November 29, 2025 • 36 mins
# Renovating History: The Art of Home Preservation
Step into the world of historic home renovation with Gary Sullivan as he welcomes Beth Johnson, Executive Director of Cincinnati Preservation. This fascinating episode explores the delicate balance between preserving architectural heritage and making homes livable for modern families. From barnwood restoration techniques to the secrets of maintaining original wood windows, Gary and Beth share insights that will inspire both DIY enthusiasts and preservation purists alike.
## Timestamps and Key Takeaways:
**00:00-05:30** - Gary helps a caller restore barnwood walls in his basement man cave, recommending tri-sodium phosphate for cleaning and Danish oil for rejuvenation.
**05:31-10:45** - Discussion about pouring concrete in cold weather conditions, including when anti-freeze additives are necessary for winter construction projects.
**10:46-18:30** - Gary shares practical tips for winterizing homes, including how to fix drywall tape issues caused by low humidity and sealing attic access doors to prevent drafts.
**18:31-32:00** - Beth Johnson explains Cincinnati Preservation's mission as an educational resource for historic homeowners, covering different types of historic designations and preservation requirements.
**32:01-39:15** - Discussion about preservation technologies, including window restoration versus replacement, specialized cleaning methods for historic materials, and the organization's archaeological preservation efforts.
**39:16-43:30** - Information about Cincinnati Preservation's funding model, volunteer opportunities, and how listeners can support their Guiding Star fundraising campaign.
Whether you're restoring a Victorian gem or simply appreciating the craftsmanship of bygone eras, this episode offers valuable insights into preserving our architectural heritage. Visit cincinnatipreservation.org to learn more about protecting historic buildings in your community and discover resources for your own preservation journey.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, best time of day. Welcome to our number four
and good afternoon. You're at home with Gary Selvyn talking
a little home improvement, as we do every Saturday and Sunday.
And by the way, if you missed the first three hours,
you can always pick those up on the iHeart podcast.
It's at Home with Gary Sullivan and they're very neatly
(00:21):
and newly labeled. Tell you exactly what you're gonna listen to,
So check them out. Something perks your interest. Take a listen,
all right. Our phone number if you'd like to join us,
it's eight hundred and eight two three eight two five
five and let's go to Wilson. Wilson.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Welcome, good afternoon, Gary, thanks to taking my call.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
You're quite welcome. Thank you. Well.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I bought a house about six years ago. I've been
renovating it and I finally got to the best part
of the house, which is my man cave in the basement.
All right, So, and it's right now. It's got barnwood
called into all the walls, and it's got timber and
timber on it also. But it's been it's dirty from
(01:07):
all the dust and all that stuff. And I will
just wondering what's the best thing to bring that wood
back to life and clean it.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
So the the so it's just dirt and dust, Is
that basically what's on there?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yes, I.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So it seems like it needs a pretty deep cleaning,
correct correct. Yeah, So I would say something like a
tri sodium phosphate would probably be the deepest cleaning, uh
heavy duty cleaner. It's bare wood, so you know, try
(01:47):
sodium fox fate. You can get to hardware, so you
can even get it to the grocery store. I think
just mix that up. If you don't want to use that,
you want to use something maybe a little less harsh.
You could use an oxygenated bleach, which is also a
powder that's mixed with water. Either one of those two.
(02:08):
You know, goggles gloves are going to be needed. Stiff
scrub rushed for sure. You can get a no rinse
tricedium phosphate so that you don't have to rinse it.
You could just kind of dry it and then after
you really let it dry and I'm talking a couple
(02:29):
of days, I come back. Yeah, I come back with
like a Danish oil and you know, yeah, it's not
a protecting, it's a it will be absorbed by the wood.
It's kind of a rejuvenator. And and I don't know
(02:49):
if you need to do any light sanding.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
No, I don't think. I don't think I need to
do no sanding on any of those.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Good good I think, you know, I would just clean
it with the tritidium phosphate water, let it dry a
couple of days, and get some daintish oil. You can
google it and read what it is. But it's a penetrant.
It's it's it's a it's it comes in some colors,
but you know, it's not really a stain. It's simply
(03:20):
an oil. Tongue oil is another one. Tongue is Tongue
oil is like a really deluded urethane, so that's a
little bit more of a protectant. But I think I
would just I think I would just put some daintish
oil on there, and I put a couple of coats
at least on there.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Okay, yeah, that sounds great. So with a brush, so
basically just brush and and uh and the product. Just
brush it on and just let it dry.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yep, that's all you need to do.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Okay, awesome, Well that's my winter project. So I'll be
doing that here soon.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Very good, very good, good luck much, thank you, take care,
bye bye, and talking a little home improvement and glad
you could join me. Let's go to don don welcome,
hi hi here.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I started a carport project back in the beginning of October,
and this guy was supposed to pour a cement's lab
in two weeks, and he was supposed to be here
last Tuesday, and he still isn't here. And now I'm
beginning to think it's too cold.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
For c men. What do you think, Well, you can
pour cment when it's cold. I would prefer not to
port when it's below freezing, but you can. They'll put
any freeze in it, so I mean, and you can
still part as my answer, whether have you talked to him?
