Historic Building workshops

Care and repair of historic timber roof structures and historic brickwork

Date: 16 June 2017

When: 1000 – 1630

Where: Cressing Temple Barns

Cost:  £120.00 plus VAT (£144.00) to include seminar proceedings, all refreshments, lunch and comprehensive delegate pack

The day’s course will consider in depth three aspects of building conservation.

• The care and repair of historic timber frames
• The care and repair of historic brickwork
• Problems of decay and methods of repair

The venue has been carefully chosen as it represents an extremely fine example of the medieval carpenter’s craft. The 13^th century grade 1 listed Barley and Wheat barns are some of the earliest and best surviving barns in England and Europe. The walled garden is a good example of 16^th century brickwork and the associated ancillary buildings date from the 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th centuries and illustrate the development of building techniques. The buildings illustrate a wide range of building and roofing materials used at various periods Including timber, brick and tile. The day will include formal Power Point presentations, material handling sessions and first hand observations of the buildings.

Main Themes

The History and Development of Historic Timber Structures

• The historic development of timber frames and roof structures
• Causes of decay and failure including mechanical failure, rot and insect attack.
• Approach to structural repairs, selection and use of materials and techniques.
• Case Studies

The History of Building in Brick and the Care and Repair of Brick Structures

Bricks have been a principal building material in many parts of the country since the 16^th century.  The history and development of brick buildings and brickmaking will be examined up to the middle of the 20^th century when bricks ceased to be a mainly local vernacular material and became a mass produced product by a few large international companies.

Looking closely at historic brickwork can give clues as to how the bricks were manufactured and laid and what alterations the building has gone through since its original construction.  This process can be likened to reading a detective story: the clues are there, they just need interpreting by the observer, thus enabling a correct and aesthetically pleasing repair/restoration to be achieved.

Care and Repair of Historic Structures

The first important stage of this process is to identify the sources which have caused the problems of decay to occur; these must be resolved before the building can be repaired.  It is also important to understand the nature and function of historic mortars and the dangers of the use of modern cementitious products.  The use of inappropriate materials can result in the rapid deterioration of historic fabric and long term structural problems. The problems of water movement, salts and frost will be discussed. Part of the day will be spent on the first hand observation of the historic buildings on site, previous repair methods used and recognising areas of potential future decay.

Speaker

Kevin Stubbs BA(Hons)  DipBldgCons(AA)  IHBC   CertEd

Kevin Stubbs is a Historic Buildings Consultant and comes with a background of education, archaeology and building conservation. He was Director of Archaeology for the Test Valley in Hampshire and later moved to Hampshire County Council to join the Historic Buildings Bureau, where he became the Principal Buildings Conservation Officer for the County. For eleven years he acted as the Director of a Conservation Centre and now runs his own Historic Building Consultancy and Training Company.

He advises on the repair and maintenance of all historic structures and provides training at all levels for the building conservation industry.  This includes the development of historic building technology, traditional materials and hands-on craft training.  Work for Local Government Authorities includes Conservation Area appraisals, historic building condition surveys and feasibility studies.  He has provided training exercises with local communities to raise awareness of their village plans and local heritage interpretation documents and he has provided Traditional Skills Awareness Courses for a number of bodies.

He undertakes the Historic Analysis of buildings and produces: Statements of Significance; Method Statements; Impact Assessments and Specifications for the repair and conservation of traditional buildings.

He lectures for various CPD providers, Universities and national building conservation organisations including SPAB, RICS and the Weald and Downland Museum.  Topics include: Bricks and Mortar; Lime, Plasters and Renders; Cob and Earth, Timber Frame and Stone Structures and Traditional Roofing.

The day will include formal Power Point presentations, material handling sessions and first hand observations of the building.