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The decision to choose historic preservation and restoration over conventional repair is no small commitment.  Many of our clients have expressed despair in their struggle to find guidance in making informed decisions about the preservation and restoration process.  The terminology of historic preservation is often used casually by contractors and homeowners alike.  Frequently, the term ‘restoration’ is used to describe work that may actually be conventional repair or renovation.  Unfortunately for us, we have to compete in an environment where the nuances of our trade are often enigmatic to homeowners.  As a result, clients often defer to the advice of contractors who may not be well versed in historic architecture or craftsmanship.  Potential stewards of historic structures are often misinformed and choose less expensive conventional repair techniques with the belief that these methods actually constitute proper historic preservation.  There is little in the way of official guidelines or regulation for historic preservation and restoration professionals beyond those set forth by the US Secretary of the Interior.  The SEI standards are broad, subjective and often only given a nod where grant funding is involved.  Numerous contractors have made their careers cutting off tenons and adding metal plates under the guise of historic preservation.  These practices may serve to stabilize a structure in the short term, but often destroy historic details and inevitably shift a greater burden to future generations.  Knobb Hill Joinery has always approached restorative joinery with future generations in mind.  Outlined in this area of the web site are some of the approaches that we feel separate Knobb Hill from our competitors.

We have been alarmed at the methods for steeple restoration used by many of our competitors.  Many of the better known restoration companies that work predominantly on steeples prioritize the exterior details of the steeple, but are all too quick to cut corners when it comes to the historic joinery beneath the surface.  Although fabricating a replica of a steeple or repairing one with modern materials may, in some cases, save a few dollars, we feel that this sort of cost cutting comes at the expense of preserving historically significant joinery.  These conventionally framed replicas are merely caricatures of the masterful structures that they replace.  Once the timbers are gone, so is the story of the steeple.

As stated by our mission, our goal is to preserve the historic timber frame structures of New England for future generations.  We have an additional goal of preserving the craft of joinery itself.  Traditional wooden repairs are as much a part of an architectural legacy as the structures themselves.  This tradition is more readily observed throughout Europe than it is here.  At the time when many of the early timbered structures of this young nation would have first required major structural repairs, the industrial revolution was under way and many of the old ways of craftsmanship were left behind in favor of modern efficiency.  We have, on a few occasions, had the good fortune to work on structures that had been restored traditionally a century or more ago.  In these instances, we were able to simply remove the pegs from the repair pieces and re-fabricate the wooden repairs without any additional disturbance to the original structure.  This is an opportunity that we seek to provide to future joiners.

Early on in our restoration careers, when contemplating a repair, we were told to never ‘over-restore’.  This is an idea that has really stuck with us in the development of our preservation and restoration philosophy.  Each individual structure has subtle, and sometimes not so subtle,  details and variations in the techniques and layout of its construction.  It is the nuances of these variations that guides our approach to restoring a structure to be what it was originally intended to be.  Taking liberties in design and technique, no matter how well intended, does not constitute good preservation practice.  Although there may be room for improvement in a structures design, it is more often the case that if a building  is still here to be restored, its design worked well enough.  Changing the details of historic structures jeopardizes our future understanding of history.  Knobb Hill Joinery is always attentive to keeping materials and techniques in kind.  This care extends to the math and layout methods as well as the tool markings associated with each type of layout style.