(04:50):
What's his intentions?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
No?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I haven't talked to him at all, just every time
I asked him. You know, one dizzy thing is you
won't make it. It's two weeks, which is what it
started out, and he still hasn't made it. Yeah, but
then now it's going to be below freezing pretty much
or close to freezing even during today. And I was
(05:14):
just wondering, well that cause any problem with the integratory
of the cement or anything. Well, I know about anti freeze,
but I don't know much about it.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Yeah yeah, and and you can, I mean, you can
pour it, but you know, I mean I I've actually
seen him poor buildings floors that are outdoors and it's
below zero. I wouldn't do that, But I mean, if
you have a day like today, I wouldn't be too
hesitant of pouring it. I mean, pooring concrete's kind of chemistry,
(05:47):
and you're adding another thing in there of anti freeze.
But I wouldn't do it when it's like in the
teens or something like that, trying to create a little
you know, you know, a line in the sand, if
you will. But I can check the exact temperatures if
you want, and and and talk about that when we
(06:08):
come back. But you know, there's certainly some limitations.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Okay, I appreciate it, all.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Right, very good, thank you much. And uh yeah, and
I can't move fast enough. But yeah, there are there
are any freeze, and and it is chemistry, and it'll
be covered and it'll be a cure and seal, so
there'll be some added you know, things that you're gonna
want to watch certainly, Uh, things you want to watch,
(06:38):
and that the cure and seal compound would also be
good because this time of year and where you're located
is you know, I'm always nervous about road salt getting
up there if they didn't use a ceiling when they
poured it, and getting in there and pitting it. Uh
but uh it can to answer the question, it can be.
(06:58):
It can be poured, and there just needs to be
some precautions taken for sure. All right, uh n anybody,
We're gonna take a short little break and uh, let
me give you the phone number. It's eight hundred eighty
two three eight two five five and you're at home
with Gary Sullivan right here in fifty five garc the
talk station. All right, back to work, we go at
home with Gary Sullivan and uh, by the way, we're
(07:21):
gonna have a very interesting, hopefully interesting guest. It'll be
an interesting subject too, and looking forward to talking to Beth.
She is the executive director of Cincinnati Preservation and Older
Homes and we're gonna find out exactly what their mission is.
(07:42):
I think you're gonna find it very interesting. It's an
educational vehicle to help people with older homes and help
preserve them, and even if the house isn't there. Yeah,
we'll get into that too. I hope you find it interesting.
You know, one of the things when we were talking before,
(08:04):
we said about the fellow that called with the piano
and how it affected his piano talking about humidity, and
at the beginning of the show, I was talking about
how humidity affects the house, and we talk a lot
about that during the course of time. And one of
the things that I know in houses that you'll start
(08:26):
seeing as it really dries out is if you look
at the and it usually happens on corners are up
by the wall and the ceiling. As the wall and
the house and the air all dries and dries and dry,
sometimes you'll start seeing the drywall tape. It'll start peeling away,
(08:49):
it'll start creating a bubble. It may even look torn.
You may see nail heads that are popping out through
the drywall. And when you see that, it's really caused
by probably not enough mud being applied over the tape.
And it's also caused by low humidity inside our homes.
(09:13):
As things dry out, things start moving, tape gets broken.
So how do you fix that when you have nail pops,
because they're not drywalls, not all screwed in and nailed in,
and those nail pops, that nail starts working out and
it pops through the topping compound starts showing is go
next to that nail and run a drywall screw through
(09:37):
the drywall into the wood above it, and then just
take and set that nail below the surface of the drywall,
and then coming back with topping compound, you can cover
the screw and the nail and that screw's not going
(09:58):
to work out like a nail does, and so you've
stabilized the flexing of that drywall. And then for the tape,
the same thing occurs, and sometimes it's actually pulled away
from the drywall. And if you get some seam tape,
or if you'd like just use some Elber's glue, get
(10:18):
that nozzle in there. You might want to hydrate the
tape first. And the way you would hydrate the tape
is just get a wet rag warm water on it
and just hold it on there and let it absorb
some of that moisture so that that tape then becomes flexible.
A little Elmer's glue or seam adhesive underneath that. Take
(10:44):
that warm cloth again, working it over the top of
the tape and getting it to lay smooth and let
it dry and once it's dried, coming back with a
with a a taping knife and some topping compound and
smooth that whole area out. Will We'll fix that whole problem.
