David W. Look, AIA
2. Treating Paint Problems in Historic Buildings
Exterior paint is constantly deteriorating through the processes of weathering, but in a program of regular maintenance--assuming all other building systems are functioning properly--surfaces can be cleaned, lightly scraped, and hand sanded in preparation for a new finish coat. Unfortunately, these are ideal conditions. More often, complex maintenance problems are inherited by owners of historic buildings, including areas of paint that have failed (4) beyond the point of mere cleaning, scraping, and hand sanding (although much so-called "paint failure" is attributable to interior or exterior moisture problems or surface preparation and application mistakes with previous coats).
Although paint problems are by no means unique to historic buildings, treating multiple layers of hardened, brittle paint on complex, ornamental--and possibly fragile--exterior wood surfaces necessarily requires an extremely cautious approach. In the case of recent construction, this level of concern is not needed because the wood is generally less detailed and, in addition, retention of the sequence of paint layers as a partial record of the building's history is not an issue.
When historic buildings are involved, however, a special set of problems arises--varying in complexity depending upon their age, architectural style, historical importance, and physical soundness of the wood--which must be carefully evaluated so that decisions can be made that are sensitive to the longevity of the resource.
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This publication has been prepared pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, which directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop and make available information concerning historic properties. Technical Preservation Services (TPS), Heritage Preservation Services Division, National Park Service prepares standards, guidelines, and other educational materials on responsible historic preservation treatments for a broad public.
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