Hi All,

I work at an historic home from the 1920s. The house is owned by the 
city and many of our repairs must go through city maintenance. We 
recently took a tour with the heads of maintenance to discuss some 
issues we have with the structure of the home, mainly the many gaps 
under doors and windows that let in water, dirt, and pests. While trying 
to discuss how the gaps could be filled we were asked if we could just 
seal them up using paint (exterior house paint which is used on the trim 
of the house) or caulk.

The doors and windows are never opened, so it would not effect how we 
use them. Also, the house is climate controlled, so I do not think we 
would be risking the "breathability" of the home. That said, I am no 
expert. I would like to get some feed back so I can provide maintenance 
with specific reasons why this method would not be good (or perhaps why 
it would be...)

Here are my concerns:

1. What materials would be best? Is Caulk stable/inert? Is there a 
product out there that could fill gaps/seal the house that is 
stable/archival? What about their suggestion of painting them shut from 
the outside using the house paint that is already on the house (and they 
happen to be planning to paint this month)?

2. Would sealing things shut cause issues with the breathability of the 
house? The house has an HVAC system.

3. How reversible would caulk really be? I know we could score it with a 
knife to break the seal, but would we be able to actually remove the caulk?

Any advice on how we could seal these gaps would be appreciated. We 
would like to avoid actually having to rebuild things or replace 
original features of the house. Hiring a carpenter to do large repairs 
is only in our budget for major issues like rotted windowsills or 
thresholds.

I would love to hear what other historic homes have done to deal with 
the issue of sealing gaps, so we can better guide our maintenance team 
in their repairs.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

-Anna Rosenbluth
Collections Specialist
Campbell Historical Museum and Ainsley House

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