Dear Robb, Your concerns about plastic wood are very legitimate. I recently attended a workshop on ecological building materials that included a discussion about plastic wood, and frankly, it's bad. Regarding the reconstruction/preservation of the historic house- if significant restructuring of any historic building is very different from it's original intent, the building deserves to lose it's status on any historical register. In San Francisco, the original Main library is on the Historic Register, but is currently being renovated to house the new Asian Art Museum since the library moved to a new building. I've heard from reliable sources, that the renovation is so extent, the original building is really no longer in existence and is in danger of losing its status as a Registered historic building. As far as the materials itself, the quality of the platic is poor, and simply not strong enough for the horizontal plane of the porch. You will have many problems, and ultimately, the low cost perceived in the short run will be a nightmare of a mistake to repair. Here is where you can find your amunition to successfully stop this plastic wood infestation with the information you need, plus information on better solutions: Contact David Kibbey at [log in to unmask] A cd-rom, both Mac and PC format is available. It contains both building codes and a database on all sorts of businesses that sell ecologically sound building materials. website for the Ecological Architectural Resource Database at www.adpsr-norcal.org ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).