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PHOENIX FALL HOME SPECIALOld House CallsClem Labine and Patricia Poore relax in their Park Slope office %u2014 glad that both theirhomes are in better shape than the one pictured on a recent issue cover (below).(Phoenix/Garrity Photo)Restoration and Maintenance Techniqueskp & \\ m \\%u00a9Id-House JournalOctober 1986 (S2.95do I start? A familiar question to anyone who has faced the sheer volumeof work to be done and the complexity of sort*ing out priorities. Whether you%u2019re a new ownerparalyzed by indecision, or well , (con tin u ed o n page 378)%u2022 D E S IG N IN G A G A R A G E %u2022 S H U T T E R C U T - O U T S %u2022%u2022 R E M O V IN G T E X T U R E F I N I S H *Old House Journal started as a newsletter for brownstones, and has grown to become amagazine with a slick cover and a varied coverage.B Y TRACY G A R R ITYT h e hom e p ictu red on th e co v er of the Octo b e r issue of %u201c Old H ouse J o u rn a l%u201d is of th o se worth-1,000-word ph o to g rap h s th a t em b o d ies th e b re a d th of inform ation a v a ila b le in th e m ag azin e. W arped and w e a th e re d enough by tim e to bow the fa c a d e and roof, th e old fra m e house sta n d s seem in g ly on d e term in atio n , defying g ra v ity a n d se v eral law s of physics. T he caption a s k s : W here Do I S ta rt? The a n sw er to th e se and sim ila r questions is found inside th e m ag azin e.P a tric ia P oore and C lem L abine, editor a n d p ublisher resp ectiv ely of th e recentlygone-slick resto ratio n m a g azin e sit in th e ir P a r k Slope office, chuckling ov er th e pictu re . %u201c We hav e to h a v e a sense of h u m o r,%u201d sa y s P oore, who joined O H J in 1979. %u201c But I re a lly don%u2019t th in k an ything could resto re th is h o u se.%u201d%u201c If you hav e enough m oney, you can prob ab ly re sto re any h o m e ,%u201d ad d s L abine, %u201c but I d o n %u2019t think in th is c a se it w ould be w orth it.%u201d T he m agazine, how ever, le ts nonprofesionals in on inexpensive o r innovative w ay s to p re serv e and en hance th e ir historic h o m es. And th e inform ation is culled from th e collective m in d s of e x p e rts, editors an d a n extensive re se a rc h lib ra ry . Both Poore a n d L abine have re sto re d th e ir hom es %u2014 L a b in e %u2019s 1883 brow nstone an d P o o re %u2019s 1911 row house %u2014 in P a rk Slope an d th e Old H ouse Jo u rn al itself g rew out of L abine%u2019s ow n resto ratio n .%u201c If you look a t the e a rly issues of the n ew sle tte r (the m ag azin e began a s a 12-16 p a g e n ew sletter for brow nstoners) the a r %u00adtic le s w ere about resto rin g flat top roofs a n d brow nstone fa c a d e s,%u201d ex p lain s Poore. %u201c T h at w as the w orld th en . We hav e found th a t som e of those th e m e s can be u n iv e rsa l.%u201d%u201c T he how-to a rtic le s in the m agazine a re re a lly tim e le ss,%u201d sa y s Labine. %u201c They can be u sed in any house, a t an y tim e .%u201d%u201c P lasterin g is p la ste rin g ,%u201d ad d s Poore. %u201c In a brow nstone o r an y o th er house. If you n eed to p la ste r, you%u2019d do it th e sa m e w ay.%u201d T he how-to a rtic le s %u2014 se v e ra l a re contained in e a c h of the 10 issu es p e r y e a r %u2014 run th e g a m u t from w iring, to w all stencilling, to installing sh u tters, or rem oving tex tu re finish. W ritten by ex p e rts and edited into la y m a n %u2019s te rm s by P oore and h e r staff, th e a rtic le s give a no-nonsense ap p ro ach tack ling resto ratio n p ro b lem s w ith step-by-step d irections and illu stratio n s.H E L P IN WATCHINGIn addition to th e how-to a rtic le s, each issu e also contains a tech n ical a rtic le on a m o re in tricate a sp ect of rem odelling, such a s m aso n ry . %u201c You m ig h t not w ant to do it y o u rself,%u201d sa y s P oore. %u201c But w ith th e help of th e artic le , you will know w hat needs to be done, and will know m o re of w hat the professional is doing.%u201d T he a rtic le s a re also helpful in choosing a c o n tra c to r to do the tec h n ic a l w ork, she adds.W hile the technical and how-to articles a re th e incentive to buy the m agazine, th e p e rso n al sto ries of resto ratio n w ork are icing on the cake. The p erils an d pitfalls of do-it yourself p re se rv a tio n w ork a re as u n iv ersal a s th e instructions on p lasterin g w alls, and re a d e rs p a rtic ip a te in a n inform a l h ead ach es club th a t is quite popular.%u201c T he stories usually s ta rt w hen som eone c a lls o r w rites w ith a p a rtic u la r problem th e y %u2019re hav in g ,%u201d sa y s P oore. %u201c We ask th em to ta k e p ictu res of th e re sto ratio n work, an d w hen th e y %u2019re about halfw ay through with th e house, we hav e th e m do a sto ry for us.It helps o ther people to know th e y %u2019re not alone in th e problem s th a t o ccu r, and also show s th em th a t all th e h a rd w ork does even tu ally p ay off.%u201dD E C ID E D TO R E ST O R EThe August issue told the sto ry of Steve a n d B arb F re e m a n who decided to resto re a fte r th e ir own F o r Sale ad a p p eared in O H J. %u201c We%u2019d begun to think it ow ned u s,%u201d th e y w rote. B ut selling it, %u201c gav e us aaiiauge fceiing, a%u00bb if we weie iiying i,o sellG ra n d m a to the g ypsies.