Conserving Buildings: Guide to Techniques and Materials, Revised Edition

Rating:
Summary: If only I had opened this book before the exam.
Review: A wonderful reference tool for the professional conservitor, or even the "Matha Stewart" home fixer-uper.

Rating:
Summary: Complete technical reference
Review: I bought this to learn more about building materials--wood, stone, concrete, metals--and was not disappointed. Each chapter begins with a summary that's authoritative but friendly. And interesting. You'll learn, for example, that the trick to making a hydraulic cement is to add some siliceous mineral to the limestone before firing in a kiln. The Romans used volcanic rock; modern Portland cement producers find it in certain clays. You'll realize none of these materials can stand up to water, which eventually returns them to their more chemically stable states, changing concrete into limestone, smelted metals back to ores (rust), and turning wood into food for other living things.

What follows the introductory discussion is probably too technical for non-professionals--references to ASTM standards, specifications for water jet delivery in gallons per minute and PSI when cleaning stone, and tips for making your own epoxy using bulk chemicals, complete with Dow Chemical part numbers.

I was a little disappointed by the presentation--B/W photos by the author and very basic drawings--but I suppose that's all that's needed for a book like this.