(11:08):
And I it's not that difficult of a job. You
have to paint it. You have to prime it first
and then then paint it. But it certainly certainly will
do a good job for you. And really, you know,
dress up the room a little because it looks like
it's in a state of dishm fair when the tape
is pulling and the nils are popping and you know
(11:30):
there's all that movement. Now another thing. A couple of
days ago, we talked a little bit about this with
Ron Wilson when we started to show. We had a
very windy day, very very windy just the other day,
and I was telling them it's just a great time
(11:52):
to really pay attention to your home. And I'm saying
this for everybody listening up there. If you get a
windy day, attention see if you can hear the wind
inside your house. I know it sounds weird, but what
you'll do is you're going to see here and feel
where there's drafts. And one area that many of us
(12:14):
don't pay attention to because sometimes it's in a closet,
sometimes it's in a hallway, it could be any number
of places in your home, and that is the the
access door that gets you into your attic. Yeah, the
last couple of weeks I've been telling you get up
in the attic and see what's going on in there.
(12:35):
But you can also Usually that access store is nothing
more than a piece of plywood that they've cut a
hole in the ceiling. They've got a little rail, they
got some trim molding, and there's a piece of plywood.
You can tape some foam panels on the top of that,
which will be an insulator and will help. But really
(13:00):
what you're going to feel is where that wood is
just laying on that piece of wood, that frame and
that window. Just as it blows into the attic, it's
going to get into the hallway, going to get into
the closet, going to get into the bedroom wherever that is.
And you can weather strip that. And what you can
do is on that door and where it sits on
(13:23):
that rail, you can just get a little piece of
foam weather stripping. It doesn't have to be that thick.
I mean literally a quarter of an inch thick. It's
got tape on the back, and put it on that
wood piece, that plywood that lays down in that track,
and that'll help seal it. But then go, let's go
(13:43):
to the next step. All right, so we got that sealed,
then get a piece of plexiglass, same weather stripping all
the way around that and you're going to take two
screws and you're gonna screw it right up on that frame.
So now we've created a dead air space. It's you know,
(14:04):
kind of kind of air tight. I mean, it's not
going to be blowing in. It's not a big insulator,
but you're going to eliminate that draft and very very effective.
So I recommend you do that if you have an
access board into your attic and get that sealed up.
Another things we've talked about in the past, and again
(14:25):
when it's real windy, you can even you can actually
in double hung windows, you can hear the windows litter,
you can hear the windows rattling, and you can calk
windows close on the sides, and where the double hungs meet,
you can use a calking It's called peel away and
(14:50):
that peel away calking is clear and you can literally
cock it clothes and come march when you want to
open your windows, cawking will simply peel away. If you
don't want to use a calking tube and use that,
there's an old, old product's been around for years called
more Tight. More type is like a clay type gray
(15:12):
roping and it comes in geez, I'm gonna say three sixteenths.
But you could use three pieces of that, five pieces
of that, one piece of that, and just peel that
off and run it right where the window is meet.
If the weather stripping's batter, it's an old double hung
window and I'll tell you what. That'll stop so much
air infiltration. And at that point you can use those
(15:35):
plastic storm window kits. It does a real good job
of creating a dead air space. Also, so if you
have those issues that I just discussed, those are good
remedies to minimize the draft you're going to have. All right,
we'll continue. We're going to have Beth join us from
Cincinni Preservation and talk about their mission and what they're
(15:59):
doing for the old homes in our city and tri
state area. That's next as we continue. You're at Home
with Gary Sullivan on fifty five. Care see the talk station.
All right, back at it we go at Home with
Gary Salvin twelve thirty five. It is and A has
promised we'd have Beth Johnson. She is the executive director
of Cincinnati Preservation. And Beth welcome for the first time
(16:22):
Nat Home with Gary Salvin. How you doing good?
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
You're quite welcome. Of course, for thirty nine years we've
sat here and talked about homes. We've talked about running
toilets and patching walls and doing all kinds of stuff
around the home. And you are the executive director of
Cincinnati Preservation, which has a lot to do with homes.
Can you kind of tell us a little bit about
Cincinnati Preservation.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, we have a lot to do with old homes.
So Cincinnati Preservation is the Greater Cincinnati is nonprofit that's
focused and recognized as the resource and champion for the
historic preservation, reuse of old buildings, and basically celebration and
acknowledgment of the importance of our historic and cultural resources.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
There's there's boy, you just said a lot. Yeah, and
I remember when we chatted this past week, you said
we're we're an education resource. So let's just start there,
because I guess I am an education resource also, And
I know you're going to be able to tell me
(17:31):
a lot more than I know because we get we
have you know, we do a national show for the
first three hours on Saturday, and we get a lot
of calls from even New England where there's a lot
of homes and we have a lot of older homes.
I know. Northern Kentucky. Now you do Northern Kentucky too, correct,
we do?
Speaker 4 (17:50):
Yeah, So we are the Greater Cincinnati region, So we're
basically Hamilton County and then all of the counties in Ohio,
northern Kentucky and a little bit of Indiana Hamilton County.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Now there's also historic designations. Tell me how you educate
people on what historic designations? And I mean there's different
ways you have to do things. Do you help people
with them?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Okay, yes you do.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Yeah. So there's basically two different types of designations. There's
one that's called the National Register, which is through the
federal government, and that's basically kind of a good bill
thumbs up, Yay, you're historic and you should be preserved.
