Current Press Releases
How to prepare your place of worship for winter.
Date
10 November 2005
Friday 18 November sees the launch of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings' (SPAB) National Maintenance Week, for the fourth year running. Historic places of worship in Britain’s cities, towns and villages are the nation’s overlooked treasure houses.
Historic places of worship in Britain's cities, towns and villages are the nation's overlooked treasure houses, often as significant as the great stately mansions and castles that attract hundreds of visitors each year. Unlike the majority of the these grand buildings however, most of our historic churches are cared for by small dedicated teams of local volunteers, churchwardens or incumbents - responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the building.
This is often a daunting task and something of an uphill struggle and is one of the reasons behind SPAB's (Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) annual National Maintenance Week campaign to give people the confidence and knowledge to care for their buildings. The aim of the week is simple: to raise awareness of the straightforward, economic and achievable maintenance steps that can be taken at the beginning of winter to stave off costly major repairs and damage at a later date.
SPAB is Britain's oldest conservation body fighting to save old buildings from decay and dereliction, but the message of the awareness week is relevant to everyone who owns or who cares for a building, whether that's a Victorian cottage or a medieval manor house. National Maintenance Week is particularly helpful and relevant to those caring for a historic place of worship, who face specific challenges in term of funding, resources and practicality.
This year National Maintenance Week takes place from Friday November 18 to Friday November 25 and the central theme is damp - something that anyone caring for an old church will probably be only too familiar with.
Water damage is a particular concern for buildings, especially as the winter rains approach in our increasingly uncertain climate. Blocked gutters and drains are often the source of water-damaged areas in buildings and can be relatively simple to deal with or, better still, prevent altogether.
The annual cleaning of gutters and drains can be much cheaper and less inconvenient than having to cope with a serious outbreak of dry rot in timber roof trusses following years of neglect. National Gutters Day (Friday, November 25 2005), part of National Maintenance Week, is a timely reminder to anyone who cares for a building that just a few pounds spent to mend a leaky gutter can save many hundreds and possibly thousands of pounds. It's the ideal day to make a point of looking at the gutters at your church to check that they are doing their job!
One of the main aims of the week is to offer practical guidance and encouragement to give people the confidence to carry our simple maintenance tasks themselves. National Maintenance Week has its own fact-packed website, www.maintainyourbuilding.org.uk giving further information and advice and SPAB also operates a technical helpline for specific enquiries and problems (tel. 0207 456 0916).
Anyone caring for a church will find the following simple maintenance top tips useful:
- Every spring and autumn, clear any plants, leaves and silt from gutters, hopperheads, flat roofs and drainage channel
- Look for blocked downpipes (best done during heavy rain to see water coming from any leaky joints - in dry weather look for stained brickwork)
- Keep gullies at ground level clear and have them cleaned out if necessary
- Remove vegetation from behind downpipes by cutting back or removing the plant altogether
- Use a hand mirror to look behind rainwater pipes as splits and cracks in old cast iron and aluminium often occur there and are not easily noticed
- Fit bird/leaf guards to the tops of soil pipes and rainwater outlets to prevent blockages
- Check that gutters junctions are watertight by watching them in rainy conditions
- Have gutters refixed if they are sloping the wrong way or discharging water onto the wall
- If sections are beyond repair, make sure that replacements are made of the same material as the originals (on older buildings, this is sometimes lead, but more usually cast iron)
- Regular painting of cast iron is essential to prevent rust
Important DOs and DON'Ts
Do - carry out regular inspection and maintenance
Don't - allow serious defects to remain untreated
Do - be aware of safety and wear protective gloves when clearing gutters and drains
Don't - undertake routine maintenance work at high level unless your are accompanied and have suitable equipment. If in doubt always seek help from a professional
Do - seek advice from qualified professionals
Don't - expect independent advice from someone who has something to sell you
Do - repair rather than restore or replace
Don't - repair in unsympathetic materials as this can cause more maintenance problems in future!
Do - respect the building's character and history and make sure any work is sympathetic to it
Don't - attempt to ‘improve' by altering the original appearance
Do - study the history of the building and how it has changed
Don't - use unsuitable ‘off the peg' architectural elements
Do - analyse the cause of defects
Don't - rely on commercially based claims for any product or technique
Do - use only traditional materials and proven techniques
Don't - use so-called ‘maintenance free' products
Do - re-use materials salvaged from your on building
Don't - waste re-usable materials
Do - remedy previous bad repairs
Don't - bodge repairs!
Do - use only reliable contractors or craftspeople
Don't - employ anyone without seeing references or inspecting their work
Do - obtain necessary planning and legal consents
Don't - do any work without required consent.
