[MassHistPres] Restoring windows and lead paint issues

[Tucker, Jonathan]

I agree in every particular, and am, like Mr. Hoadley, a former denizen
of Holdsworth Hall at UMass/Amherst.  A overly-hasty drying process is
the result of the same problem:  the imperatives of predictable volume
in the market.  A quick kiln-drying allows a more constant stream of
product and enhances short-term profitability but ignores the basic
characteristics of the resource-degrading and wasting it-and requires
abandoning the fundamentals of the craft.  Air-drying the lumber for the
time needed to respect its characteristics does not allow the producer
to treat it like hyper-bred corn or soybeans-a stable, predictable
commodity that can be sold . . . whenever.  Investing time enhances the
resource's value and avoids waste, but misses short-term opportunities.
A choice has to be made.

 

If short-term opportunity is the only thing driving the market then we
get what we have.  Regulation can re-inject (among many other things)
respect for the resource into the marketplace, even if it hampers some
folks' short-term profitability.

 

Jonathan Tucker

Planning Director

Amherst Planning Department

4 Boltwood Avenue, Town Hall

Amherst, MA  01002

(413) 259-3040

tuckerj at amherstma.gov    

 

 

  

 

From: Deane Rykerson [mailto:rykersonarchitecture at comcast.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 3:15 PM
To: Tucker, Jonathan
Cc: MHC MHC listserve
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Restoring windows and lead paint issues

 

 

On Dec 30, 2009, at 11:16 AM, Tucker, Jonathan wrote:





However, the quality of lumber depends on its source. 

 

As a student of wood technology, and a recipient of a grant for wood
kiln design from Department of Energy, I should put in my 2 rings.

 

 'Old growth' wood may be somewhat denser, but there is nothing wrong
with farmed softwood, if cut, dried and graded properly.

1.  for critical pieces such as window frames, the wood should be
quarter sawn.  Heartwood only should be used and knots, if any, should
be limited to pin knots.

2.  A huge, unrecognized problem in new wood is the drying process.
When thrown into a commercial kiln, quick drying often causes stresses
in the cellular structure including 'honeycombing' that weaken the wood
and invite rot.  The lumber should be air dried for several months
before the kiln (or if you have the time, air dried one year per inch
thickness)

3.  flashing, flashing, flashing correctly.

 

It sounds expensive, but if the glass lasts hundreds of years, why
shouldn't the frames?

 

For more info, see USDA publications and books by Bruce Hoadley.

 

Deane Rykerson AIA LEEDAP

Rykerson Architecture

1 Salt Marsh Lane

Kittery Point ME 03905

207-439-8755

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20091230/2e4d8521/attachment-0001.htm>