> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf Of Robb Hyde
> Sent: June 14, 2000 11:27

...> The front and side porch floors of the house need to be replaced.
> ... At last night's board meeting a recommendation was made to
> replace the wood with plastic lumber (created from recycled
> material). ... It would seem to be counter to the fundamental beliefs of
preservation.
***** I feel that this is. One would be changing the basic structure of the
house. "Oh, look Mom, they used plastic wood back in the 1890s!"

> The point was made that a grant program would allow this
> replacement for about $200 in material costs versus over $1,500
> for real wood. I still had significant concerns.
****** This is false economy I feel. I suspect public reaction would be
negative, and you (or your successors) would end up redoing it in wood in
the future - at a greater cost having wasted time and effort on the plastic
stuff, and with less authenticity as the original material would have been
replaced. Whoever wrote the grant program should perhaps review their
criteria if it is a heritage preservation grant program!

***** Remember to document the old porch well before any renovation occurs.
Lots of measurements, plans and lots of photos (labelled). If salvaging
pieces, mark them to avoid confusion when reassembling.

> The bulk of the board seemed to think that plastic wood was a
> wonderful idea, but I was able to defer a decision until the next
> meeting. I asked for an opportunity to research the issue further.
***** You get what you pay for. I love the old Rolls Royce saying: "The
quality remains long after the  price is forgotten." There is such a thing
as "false economy" where a "bargain" turns out to cost you more in the long
run.

*****Our museum just finished restoring an 1893 farmhouse to its appearance
in 1925. Yes we used some modern materials such as a concrete foundation,
heating panels and sprinklers where we could hide them, but everywhere else
we used original type materials. We had to rebuild the porches in their
entirety, but we used real wood. Sure we have to repaint it from time to
time, but the public has responded EXTREMELY positively to the result. Coca
Cola got it right - "It's the REAL thing!". Properly done and maintained,
this wood should last 100 years or more - after all there are lots of 100
year old, and older, houses around. A substitute material would be a false
economy. Some members of my townhouse strata council wanted to replace our
cedar siding with plastic vinyl. One aspect was that repairs with real wood
only had to deal with problem areas, whereas a change to plastic meant that
the entire complex would have had to be redone. The strata members objected
vehemently. I joked that if we had proceeded, we would have had to change
our complex's name from "Cedar Hollows" to "Vinyl Hollows".

***** One legitimate use of "plastic wood" in preservation is in a different
form - on shipwrecks such as the "Wasa" where the salvaged wood is soaked in
a spray containing a plastic that is soaked into the wood and fills the
empty cells to stabilize the wood. There may also be times where a piece of
wood on an historic aircraft, vehicle or building is damaged and a plastic
treatment can stabilize and save an original piece rather than replacing it.
For example, an aileron of an historic World War I aircraft could be
stabilized this way rather than be replaced with new wood, and one thus
retains more of the original material of the artifact.

***** Canada's National Aviation Museum has a wonderful philosophy. Here it
is from memory:
REPAIR rather than RESTORE,
RESTORE rather than REPLACE,
REPLACE only when absolutely necessary.
(unspoken but I sure they would add - Replace like with like where
possible.)

***** The old house has survived well all these years and our Conservator
decided to NOT go with modern vapour barriers etc. The more one works with
solid century old buildings, and sees new leaky condominiums (often leaking
within a year or two of being built), the more one gets the feeling that the
old builders really knew what they were doing and that the art and science
of house building is really a lost art.
...
> Does any one know of any use of plastic lumber in a historic
> setting? Preservation guidelines I've reviewed all stress the
> importance of using like material when replacement is necessary,
> but don't completely exclude more modern substitutes. On some
> level it could be argued that by using this recycled material, we
> are directing our preservation efforts to existing trees.
...
> Robb Hyde
> Marketing/Development Manager
> Canton Museum of Art


***** Colin Macgregor Stevens,
Curator,
Burnaby Village Museum,
Burnaby, BC, CANADA

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