Preservation Note 12

Disaster Management: Recovery of Historic Building Materials

General Requirements

September-91

Special Procedures-01350

Disasters such as fire, floods, and structural failure are never
anticipated. Fire drills and emergency evacuation plans reduce the
safety threat that sudden crises and ensuing panic pose to building
occupants. In the same way, the loss of costly ornamental finishes and
craftsmanship in historic buildings can be reduced by planning in
advance for effective recovery of damaged architectural materials.

This brief tells what to look for and what to do in a disaster to
minimize financial and cultural loss at a historic property. All
building managers, construction engineers, maintenance supervisors, and
other individuals directly responsible for the management and protection
of historic property should familiarize themselves with these
guidelines.

Circulate a copy of this information to staff and brief them on the
importance of prompt materials salvage.

Post these guidelines in the Building Manager\'s Office. In the event of
a disaster, provide copies to all Contractors and Government personnel
involved in clean up, debris removal, and repair operations.

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Emergency Salvage Procedures

Metals, Stone, Structural Glass, Ceramics, and other Noncombustibles,
Waterproof materials: Salvage as much as possible. If possible, leave in
place. These materials survive most disasters completely intact. Damaged
ornamental metals and stone can often be repaired at far less expense
than they can be replaced. Locating new matching stone for a replacement
may be impossible if the original quarry is closed. Even completely
shattered stone may be ground for use in composite patch repair of
cracked or chipped stone panels.

Salvaging ornamental metals, including grilles, fixtures, and hardware
saves the Government the cost of expensive custom casting. Remove
original metal hardware from severely damaged walls, ceilings, floors,
doors, and windows.

If ornamental metals are severely damaged, recover the least damaged
piece available for each unique type of hardware/feature. The intent is
to obtain models to fabricate replicate elements. For every piece that
can be reproduced directly from an existing element, the time and
expense of design is eliminated in the casting process.

Woodwork and Ornamental Plaster: Immediately separate intact and
partially damaged material from severely damaged/destroyed material.
Retain all intact woodwork.

In cases of major damage, recover samples of each ornamental feature for
replication. Salvage the least damaged examples of each different type
of plaster ornament and each millwork feature, including doors, windows,
paneling, baseboards, columns, plasters, door/window trim, etc.

If possible, get whole pieces. If this is not possible, try to gather
enough pieces to assemble into a whole element. Broken plaster castings
can be glued together and built up, where damaged, to create a mold for
replication. Remember, making molds from existing elements is much less
expensive than sculpting new plaster and wood pieces to create a mold
from nothing.

Flooring: Leave surviving flooring in place for evaluation by an
architectural conservator. If the floor is severely damaged or unstable,
preserve, at a minimum, one complete floor section extending from its
center to the wall. The intent is to preserve enough material to show
the floor pattern, color, and layout, including the locations and widths
of borders. Select the most intact section of the floor to salvage.

In addition, leave in place as much of the wall-floor edge as possible:
the edge of the floor often provides a complete \"footprint\" for
reproducing wall features such as columns, wainscotting and built-in
furnishings.

Artwork: Salvage as much as possible, whatever the condition.

Clean up: Use non-chemical, non-abrasive methods only: vacuum; brush
with soft bristled, nonmetallic brushes; or damp (water) wipe using
well-wrung cotton rags. Do not use detergents or other proprietary
cleaning products on unpainted wood or metal. Always rub in the
direction of the grain. Immediately buff surfaces dry with soft cotton
cloths.

WHEN A DISASTER STRIKES, CONSULT THE REGIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION
OFFICER IMMEDIATELY.