Tips and Oops
The GREENEST building is one that ALREADY EXISTS!
Historic homes benefit from the construction practices of 100 years ago and the green aspects already built into them.
In a sense, we are attempting to keep up with our pioneer ancestors. It's a noble endeavor.
Many modern DIY subcultures take the traditional Arts and Crafts movement's rebellion against the perceived lack of soul of industrial aesthetics a step further. DIY subculture explicitly critiques modern consumer culture, which emphasizes that the solution to our needs is to purchase things, and instead encourages people to take technologies into their own hands to solve needs.
-----Excerpted from definiton of DIY on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIY
We've all "Been there; done that" and some of us have learned the hard way what works and what doesn't. Here we can learn from each others' mistakes. Email yours to newseditor@kansasofolde.com. Also, check out the Resource Links page and Library page to find resources for your endeavors.
| Source | The Task's Objective | Project | What Was Learned |
| Mike | To add a formal look to two large stone flower beds in the front of our historic limestone house | We planted privett hedge into the beds | It looked great but the root system broke out the stone of the beds |
| EPA | Disturbing Lead Paint | Any project involving lead paint | Professionals must be certified by April 2010. See article, below. |
| Ks of Olde research | Energy Conservation | Windows | Start here! http://www.preservationnation.org/ issues/weatherization/windows/ |
Re-doing It Right The First Time
Before you begin restoration projects, we recommend checking out this site:
http://www.kshs.org/p/preservation-standards-and-techniques/14649 :
Preserving and maintaining historic buildings requires techniques that differ from those used on modern buildings. Well-meaning, but inappropriate, repairs can result in irreparable damage. The purpose of this information is to educate owners of historic buildings about the properties of historic materials so they can be successfully repaired and maintained.
Caring for Your Collections Class
This year the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library partnered with the Salina Public Library for the class,
Caring for your Collections. Topics included how to best store and display your collections, how to handle and house them appropriately particularly paper documents, books, photographs, audiovisual materials as well as a wide range of artifacts. Instructors Chris Abraham and Valoise Armstrong are archivists and Nathan Myers is the museum registrar at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. Between them they brought a broad expanse of experience caring for a wide range of materials.
For more on these topics can be located at
http://www.salinaclass.com/
Historic Home Produces More Energy Than It Consumes
Matt and Kelly Grocoff's March/April utility bill for their 110 year old Folk-Victorian home in Ann Arbor, Michigan’s Old West Side Historic District. It was -$68.44—and yes, that's a minus sign before the dollar sign. Matt and Kelly’s home—America’s oldest net-zero energy restoration and Michigan’s first net-zero house—has been retrofitted so that it produces more energy than it consumes....and all the while the Grocoffs have kept the National Trust for Historic Preservation folks happy
Miscellaneous tips for old, not necessarily historic, homes:
Renovation, Repair and Painting Activities that Disturb Lead-Based Paint EPA Rule Requires Professionals to be Certified by April 2010.
While the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lead-based paint for residential use in 1978, almost 38 million U.S. homes still contain some lead-based paint, with two-thirds of the houses built before 1960 containing lead-based paint. Renovation activities that disturb lead-based paint can create lead hazards.
The Agency issued a new rule aimed at protecting children from lead-based paint hazards in places they frequent. The rule applies to renovators and maintenance professionals that work in housing, child-care facilities and schools built prior to 1978. The rule, Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting Program (PDF) (79 pp, 847K), requires that contractors and maintenance professionals be certified; that their employees be trained; and that they follow protective work practice standards. These standards prohibit certain dangerous practices, such as open flame burning or torching of lead-based paint. The required work practices also include posting warning signs, restricting occupants from work areas, containing work areas to prevent dust and debris from spreading, conducting a thorough cleanup, and verifying that cleanup was effective. The rule will be fully effective by April 2010.
This rule is one component of a comprehensive program that will also include an education and outreach campaign to promote lead-safe work practices. This program will help to meet the goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning as a major public health concern by the year 2010. While the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lead-based paint for residential use in 1978, almost 38 million U.S. homes still contain some lead-based paint, with two-thirds of the houses built before 1960 containing lead-based paint. Renovation activities that disturb lead-based paint can create lead hazards. The rule and additional information can be accessed at www.epa.gov/lead.
Read more at http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/rrpfactsheet2008.htm
Find great how-to articles at Old House Journal: http://www.oldhousejournal.com/npsbriefs2/