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1. Know your maintenance cycles. Most buildings need tuckpointing maintenance every 50 to 60 years.

2. Match the mortar. New mortar should match as carefully as possible in color, consistency, and elevation. Using excessive Portland cement in the mix develops tough mortars, which can harm old buildings.

3. Never grind out joints. Only shabby mortar needs to be eliminated. If somebody tells you otherwise, run.

4. Never ever utilize sealants. Sealants trap moisture, intensifying issues throughout freeze/thaw cycles.

5. Replace in kind. Damaged masonry units ought to be changed whole or through Dutchmen of the very same product. Spaces filled with putty do not last.

-- Jacob Arndt, Conservation Specialist, Architectural Stone Carver

Radiators

6. Don't throttle a one-pipe steam radiator The steam and condensate have to share that restricted space. Keep the valve either totally open or fully near to avoid water hammering and squirting air vents.

7. Produce a perfect pitch. One-pipe steam radiators need to pitch towards the supply valve. Usage two checkers under radiator feet-- they're the ideal sizes and shape.

8. Gain control. Thermostatic radiator valves are a fantastic way to zone any radiator and save fuel. Hot-water and two-pipe steam radiators get them on the supply side; one-pipe steam radiators get them in between the radiator and the air vent.

Old radiator.

( Image: Sylvia Gashi-Silver).

9. Get a terrific finish. Pros concur that sandblasting followed by powder finish offers the best, long-lasting, non-sticky finish-- but do not try this in your home.

10. Don't stress over fires. Even with steam heat, a radiator gets only about half as hot as the temperature level needed to kindle paper, so you can rest simple.

-- Dan Holohan, Author, The Lost Art of Steam Heating.

Woodworking.

11. Use heartwood. Heartwood is always the most disease-resistant. Sapwood of most species should never be used.

12. Rift or quarter-grain cuts are best. These cuts are the most stable. Flat grain often expands and contracts seasonally at two times the rate of quartered stock.

13. Install plain sawn lumber with the heart side up. Flat lumber will wear much better with the heart dealing with up. If there's cupping, the edges will stay flat, and just the center will hump slightly.

14. Discover to use hand tools. Many historic woodwork was produced by hand tools, and most machine-made millwork (late 19th century and after) was installed with them. Historic woodwork surfaces produced with hand planes can't be replicated by modern-day devices like sanders.

15. how to restore victorian woodwork Montclair Usage traditional joinery. Part repair work ought to be used traditional joinery instead of non-historic methods like a wholesale epoxy casting of a missing part.

-- Robert Adam, Creator and Senior Consultant, Preservation Woodworking Department, North Bennet Street School.

Slate Roofing, renovating old houses.

Slate roofing system on a turret, renovating old homes.

Slate roofing system on a turret. (Image: Nathan Winter).

16. Recognize your slate.To correctly care for your slate roof, find out what type of slate it is. Simply as you can't fix a Chevy with Ford parts, you must never use New york city red slate on a Pennsylvania gray slate roof.

17. Comprehend your roofing system's durability. If your roof just has 100 years of durability and is 95 years of ages, it's not worth sinking money into. But a roof with 200 years of longevity that's 75 years of ages is a young roofing that needs to be highly valued and correctly kept.

18. Examine your roofing frequently. At least when a year, walk your house (usage field glasses if required) and look at your roof. If you see missing, broken, or moving slates, or flashing that looks suspect, call your slater.

19. Search for quality. Good slaters are out there, but you need to try to find them. It deserves the effort to have someone who genuinely understands what he's doing.