But then there's also local designation and that's where you
get into what you can and cannot do with the
basically the look and aesthetics of the exterior of your
(18:42):
property only. And so so there's local preservation offices in
a lot of our cities that you go through and
you basically get a permit, a special permit to make
changes to your house. And we recognize that there are
you know, there's special materials often with the store home
or materials that maybe people aren't quite used to working
(19:04):
with anymore. And so that's where we really come in
to help provide education on how you treat those materials
or if you need to replace it where you can
find them excellent.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
So so how do you educate people about that? Do
they come to you, do you have seminars or how
does that education process work?
Speaker 4 (19:28):
A little bit of all of it. So definitely people
come to us so that we are, you know, have
people can feel free to call us or email us
if they have questions. We call that technical preservation questions,
and that's really we have a preservation director who will
help walking through those. We have a lot of information
on our website. We have a whole section of our
(19:48):
website called Preservation one oh one. It is a great
resource for people, has a lot of disinformation about how
you treat windows and wood and things like that. But
then we also, for for almost thirteen years, I think
we might be going on fourteen years, have been collaborating
with a group of people in Northern Kentucky made up
of most of the local preservation offices there, where we
(20:11):
do a weekend. It's basically a day long event called
Northern Kentucky Restoration Weekend where we have classes on all
of this stuff. So we have a window restoration guy,
usually a plaster guy, someone that comes talks about warnar,
We talk about paint colors, architectural styles, routine. So really
anything that has to do with a historic house we
(20:32):
usually will try and cover it there.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Well, I've got to get some of those guys on,
don't I.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
Yeah, yeah, we have a freat list of tradesmen.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Yeah yeah, Well we'll get together on that later and
I might use you. You've already educated me so we
can steal all some of them and they use their expertise.
And I think this is so vitally important, especially in
this area, get a good arc texture, I know, you
know in the Newport and Covington area of course in Cincinnati,
(21:06):
and do you go in the Indiana at all.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
I'm a little bit so south East Indiana. Okay, it's
part of our coverage as well.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Yeah, yeah, we got these kind of just ornate and
beautiful architecture. And the last thing you want is somebody
to go in and buy it and start putting in,
you know, some cheap looking replacement windows and vinyl sighting.
I mean that'd be I mortal sin.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Yeah yeah, now it and it really does. It will
dramatically change the look of a house. And and a
lot of these houses also were We're built in such
a way that like the standard vinyl window won't even
sit in there, so then you have to pour down
the window, and that just it just doesn't provide a
good book. And also our there's another preservations here that
(21:58):
thanklessly would always say the windows are called replacement for
a reason. They always have to be replaced. Whereas wood windows,
you can, you know, you can rehab wood windows. Every
single part of that window was meant was meant to
be able to be replaced if needed. And so if
you have good working wood windows, there's ways to make
them just as energy efficient, is not better than any
(22:19):
of the vinal windows on the market, and we talk
a lot about that and show people how they can
do that as well.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, I even remember it's probably twenty five thirty years ago.
I know Barbin windows came out with a wood insert
to fit inside a window. I mean, you couldn't tell
it wasn't an original window it was. It was outstanding.
And I imagine many companies, wood window companies they have
a catalog of some historic looks or no they do.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Yeah, yeah, they've come a long way. So Marvin was
definitely at the forefront that they were actually worked with
the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the National Park
Service on that first window to make sure it's that
fit the stecks that were needed. But pretty much all
the major window manufacturers out there now create wood, aluminal
(23:07):
clad wood, or another popular thing that's been coming is fiberglass,
and that they're able to mold fiberglass and it's just
much stronger than vinyl, so it's able to make some
of those bigger sashes, that viny whole replacement windows just camped.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Sure, Sure, that's got to be a fun job you have,
it is.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
I'm pretty I'm pretty lucky.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I'm pretty lucky.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
I've got I've been in the been in the preservation
work in Cincinnati region going on eighteen years now, and
with Cincinnati Preservation about three and a half. But all
of those jobs have let me go into some amazing
magical places. I've been able to go up into the
attict of Music Hall behind a big Rose window. I've
(23:56):
got the roof of Union terminal.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
People.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
And the greatest part of this job is people are
so proud of their homes and their buildings, but they
always want to show them off. And so just even
last week, I got to go on a tour of
the Goshorn House, which is this amazing beautiful mansion up
in Clifton that's actually now on the market, and the
owners just wanted to show us all the work that
he did do it and it was phenomenal, and it's
(24:22):
just like, yeah, it's like I got to go into
pretty cool places.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, I know. There was a guest I had, Young
Gal graduated from XU. She was in her twenties, was
you know, got married and they bought an old home
in the over the run and I can't tell you where,
I've never seen it. And I'm going like, do you
do you guys know what you're doing, and she goes like,
we know it's going to be a lot of work,
(24:47):
but we're just so excited about taking this, you know,
not dilapidated, but in a state of disrepair, and you know,
talking just some of the things that they were her
and her husband were doing and friends were helping. It
was fascinating to me. I mean, it was fascinating and
I always wonder, because I haven't really talked to her
(25:09):
kind of lost tract evers, did they get it done?
