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That’s black mildew in the grain of the boards. First step was to remove this with our exclusive process and cleaning solution.

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For modern wall and ceiling repair, Berkshire Painters have perfected a technique of re-anchoring classic plaster & lathe walls and resurfacing them to like-new condition. Repaired plaster is much superior to, and more inexpensive than demolishing and rebuilding with drywall.

The cost of the material and labor in the plastering contract was only a small percentage of the cost of other contracts, such as the mason’s or carpenter’s contract, etc., yet to the owner and ultimate occupant of the building it was of the greatest importance.

This is because it is that part of the construction with which one comes in daily contact, and it is the interior plastering of the building that largely determines the noisiness due to the reflection and transmission of sound.

In all building construction there is a great amount of work in which there is no common interest between architect, engineer and owner, such as the strength of beams, type of construction, etc. These are features which have to be left entirely to the architect and engineer because they are subjects regarding which the owner usually knows very little.

The plastering, however, is the feature regarding which there should be a common interest because it is of such vital importance, and being that part of the building so much in evidence and a subject so simple that it should be readily understood by everyone.

The plastering on the interior walls and ceilings is generally FOR Plaster from 3″ to 5″ thick, measuring from the inside surface of the lathing against the studding to the outside surface of the plaster. This is what is called the thickness of the grounds.

Plaster adheres to wood lath because of the clinch of the material in the openings between the lath. It adheres to brick, tile or plasterboard because the suction of these materials draws minute particles of plaster into the voids of the brick or tile, etc., eventually hardening and making a complete bond.

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They incite the poetic instinct rather than awe and for that reason the euph- onious name “Mohawk Trail” should never have been dese- crated by introducing so unpoetic a name as Hairpin Curve to any part of it.

True, that would probably suggest itself to the mind of the engineer who, by the way, had to work out some mathematical problems in making that bend, but should this not be termed Inspiration Point? For that is just what it is.

You drive along a beautiful road lined with elms, oaks, birches and other trees too numerous to mention, to say nothing of the clinging shrubs, the ivy, sumac, golden rod and the aster, when all at once you come to this curve and a scene of beauty lies before you.

From that point you look into the States of Vermont, Connecticut and New York, and observe numerous villages quietly browsing in the lawns of nature. The undulating hills give a quaint and pic- turesque touch in their rational continuity not infrequently contrasted and in the later fall must present a picture of in- describable beauty.

We were there when Jack Frost had pinched the cheek of the stately elm or the maple, but he had none the less stealthily crept along the ground and in his merciless delight brought the first blush to the poison ivy and the sumac. Proceeding as far as Charlemont we then retraced our steps to North Adams thence to Williamstown.

As related, the impression indescribably fixed upon our minds at Stockbridge reached its superlative degree at the quaint old college town. It beggars description. Apart from its scholastic atmosphere and its tutored refinement, there is a culture that one inevitably feels and not only is this in the air, not only evidenced in its stately and beautiful buildings but even the tourists seem impressed with it and the wait- ers in the hotel were marked by it.

You cannot enter Williamstown without departing with a feeling better for having been there, and whether in man or place such a trait is an invaluable asset and a beautiful heritage.

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Its area has since been  diminished by the elimination of its boundary lines in the formation of the towns of Alford and Lee. From 1743 to 1761 this territory had a corporate existence as the North Parish of Sheffield, — sometimes called Upper Sheffield, and during that period was included in and formed a part of the town of Sheffield.

The adjoining towns on the north, are Alford, West Stockbridge, Stockbridge and Lee, on the east, Tyringham, Monterey and New Marlboro, on the south New Marlboro, Sheffield and Egremont, on the west Egremont and Alford.

The extreme western limits of the town approach within about three miles of the neighbormg state of New York, and the north lime of Connecticut is distant not more than eight miles from the southern boundary of the town. In its outline the town is of irregular form, though its average length and breadth are nearly the same, — a little less than seven miles.

The whole area of the town, as near as the roughness of its boundary lines and the inaccuracies of their recorded sui-yeys permit of computation, is 28,621 acres, or a little less than 45 square miles.

In 1778 a considerable tract of land was taken from the north-westerly part of Great Barring- ton and included in Alford. This section was 652 rods in length, — north and south — with a width of 210 rods at its northern and 266 rods at its southern end ; again in 1819, another piece, south of and adjoining to the above described tract, was separated from this town and annexed to Alford, making with the first piece, a strip of 712 rods in length, and 296 rods in width at its southern end.

In the north-eastern section, that part of the Upper Township known as the Hoplands, was taken from this town and included in the town of Lee at the time of its incorporation, October 21st, 1777.

By the setting oif to Alford, Great Barrington lost 1075 acres of its territory, which was still further reduced about 4700 acres by the aimexation of the Hoplands to Lee. By these changes the whole reduc-tion of area since the incorporation of the town has been nearly 5800 acres.

