Historic Home

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Historic and vintage homes are significant to our cultural heritage, yet often lack energy efficiency and comfort. Our mission is to identify key issues, solutions, and best practices when retrofitting much older homes.

Members: 60
Latest Activity: Jan 31

Perry House (c. 1690) main fireplace and keeping room (photos by John Poole)

The above two photos are of the Perry House, a landmark of Stratford, Connecticut. Built (mostly) in 1690, this house truly symbolizes historic preservation. Used as both a school and later public housing, it was nearly lost in the early 1990s, until the town took over and commissioned a major restoration effort. Today, it is home to the Perry House Foundation and local Chamber of Commerce, and holds museum hours and hosts local events. The town engineer claims that the Perry House has been made compliant with all modern building codes, yet still possess nearly all of its original, historic character.

Discussion Forum

Historic Windows: UV and Thermal Transfer 23 Replies

Historic windows present challenges when it comes to mitigating the effects of UV and thermal transfer. Providing both UV and thermal barriers for historic windows is often accomplished via some ancillary attachment. Here are a few examples, with…Continue

Tags: Transfer, Barrier, Thermal, UV, Preservation

Started by John Poole. Last reply by Shade Structures Jan 31.

Historical Window Energy Efficiency Upgrade Standards? 11 Replies

Historical Window Energy Efficiency Upgrade Standards? My name is David Clark, and I am an artisan/craftsman and the Old House Window Wright, out in Northern California. I'm also a long time home performance enthusiast. I have been rehabilitating…Continue

Started by David Clark. Last reply by Robert R Gilbert Jul 13, 2011.

Historic Windows: Air/Moisture Infiltration 1 Reply

Historic windows almost invariably present two specific challenges to home energy efficiency:1) Air & moisture infiltration/exfiltration2) UV & thermal transferAssuming that sashes are in good shape and weather tight,…Continue

Tags: Sealing, Moisture, Infiltration, Preservation, Windows

Started by John Poole. Last reply by Bill Bradbury Jul 10, 2011.

Spanish Style Architecture Wall Construction Details 2 Replies

I have a spanish style home CA 1929 with an addition in the 1970s. The external appearance is very consistent, indicating involvement by an architect or design professional of some type. The appearance is adobe construction with red tile. On the…Continue

Started by John Nicholas. Last reply by Bill Bradbury Jun 29, 2011.

Dry Laid Stone Foundation - Exterior Treatment (via John Nicolas) 3 Replies

How do you treat the outside of a stacked stone crawl space wall? I have specified 2 part spray foam for the inside. There is much evidence of rodent entry and exit inside without and visible holes on the outside. What types of work do people…Continue

Tags: Rodents, Masonry, Stone, Foundation

Started by John Poole. Last reply by David Fay Jun 23, 2011.

Two Part Epoxy and Repair of Structural Wood 10 Replies

Does any one have any experience with repairing structural wood with 2-part epoxies? I'm not referring to simply patching surface areas with pastes or putties, but more along of the lines of injecting liquid two-part epoxy into structural wood in…Continue

Tags: Wood, Repair, Structural, Epoxy

Started by John Poole. Last reply by John Poole Apr 15, 2011.

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Comment by John Poole on June 30, 2011 at 7:49am: You're welcome, John! Whenever I find some resource that seems useful, I'm making it a point to post it here.

Comment by John Nicholas on June 29, 2011 at 4:35am: John, Thanks for the link to the Vintage Home Essay. That is worth reading and keeping for future marketing. I am thankful I have a fellow in the area that loves to rebuild windows instead of replacing them.

Comment by John Poole on June 28, 2011 at 11:19pm: Decent overview/intro to retrofitting vintage homes: "Old House Beauty, New House Performance"

http://www.myoldhouseonline.com/profiles/blogs/old-house-beauty-new...

Comment by John Poole on June 28, 2011 at 5:09pm

More resources on preservation and energy efficiency:

Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and Illustrated Guidelines on Sustainability for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings (April 2011) (PDF) http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/download/guidelines-sustainabili...

Historic New England's Lyman Estate Weatherization and Energy Efficiency Project (IN PROGRESS) http://www.historicnewengland.org/preservation/energy-efficiency-an...

Historic New England's page on Energy Efficiency and Sustainability http://www.historicnewengland.org/preservation/energy-efficiency-an...

Old House Journal, "An Energy-Efficient Tudor Retrofit" (August-September 2011). A derelict Tudor is rehab'd for deep energy efficiency http://www.oldhouseonline.com/an-energy-efficient-tudor-retrofit/

Comment by John Poole on April 12, 2011 at 1:40pm

Some useful articles and links relevant to traditional windows:

Rob Yagid, Fine Homebuilding Magazine: "Should Your Old Wood Windows Be Saved?"
Traditional Building Portfolio, "Still No Substitute"
NCPTT, "Testing the Energy Performance of Wooden Windows in Cold Climates"
Important safety guidelines for window treatments, whether historic windows or otherwise: Window Covering Safety Council

Comment by A. Tamasin Sterner on March 25, 2011 at 5:59am: Very cool publication, Chris. We work with tons of row homes - some listed as historic buildings. Lots of challenges in the attics and basements and crawl spaces. Thank you for this group.

Comment by John Poole on March 18, 2011 at 5:40am: That's a great resource, Chris! Thanks! Just paged through it, but will study it more thoroughly as soon as I can. And welcome to the group!

Comment by Chris Laumer-Giddens on March 18, 2011 at 2:46am: What a great group, John! I look forward to many good discussions here.

A really great resource that I came across the other day is from Building America, called "Energy Performance Techniques and Technologies: Preserving Historic...". It has a lot of useful information and links to case studies and other documents that can help a preservation project looking not only to preserve, but to increase the energy performance of the home.

Comment by John Poole on March 17, 2011 at 10:22pm: Hi John, Thanks much for joining the group. I hope you don't mind, but I re-posted you question as a discussion forum entry, so that replies can be attached directly to it. Also, photos can be posted there, as well, if you have any photos that might be helpful.

We should probably use the comment wall for general matters pertaining to the group as a whole, rather than specific problems, since these wall comments can't be replied to directly, and can't be collapsed as discussions expand.

Regarding your question, I have no ready answer for that one. However, I'm in the process of recruiting as many folks as I can who are skilled trades people in more traditional building techniques and restoration / preservation to join HEP and this group. So am hoping we'll be able to get you some suggestions as soon as possible. ~John

Comment by John Nicholas on March 17, 2011 at 7:58pm: How do you treat the outside of a stacked stone crawl space wall? I have specified 2 part spray foam for the inside. There is much evidence of rodent entry and exit inside without and visible holes on the outside. What types of work do people specify and what about some cost estimates?

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