And somebody told me when I was telling that story,
they said, you never get it done.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Now. There's always something to do to do. Even once
you've finished something, it's probably time to time to update
or replace or share something, maintenance, all that sort of stuff.
So it's the constant cycle. But I love it. I
take it. Your listeners probably love it as well. There's
just something wonderful about being able to put your own
(25:39):
blood button tears into your home.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Even things like you know, there's a lot of stone
and a lot of different mortars and different things, which
is all different than what we use today. So much
of it was used whatever the materials were on site
or in that region, and then keeping them clean. You know,
you've been through a lot of air pollution when there
(26:04):
wasn't regulations on that, and even just cleaning them properly
without something that's too aggressive. I guess that there's a
whole education in that.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
There is. And the great thing is that technology is
constantly evolving. So we always say, you know, you want
to start with the least invasive, the gentlest means possible,
and then you build up. And so obviously sand blasting
to us is just as we said earlier as I
mortal fin like that will just completely damage your brick
and stone. But they're actually coming out with new technologies.
(26:38):
They've been experimenting with lasers and how lasers can clean
zone and do it safely without ruining it. So it's
neat because the technology is still advancing. But also the
great thing though with some of the historic materials, you know,
the historic mortar, you can still make historic mortar. You
might not maybe maybe be able to get the horse
hair that they might put in that fiscally and plaster,
(27:02):
but you can still you know, they still make the
basic ingredients and so there's still line and other stuff
that you can, right that is used to be able
to make mortar, and so it's not impossible, right to
be able to preserve the to preserve these materials, right.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Yeah, Boy, it just goes really on and on, and so, yes,
I got a thousand questions going through my head, but
I was just thinking we'd One of the sponsors of
our show is a company called Dumont Global and they
have they had a product probably in the eighties. They
(27:40):
still have it. It's called peel Away and was removing
paint off of you know, lead paint off walls. And
I remember I met the founder and he was fascinating.
He was like using it in Europe removing thirty five
layers of paint. And I guess I was just kind
(28:00):
of say, I would assume that you're familiar with that product,
and it's probably used in some of those restorations because
it just pulls it off, it's not corrosive.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
I'm very, very familiar with Tilloy and I've actually used
it myself on windows because a great thing about steal
Away is that you can easily get it into like
it will take the shape of the window profile, so
it's really easy then to get it in there, and
so it actually cuts down on the scraping and then
potential damage to wood if you accidentally, you know, gave
(28:33):
it a creeper to put a groove or something. And
so it's you know, it's a great resource and we
still love it.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Sure Sure do you ever And this may be a
silly question, we'll take a break and we'll kind of
wrap things up. I know you got a fundraiser going
on and I want to get that information out. Do
you ever have tours of homes? You know, like a
cavalcade of preserved homes that people want to open their
doors to.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
Now and then we'll do kind of one off one.
But what we really love to do is really support
our neighborhoods because there's a lot of neighborhoods around here
that put on house tours. So like Clifton does a
big one. I know Westwood has done one for several
several times, east Row down in Newport and like coming
(29:22):
to neighborhoods and so rather than trying to replicate what
they're doing, because a lot of these nass that's a
big fundraiser for them. Sure, we sure will go and
support them. So we'll do like calls of volunteers and
just help support them, to help them fulfill their mission
and to highlight their homes.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Yeah, I was just saying for the general public to
get to view some of these what a great idea.
And if there's that many tours out there, let's we'll
get that word out. I think that's wonderful. That's wonderful.
All right, let's take a little break bit and when
we come back, we'll talk about the fundraiser and kind
of wrap things up because we always quickly run out
of time. Beth Johnson, she is the executive director Cincinni Preservation,
(30:01):
and we'll take a little break here at home with
Garry Salvin right here in fifty five care see the
talk station. Well, our wonderful guest, Beth Johnson, the executive
director of Cincinnati Preservation, is my guest today, and we're
just talking about just talking about the preservation of historic housing.
