Where can I find more information on correct ways to repair my historic house?

Preservation Virginia’s restoration craftsman provide fee-for-service projects, and can help with many hands-on preservation-related questions. Please see https://preservationvirginia.org/resources/hire-our-craftsman/ for more information.

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources provides many technical assistance reports for help with hands-on historic rehabilitation and maintenance projects, including information on asbestos, lead paint, and repairing historic windows. For more information see https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/publications/technical-reports/.

The National Park Service Technical Preservation Services develops historic preservation standards and guidance on preserving and rehabilitating historic buildings. See https://www.nps.gov/tps/index.htm for more information.

The park service also administers the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, which are common sense historic preservation principles in non-technical language, to help promote historic preservation best practices. See https://www.nps.gov/tps/standards.htm.

The National Park Service also has published over 40 “how-to” Preservation Briefs on everything from repairing log buildings and wooden windows to reducing lead-paint hazards. For a complete list of Preservation Briefs see http://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/briefs.htm. A variety of public educational videos are available online, which can be very helpful for preservation projects.

Information on restoring and rehabilitating historic buildings can also be found at the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s website at https://savingplaces.org/stories/10-on-tuesday-restore-vs-rehabilitate-which-is-right-for-your-historic-house#.YdhYl_7MJPY.