In January, 1761, a small tract, including the dwelling and part of the lands of Garret Burghardt, was, on his own petition, set off from Egremont and attached to Sheffield, and on the incorporation of Great Barrington, a few months later, fell within the limits of this town.

This change causes the jog or irregularity in the west line of the town near the late residence of Jacob Burghardt, deceased. On the south, the divisional line between this town and Sheffield, which is now commonly surveyed and considered a straight line, was formerly the north line of the Indian Reservation, and in the Legislative act of the 13th of January, 1742, investing the — afterwards — North Parish of Sheffield, with parish privileges, is thus described :

Beginning at the most north-westerly cover of the Indian Land, in the west line of the town of Sheffield, running easterly on said Indian Land till it comes to a beech tree marked, near the mouth of Green river, then turning something northerly, and leavmg to Sheffield a small piece of meadow, or intervale of said Indian Land till it comes to range the line and beech tree on the easterly side of said meadow, or intervale, and then to contmue said line till it intersects the east line of Sheffield Propriety.”

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Our part of the project was to lightly prep and repaint a detached residence on the same property, a rambling barn structure with an apartment.

Here are the ‘Before’ images:

We are in process with scrape/spot color prime, and applying one full coat to all previously painted Barn exterior surfaces. Will post After pics when we can!

The post Painting project in Alford North Egremont area appeared first on Berkshire Painter.

During meetings with the client we explained that we could commit to completing the following tasks on the house exterior before the end of the 2009 painting season:

Remove mildew and grime from house exterior surfaces
Remove window shutters
Scrape peeling paint areas
Apply color-tinted oil based primer to scraped areas

We did this work on an hourly basis, giving the owner an estimate that the above tasks will take an approximate amount of hours, and actually completed the work in a shorter time frame. The owner had some painting work performed on his barn by a nephew, and we gave him the option of allowing the nephew to continue under our supervision, if he would prefer.

Once we were underway, we gave him a projection of the costs for the following:

• topcoat entire house to same/similar color scheme
• topcoat entire house to different color scheme

We pointed out that a value change of several shades lighter or darker can require one or two extra coats to achieve full opacity.

This phase of the work was completed well in advance of the end of the painting season.

More pics…

The post Recent house project in Chatham NY appeared first on Berkshire Painter.

Consequently, marbling is almost entirely executed in paint and in body colours. Glazes are used to add depth and translucency where required, and water colour is sometimes used for the sake of its rapid drying.

White Marble. The simplest marble to execute, and at the same time one of the most difficult to imitate faithfully, is white or Sicilian marble. The ground required for this marble is a dead white. When the ground is dry and hard, a thin coat of zinc white in oil is rubbed over it, and the veins are put in with a crayon ; a warm grey crayon is used for the inner veinings, and a soft black lead pencil or black conte crayon for the more prominent ones. The spaces between the veins are then tinted slightly with grey and green, and a few touches of yellowish grey, all very sparingly used, and the whole softened with the hog hair softener.

Sienna Marble. Sienna marble is next in importance, and is much used for columns, pilasters, and staircase walls. The same ground is used as for the white marble, and while this is still wet it is irregularly painted with two or three tints of yellowish cast, made from white and raw Sienna. The veins are then put in either with a black crayon or charcoal, or a soft lead pencil, and softened into the ground. When this is dry, additional shadows, &c., are glazed in in raw Sienna and burnt Sienna, and the veins are emphasised with a little blue or lake. Over all a few white veins or spots are run, and a few lights put on in the interstices between the dark veins.

Italian pink marble is used in place of Sienna, and is about the same depth of tone, but pink, as its name implies. The ground required is the same as above. The ground is scumbled over with pink, made from ochre and Venetian red, and ochre and vermilion, and shaded in with greyer tones. The veins are put in with purplish red, and the whole blended and softened with the hog-hair softener. After all, a few white veins crossing the deep ones, and a few blotches of white, with here and there rose pink glazings, are added.

Black and gold is a popular marble for skirtings, and string courses, chimney pieces, &c. The ground is black. The larger veins are a gold colour made from ochre and red, and may be varied, in colour indefinitely ; they are put upon a dry ground with a pencil and oil colour. Very fine distinct white and yellow veins run from the main ones, splitting up the black ground into fragments. The black spaces are then shaded and lightened by the use of grey tints. A few particles of gold leaf or metal put into or upon the gold colour veins improve the effect. Another method is to work in Sienna upon a white ground, and badger and blend various golden red and yellow hues together, to allow this to dry and then to paint in the intervening spaces with black and grey. The peculiarity of this marble is the intricate ramifications of the veining.

Grey marble, dove, or slate are all worked from a white ground. A feather is used to put in the veins; by this method the color is thoroughly and irregularly spread over the whole ground. All the veins must run in one general direction, and specks and dots must be added in brighter tints, with shells and fossils in lighter greys and white.

Red Derbyshire, porphry, and Irish red are all marbled off a bright red ground. Venetian red and vermilion with a little chrome are used in varying degrees of depth. The marbling is done by first glazing over the ground a coat of crimson lake, and then breaking it up by the use of a feather and turpentine with a little black. White or grey dots and veins are added in very thin white.

