Restoring the Brickyard House is a challenging and insightful task, employing various kinds of preservation techniques. This project is designed to commence over two phases: Phase 1 is the exterior (including walls, roof, windows, porch) and Phase 2 is the interior (woodwork, walls, ceilings, doors, and more). Here is a look at a couple of the preservation techniques involved:
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Cloned Bricks The ornamental shaped fancy brick are basically a lost art. Since various such bricks at the house are damaged and decayed, getting replacements is a challenge. The solution is to clone the original bricks and re-use as much original brick material as possible. Rubber molds are made of the shaped bricks, and broken brick remains are not discarded but ground up, put in a mix, and cast within the molds and fired with matching coloration. The result are new bricks just like the originals. |
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Trace Preservation Replacing missing elements of the house which nobody is sure to remember is quite a challenge, especially with a house of little photographic documentation. With the front porch partially intact, it is possible to replicate its missing floor and front with several clues. First, ghost outlines where there is no paint show where the three original porch front columns were, and confirm they had ornamental brackets like those of the back. A historic photo, though at a distance, confirms that the front columns matched the back in design. Piled up lumber inside a front room reveals the porch floor never actually left; it is still here, or else it's a mighty coincidence these floor-like boards (which likely will need to be replicated) happen to be exactly the same width as the porch. Finally, remaining length beams show which way the porch support structure was oriented, and brick anchors are still visible in the ground where its anchor supports were. |
Check back for more as the project goes forward!