A couple of real quick questions. You also do work
where there isn't a house we got.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Yeah, we say that we can we do above above
amvelo ground preservation and so we you know, we recognize
that archaeological resources or even when buildings have been torn down,
still have stories to tell, and so we want to
make sure that, especially with archaeological resources and with southwest
(30:44):
Ohio and northern Kentucky having a lot of native mounds,
that we want to make sure that those are respected
well and taking care of properly. And then when buildings,
you know, unfortunately, some buildings obviously do have to be demolished,
but there's still stories of the people and of the
holding that can be told, and we want to make
sure that we still are able to tell those as well.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
When people buy these types of homes, are they usually
renovated by pros or is a lot of a DIY work.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
I think it's a bit of both. So I think
it really depends on kind of where you where you are,
I know, you know, and over their ie we've definitely
had both. We've had professionals and we've had a lot
of di wires. Obviously there's challenges with with di I wires,
and you know, just basically the knowledge base and making
sure that they have the knowledge base and there's you know,
(31:37):
a couple of things obviously electric and plumbing, h fact,
things that that needs licenses and permits that we always
encourage people to look for the professionals. But you know
a lot of the stuff like you know, painting and
maybe basic carpentry and stuff like that, you know, take
take a hand at it, and if you can't do it,
then then you can always bring in a professional.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
That's what I'm always talking about. Anybody body can paint,
especially with today's quality of pains. Quite honestly, they're wonderful. Yeah,
but nobody should be ripping out knob and tube and
rewiring unless they're an electrician exactly. All right. So so
you're dispensing all this knowledge, you sound like you have
a wonderful, wonderful program. How's it funded?
Speaker 4 (32:22):
So we most of it's funded through we are a
membership based organization for membership, and then we have our
end of the year fund drive where a good portion
of our yearly budget and revenue comes from. And so
it's you know a common thing for nonprofits that we
fund raise. But we're currently in the midst of what
we're calling our Guiding Star fund drive, where people can
(32:43):
can donate to us so we can continue this work
throughout the region.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
How do they donate? They can go.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
Online on for our website and it's the first thing
that pops up is would you like to be part
of it? Would you like to be a guiding Star?
And so people can click on that and can donate
to us. They can also send us checks if they'd
rather do that. I know some people still don't like
internet donating things on the internet, but we also people
can send us checks to our our address at eight
(33:13):
twelve Dayton Street, Cincinnati, Ohio for five two one four.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Right amongst a lot of historic buildings.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
Yes, yeah, we're located in the John House House, which
is a historic house.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yeah, exactly, exactly. Any volunteers needed in your organization.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
Always, we always love having people volunteers. So we you know,
we have quite a few events throughout the year, and
so it's always great to have extra hands for that.
And then also we have a bunch of different committees
that do that do various work, and so people want
to get even more involved and want to really lend
their their knowledge or talent that way, we have we
(33:55):
have that as well, or if people just want to
come in and help us with things to envelopes and
stuff the letters that we can always have that as well,
and so people can find out about how to volunteer
with us as well on our website.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Okay, and the website again.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
Is www dot Cincinnatipreservation dot org dot org.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
All right, Beth, thanks so much for giving up your
Saturday or part of it on this weekend, and it's
been fun. I am going to touch base with you.
I want to get a couple of your resources if
you don't mind so well, probably chat with you this week.
But thanks for thanks for joining us today and thanks
for your knowledge, appreciate it, thanks for the work you.
Speaker 4 (34:37):
Do, so thank you, and thank you so much for
having me.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
All right, Beth, thank you, bye bye. All right, Beth Johnson,
since INI preservation and interesting. I bet we scratch the surface.
I know, literally there's a lot more to learn about
this organization. And you know, we have guessed on to
(35:02):
do basically the same kind of work that she's doing
to educate you. Not all of us can go do
all the you know, redoing or rehabbing of these homes,
but the knowledge to do some of it. We talked
(35:22):
today about an old handrail, put a hair handrail and
an old plaster wall, and how to do it those
you know, maybe not preservation, but it's older homes, older materials,
different types of ways to accomplish that. And so maybe
I can get a couple of her resources on during
(35:44):
our regular shows weekend and week out. But I hope
you enjoyed the conversation. We will have that podcast available
maybe for your friends. If you know somebody that's into
that kind of work or into that kind of history,
you could pass that along term. I'd certainly appreciate it.
You can find it on the iHeart app A little
(36:04):
magnifying glass just put in at Home with Gary Sullivan, So,
Beth Johnson, we certainly appreciate your time today. All right,
Danny boy, another weekend, well not another weekend, but a
half of a weekend is in the bay. Another Saturday. Yeah,
thank you so much for your efforts today. Yes, it
was kind of slow in the beginning with it, but
(36:25):
then everybody woke up, got the turkey hangover over, ready
to go. That's what I say. All right, good Lord Willing.
We'll be back tomorrow for more At Home with Gary Sullivan.
Well, best time of day. Welcome to our number four
and good afternoon. You're at home with Gary Selvyn talking
a little home improvement, as we do every Saturday and Sunday.
And by the way, if you missed the first three hours,
you can always pick those up on the iHeart podcast.
It's at Home with Gary Sullivan and they're very neatly
(00:21):
and newly labeled. Tell you exactly what you're gonna listen to,
So check them out. Something perks your interest. Take a listen,
all right. Our phone number if you'd like to join us,
it's eight hundred and eight two three eight two five
five and let's go to Wilson. Wilson.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Welcome, good afternoon, Gary, thanks to taking my call.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
You're quite welcome. Thank you. Well.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I bought a house about six years ago. I've been
renovating it and I finally got to the best part
of the house, which is my man cave in the basement.
