Maintaining your property
Does your heritage property have peeling paint? Do its rust-eaten gutters fall in lace-like strips? Perhaps it’s time to carry out some maintenance work.As someone who looks after a heritage building, you know such properties offer special rewards but also require special care.
These heritage housekeeping hints will help you maintain your heritage property.Why carry out maintenance work?
All properties need maintenance and continuing repair. Heritage places need to be protected from deterioration. If you take the right approach to maintaining and repairing your heritage property, you will save time and money.
Continuing maintenance work to your heritage property allows you to:
- fix problems promptly
- preserve your property
- avoid major, expensive repairs in the future
- know your property
- compile a comprehensive record of work carried out
- plan and budget for future work
- tailor housekeeping and maintenance practices
Heritage properties need lots of tender loving care to stop them from deteriorating. Here are a number of housekeeping hints to help you maintain your heritage property:
Wear and tear
Wear and tear from human use can destroy old surfaces. Always protect original fabric and furnishings. For example, runners, mats, and rugs can be used to protect floors.
Humidity
When using heaters in heritage places, minimise humidity levels to avoid damage to timberwork, paintwork, and wallpaper. Environmental controls such as sunscreening and air conditioning can control the temperature and keep your heritage property in good condition.
Cleaning
When cleaning heritage materials and surfaces, you might need advice from preservation professionals. For example, cleaning masonry or stained glass is a specialised job. Using the wrong technique or product could cause irreparable damage to a heritage building. Only use neutral pH cleaners to clean historic buildings.
Waxing
Waxing protects against material abrasion and wetting. Always check with a professional before using products.
Storage
To prevent fire hazards, material for maintenance should be kept separate from heritage buildings.
Maintenance checklist
To help maintain your heritage property, always keep:
- a log book of all maintenance work done on your property
- all historical records, such as details of heritage listings and legal records, in a safe place
- records of colour schemes and tradespeople
- records of termite inspection dates
- records of dates fire extinguishers and wiring have been checked
Last updated: 03 April 2006
