History in Color: Maryland State House Dome Lessons

The original 1792 Maryland State House dome retains its original paint beneath 17 later coats. What is now a demure gray and white dome was once brilliantly golden -- just as it was recorded by Charles Willson Peale when he drew the color scheme while overseeing the installation of Benjamin Franklin's first lightning rod on a public building -- an element that also remains to this day on the building where the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War was signed with the British while Annapolis was the nation's capitol.

Tough access: Drones and other budget inspection and maintenance tools

Using drones to inspect inaccessible areas on a routine basis or after storms is a prudent diagnostic technique we have been using since 2013 and should be part of annual historic site maintenance and any initial planning for projects. This post also touches on the use of gel disks to sample and determine types of staining material and the best non-destructive methods for remediation.

Carbon Fiber: From Woodwork to Masonry

This is part of larger series on carbon fiber (CF). If you are just joining this blog now, please take a moment to review the previous carbon fiber repair posts.   In initial attempts to determine which CF cloths and resins to use, we reviewed loads of technical literature. Too often though it was focused…