All right, So, and it's right now. It's got barnwood
called into all the walls, and it's got timber and
timber on it also. But it's been it's dirty from
(01:07):
all the dust and all that stuff. And I will
just wondering what's the best thing to bring that wood
back to life and clean it.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
So the the so it's just dirt and dust, Is
that basically what's on there?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yes, I.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So it seems like it needs a pretty deep cleaning,
correct correct. Yeah, So I would say something like a
tri sodium phosphate would probably be the deepest cleaning, uh
heavy duty cleaner. It's bare wood, so you know, try
(01:47):
sodium fox fate. You can get to hardware, so you
can even get it to the grocery store. I think
just mix that up. If you don't want to use that,
you want to use something maybe a little less harsh.
You could use an oxygenated bleach, which is also a
powder that's mixed with water. Either one of those two.
(02:08):
You know, goggles gloves are going to be needed. Stiff
scrub rushed for sure. You can get a no rinse
tricedium phosphate so that you don't have to rinse it.
You could just kind of dry it and then after
you really let it dry and I'm talking a couple
(02:29):
of days, I come back. Yeah, I come back with
like a Danish oil and you know, yeah, it's not
a protecting, it's a it will be absorbed by the wood.
It's kind of a rejuvenator. And and I don't know
(02:49):
if you need to do any light sanding.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
No, I don't think. I don't think I need to
do no sanding on any of those.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Good good I think, you know, I would just clean
it with the tritidium phosphate water, let it dry a
couple of days, and get some daintish oil. You can
google it and read what it is. But it's a penetrant.
It's it's it's a it's it comes in some colors,
but you know, it's not really a stain. It's simply
(03:20):
an oil. Tongue oil is another one. Tongue is Tongue
oil is like a really deluded urethane, so that's a
little bit more of a protectant. But I think I
would just I think I would just put some daintish
oil on there, and I put a couple of coats
at least on there.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Okay, yeah, that sounds great. So with a brush, so
basically just brush and and uh and the product. Just
brush it on and just let it dry.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yep, that's all you need to do.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Okay, awesome, Well that's my winter project. So I'll be
doing that here soon.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Very good, very good, good luck much, thank you, take care,
bye bye, and talking a little home improvement and glad
you could join me. Let's go to don don welcome,
hi hi here.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I started a carport project back in the beginning of October,
and this guy was supposed to pour a cement's lab
in two weeks, and he was supposed to be here
last Tuesday, and he still isn't here. And now I'm
beginning to think it's too cold.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
For c men. What do you think, Well, you can
pour cment when it's cold. I would prefer not to
port when it's below freezing, but you can. They'll put
any freeze in it, so I mean, and you can
still part as my answer, whether have you talked to him?
(04:50):
What's his intentions?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
No?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I haven't talked to him at all, just every time
I asked him. You know, one dizzy thing is you
won't make it. It's two weeks, which is what it
started out, and he still hasn't made it. Yeah, but
then now it's going to be below freezing pretty much
or close to freezing even during today. And I was
(05:14):
just wondering, well that cause any problem with the integratory
of the cement or anything. Well, I know about anti freeze,
but I don't know much about it.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Yeah yeah, and and you can, I mean, you can
pour it, but you know, I mean I I've actually
seen him poor buildings floors that are outdoors and it's
below zero. I wouldn't do that, But I mean, if
you have a day like today, I wouldn't be too
hesitant of pouring it. I mean, pooring concrete's kind of chemistry,
(05:47):
and you're adding another thing in there of anti freeze.
But I wouldn't do it when it's like in the
teens or something like that, trying to create a little
you know, you know, a line in the sand, if
you will. But I can check the exact temperatures if
you want, and and and talk about that when we
(06:08):
come back. But you know, there's certainly some limitations.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Okay, I appreciate it, all.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Right, very good, thank you much. And uh yeah, and
I can't move fast enough. But yeah, there are there
are any freeze, and and it is chemistry, and it'll
be covered and it'll be a cure and seal, so
there'll be some added you know, things that you're gonna
want to watch certainly, Uh, things you want to watch,
(06:38):
and that the cure and seal compound would also be
good because this time of year and where you're located
is you know, I'm always nervous about road salt getting
up there if they didn't use a ceiling when they
poured it, and getting in there and pitting it. Uh
but uh it can to answer the question, it can be.
(06:58):
It can be poured, and there just needs to be
some precautions taken for sure. All right, uh n anybody,
We're gonna take a short little break and uh, let
me give you the phone number. It's eight hundred eighty
two three eight two five five and you're at home
with Gary Sullivan right here in fifty five garc the
talk station. All right, back to work, we go at
home with Gary Sullivan and uh, by the way, we're
(07:21):
gonna have a very interesting, hopefully interesting guest. It'll be
an interesting subject too, and looking forward to talking to Beth.