Green Marbles. Egyptian green and verd antique are green marbles which are worked upon a black ground. Chrome and Prussian blue, and white make the marbling colours, varying degrees of colour being used. Fossil spots and rings are added in white, cream, &c., while the innermost ground shows spaces of black. Lapis Lazuli. Lapis lazuli is used for special little medallions, &c. It is obtained from a pale blue ground ; ultramarine and gold leaf are used for the marbling and veining respectively. The veins are very fine and broken.

Graniting. Red and grey granite may be imitated by spotting a ground of either colour with white, red, grey, and black The dotting may be done with a graniting brush. Devonshire Marble. Devonshire marble is a conglomerate mass of ochres, reds, and browns, with white markings. It is represented upon a terra cotta ground by the use of feathers, sponge, and rags ; the veins being put in with a veining fitch (Fig. 72) or pencil. Alabaster. Alabaster is a favourite marble for church decoration. It may be wrought upon a creamy white ground in light red, and white and lake. It is a soft stone with undulating veins, and is readily imitated.

St. Anne’s and other black and white marbles are worked upon black grounds with white markings. Grey is also used for the middle tints. In the imitation of all marbles great attention must be paid to the shape of the masses, and the direction of the veins. The character and distinctiveness of all marbles rest principally on the form that these take, and not on their scale or size. Colour is also important, although every class of marble will present samples widely different in colour, as well as in scale. Many of the most mysterious and beautiful effects seen in marbles may be imitated by the use of turpentine, which, when sprinkled on the wet color, opens it out in fantastically shaped forms of great beauty, and renders that translucent appearance common to the richer marbles. Amber and other very translucent substances may be imitated successfully by the methods common to marbling. Repeated varnishing and re-glazing is the means adopted to produce great depth and translucency. Many exquisite suggestions in, and revelations of color may be obtained by the examination of fragments of rough marble and mineralogical specimens under the microscope. The component colouring matters in marbles are seldom seen by the ordinary observer, who only receives a general impression of the apparent colour. This superficial color may be much more truly reproduced after studying the composition of the marbles under the microscope, when the particles of coloured matter, which go to produce the effect seen, may be utilized in obtaining the required superficial effect.

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There are, of course, the broad, general divisions of types, or styles, with which we are gen- erally familiar — the domestic architecture of the New England States, of the Middle Atlantic States, and of the South.

These broad divisions, however, would by no means serve to identify all Early American dwellings, because there were sub-styles, and distinctly local styles, many of which were radically at variance with the “typical example.” In the South, for instance, all the great houses did not have classic colonnaded porticoes.

Besides the Creole type of the far South (a type absolutely peculiar to the locality), there were a great many differing varieties of the style of the Classic Revival, and there were also the detached houses found in Richmond, Charleston, Norfolk, Annapolis, Alexandria, Baltimore and elsewhere in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas. All could be classed as “Southern,” but there are wide differences in their characteristics.

In the Middle Atlantic States there are the varieties developed by the early pioneer settlers of Pennsylvania as well as by its later more prosperous families. Different, again, is the farmhouse of the Dutch colonists, who built in the northern part of New Jersey, on Staten Island and Long Island, through New York State well up into the Mohawk Valley, and, on the west bank of the Hudson, throughout the Ramapo Hills and the Catskills.

In New England is found further variety, with widely different types, seen in isolated farmhouses and in the substantial homes of the merchants and ship-owners of Salem, Newport and New Bedford.

It is the purpose of this monograph, however, to show how a particular type of house, its identity traceable through detail, appears scattered in an irregular line southward from the Berkshires to the vicinity of Danbury, in Connecticut. And a remarkable proof of the close localism of Early American types of domestic architecture is seen in the fact that the examples illustrated, although found but a few miles from Litchfield, possess characteristics pronouncedly different.

A departure of a few miles from Connecticut is made in the inclusion of the unusually interesting houses in and near Old Chatham, which is over the New York State line due west from Pittsfield and Lenox, and due northwest from Stockbridge and Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

It is permissible, however, to include these old Chatham houses with the Connecticut examples found at Sharon, Kent, Danbury and adja- cent townships, because their architectural affinity is at once apparent. The houses show far more imagination and sophistication in matters of detail than those of Litchfield, the use of Palladian windows being the most conspicuous common feature.

Nothing in Litchfield, however, resembles the fine old house at Chatham Center shown in the illustrations on pages two, four, five and six. Fan-lights and side-lights were frequently used, and the Palladian window above the entrance appears to have been the sine qua non of the really pretentious house of this type.

It was also a favorite device to plaster the under side of the hood in the forms of cylindrical or elliptical barrel vaults, instead of the plas- tered quarter-spherical treatment of typical Pennsylvania origin, the “Germantown hood.” It would seem, further, that it was the fashion to paint the plaster in these early Connecticut porch-vaults (including the Chatham, New York, examples) a rich shade of blue.

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