The Old House Handbook
A practical guide to Care and Repair
Roger Hunt and Marianne Suhr
When first I looked at this book I wondered. Is it really "a practical guide" or is it for the coffee table? The photographs are brilliant, ancient houses in various stages of wonder and decrepitude - so, good for the coffee table. Then I started to read.
Back in 1977 our house showed many signs of decrepitude. Old leaded lights replaced by modern casements, hardboard tacked over failing plaster, a nailed together replacement staircase, not to mention what we found on the back room floor. We searched for books. Some were very good - I know more about scarf joints than most. But nothing told us the essential problems of old houses. Building Societies demanded injected damp proof courses, and underpinning. This book suggests that these rarely help, and sometimes exacerbate, the problems.
It starts by being very practical to potential purchasers. Are you sure you're up to this? Then it talks about how to get the work done? Choosing builders who know about conservation, how to deal with listing agencies. Then in chapter 3 it goes into top gear. How to deal with that damp? How to make a building breathe? Thereafter there are details of the different uses of lime in preserving and repairing walls and floors (hydraulic, non-hydraulic, hydrated, lime putty, and lime mortars). Then, what to do about structural movement - less than you might think. Underpin only as a last resort. Just about everything is covered - roofs, timber frames, doors, floors, walls, windows, plaster renders, paints and finishes, guttering, drainpipes and drains. If only we'd had it in 1977!
Throughout, the message is, do the minimum to the structure of the house - repair don't restore. The book is sponsored by SPAB (the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) and this has been its theme since William Morris founded it in 1877.
It is also very good at warning about dark interests, timber treatment and damp proofing companies working on commission, builders quoting cheaply for the minimum and then charging heavily for the extras. Every bit of advice it gives gets better and better. It is brilliant in its detail, and the photographs and diagrams add counterpoint to the words. It is definitely a "practical guide", and if you have a period home you should have it by your side and consult it frequently.
One final liberating thought - the daub applied to wattle doesn't require cow dung to be added - but plaster over soot stains does!
Derek Wagon