%u201dThis question of who owns w hom is a com prehensive b attle m oan for all old house ow ners %u2014 w hether it be for a Victo ria n m ansion o r a Brooklyn brow nstone.T here inevitably com es a tim e when p re s e rvation becom es ag g rav atio n . And it is in diffusing th a t un iv ersal m uddle th a t O H J does its best work. %u201c We believe in being sy m p ath etic to your h o m e,%u201d says Labine. B ut not a slave to it.%u201c Ju st because som ething%u2019s old doesn%u2019t a 'w ay s m ean n is b e u e r,\a re really a breath of fresh a ir because we believe th at. The m agazine is helpful to the re a l academ ics and also to people who w ant to do sm all resto ratio n work. We don%u2019t say th a t anything is p erfect. The people wholive in the hom e know w hat is b est.%u201dBAD Y EA R FO R PLA STERF o r instance, she say s 1911 w as a very bad y e a r for p lastering. %u201c I have friends who w ere very book-learned about plaster. And they didn%u2019t und erstan d why I w as rem oving th e p laster, and why I couldn%u2019t p reserve it,%u201d she says. The plaster in uie iexi.bwks was not the sam e a s w as in h er brow nstone. %u201c It w as com ing out in clum ps like oatm eal.You don't see th a t in a book. But you see it in houses.%u201dS om etim es th e re are problem s with th efix tu res. S om etim es it%u2019s the boiler. Old houses a re an h isto ric ad v en tu re and so m etim es its b e tte r to follow your in stin cts th a n a jungle m a p , th e y say.T h at advice ex ten d s to th e New Y ork City L a n d m ark s P re se rv a tio n C om m ission, although both P o o re an d L abine don%u2019t believe they ta k e it often enough. %u201cS om etim es th e people they h av e in th e field ca n be v e ry picayune. O ftentim es th e y a re young and inex p erien ced in the re a litie s of resto ratio n w ork. It can cause p ro b lem s,%u201d sa y s P oore.%u201c T h ere seem to be a lot of p etty ty ra n ts ,%u201d say s L abine. The in ten t of th e LPC is a good one though, th e y both a g ree.SOM E ABANDON WORK %u201c T hey do a good job m ost of the tim e, but occasionally th ey c a u se m o re problem s for people trying to sa v e th e ir hom es.%u201d Too often, she say s, re sto ra tio n w ork is a b a n %u00addoned because th e m a n n e r in which th e job should be com pleted is not in tune w ith th e LPC guidelines. %u201c If it%u2019s not in th eir book, they ju st say no to it.%u201d she say s.Y et despite the pitfalls of resto ratio n , th e tide continues to w ash the nation, and Old H ouse Journal p ro sp e rs a t its side. The reaso n , says L apine sim ply, is th a t it is fun. %u201c You w ouldn%u2019t do it if you did n %u2019t think you w ere going to enjoy th e w ork,%u201d he says.%u201c But I learned m o re about A m erican history by w orking on m y house than I did in school. It w as ow ned by th e Blackw ell fam ily and built in 1883.%u201d M ost of the P a rk Slope brow nstones w ere built in th a t e ra , he says, although P o o re %u2019s brick hom e w as built se v e ra l decades la te r.%u201c Y ou can a c tu ally see a line w here th e styles ch an g e,%u201d sa y s Poore of h er block. %u201c T here a re brow nstones around m e, but the houses on either side a re ea rly 20th Centu ry . The church on th e c o m e r w as built in 1905 and I assu m e th e houses w ere built on ch u rch property, a fte r the ch u rc h .%u201dO ther Brooklyn neighborhoods are alm o st as easily defined by sight. %u201c The brow nstones in th e H eights a re m ostly from around 1840,%u201d sa y s Poore. %u201c T here used to be all wooden fra m e houses, but when th e y cau g h t fire, they usually burned to the ground. There a re only a v ery few left.%u201d W hile few resto ra tio n s a re a s com plete as the one needed on th e M aine farm house fe atu red on the O ctober cover (which, incidentally, has since burned down) m ost brow nstones could use som e sparkle, and with th e help of O H J%u2019s know-how, rem oving the old finish could be ju st the sta rt of p reserv in g an o th er piece of Brooklyn history.The Old H ouse Jo u rn al, 69A Seventh A ve., Brooklyn, 11217, publishes ten tim es y e arly . Subscriptions a re $18; single copy p rice is $2.75. F o r inform ation, call 636-4514.%u25a0 From The Pages Of OHJ %u25a0Relief For Wax Build-UpW hile no one d isp u tes the rom antic a llu re of candles burned low on the stick %u2014 the m orning a fter clean u p on intricately c ra fte d candlesticks is q u ite a headache.To clean candlesticks, two m ethods w ork well. F irs t boil a pot of w ater and rinse the sticks in it for se v e ra l seconds (sim ilar to balancing fru its). W ipe them im m ediately upon rem oval for clean candlesticks. A m ore high tech m ethod is to aim a heat gun a t th e candlestick and let the w ax run off onto old new spapers. The la st bits of w ax can be w ashed aw ay w ith hot tap w aterA Solution To Stop TreeocideW hile it%u2019s no new s th a t a tre e grows in Brooklyn, it m ay su rp rise residents to know how m any tr ees die in this borough, the vici.1111 ui auiumuuue acciueuLa. Bj iiicii closeproxim ity to city stre e ts, the trees are vulnerable to a m isguided parallel parker.S m all w rought iron fences can often sav e the tre e from d am a g e , and can enhance a( 'ontmued on I%u2019aec I 'October 9. 1985. PHOENIX. Section II. Page 11