She is the executive director of Cincinnati Preservation and Older
Homes and we're gonna find out exactly what their mission is.
(07:42):
I think you're gonna find it very interesting. It's an
educational vehicle to help people with older homes and help
preserve them, and even if the house isn't there. Yeah,
we'll get into that too. I hope you find it interesting.
You know, one of the things when we were talking before,
(08:04):
we said about the fellow that called with the piano
and how it affected his piano talking about humidity, and
at the beginning of the show, I was talking about
how humidity affects the house, and we talk a lot
about that during the course of time. And one of
the things that I know in houses that you'll start
(08:26):
seeing as it really dries out is if you look
at the and it usually happens on corners are up
by the wall and the ceiling. As the wall and
the house and the air all dries and dries and dry,
sometimes you'll start seeing the drywall tape. It'll start peeling away,
(08:49):
it'll start creating a bubble. It may even look torn.
You may see nail heads that are popping out through
the drywall. And when you see that, it's really caused
by probably not enough mud being applied over the tape.
And it's also caused by low humidity inside our homes.
(09:13):
As things dry out, things start moving, tape gets broken.
So how do you fix that when you have nail pops,
because they're not drywalls, not all screwed in and nailed in,
and those nail pops, that nail starts working out and
it pops through the topping compound starts showing is go
next to that nail and run a drywall screw through
(09:37):
the drywall into the wood above it, and then just
take and set that nail below the surface of the drywall,
and then coming back with topping compound, you can cover
the screw and the nail and that screw's not going
(09:58):
to work out like a nail does, and so you've
stabilized the flexing of that drywall. And then for the tape,
the same thing occurs, and sometimes it's actually pulled away
from the drywall. And if you get some seam tape,
or if you'd like just use some Elber's glue, get
(10:18):
that nozzle in there. You might want to hydrate the
tape first. And the way you would hydrate the tape
is just get a wet rag warm water on it
and just hold it on there and let it absorb
some of that moisture so that that tape then becomes flexible.
A little Elmer's glue or seam adhesive underneath that. Take
(10:44):
that warm cloth again, working it over the top of
the tape and getting it to lay smooth and let
it dry and once it's dried, coming back with a
with a a taping knife and some topping compound and
smooth that whole area out. Will We'll fix that whole problem.
(11:08):
And I it's not that difficult of a job. You
have to paint it. You have to prime it first
and then then paint it. But it certainly certainly will
do a good job for you. And really, you know,
dress up the room a little because it looks like
it's in a state of dishm fair when the tape
is pulling and the nils are popping and you know
(11:30):
there's all that movement. Now another thing. A couple of
days ago, we talked a little bit about this with
Ron Wilson when we started to show. We had a
very windy day, very very windy just the other day,
and I was telling them it's just a great time
(11:52):
to really pay attention to your home. And I'm saying
this for everybody listening up there. If you get a
windy day, attention see if you can hear the wind
inside your house. I know it sounds weird, but what
you'll do is you're going to see here and feel
where there's drafts. And one area that many of us
(12:14):
don't pay attention to because sometimes it's in a closet,
sometimes it's in a hallway, it could be any number
of places in your home, and that is the the
access door that gets you into your attic. Yeah, the
last couple of weeks I've been telling you get up
in the attic and see what's going on in there.
(12:35):
But you can also Usually that access store is nothing
more than a piece of plywood that they've cut a
hole in the ceiling. They've got a little rail, they
got some trim molding, and there's a piece of plywood.
You can tape some foam panels on the top of that,
which will be an insulator and will help. But really
(13:00):
what you're going to feel is where that wood is
just laying on that piece of wood, that frame and
that window. Just as it blows into the attic, it's
going to get into the hallway, going to get into
the closet, going to get into the bedroom wherever that is.
And you can weather strip that. And what you can
do is on that door and where it sits on
(13:23):
that rail, you can just get a little piece of
foam weather stripping. It doesn't have to be that thick.
I mean literally a quarter of an inch thick. It's
got tape on the back, and put it on that
wood piece, that plywood that lays down in that track,
and that'll help seal it. But then go, let's go
(13:43):
to the next step. All right, so we got that sealed,
then get a piece of plexiglass, same weather stripping all
the way around that and you're going to take two
screws and you're gonna screw it right up on that frame.
So now we've created a dead air space. It's you know,
(14:04):
kind of kind of air tight. I mean, it's not
going to be blowing in. It's not a big insulator,
but you're going to eliminate that draft and very very effective.
So I recommend you do that if you have an
access board into your attic and get that sealed up.
Another things we've talked about in the past, and again
(14:25):
when it's real windy, you can even you can actually
in double hung windows, you can hear the windows litter,
you can hear the windows rattling, and you can calk
windows close on the sides, and where the double hungs meet,
you can use a calking It's called peel away and
(14:50):
that peel away calking is clear and you can literally
cock it clothes and come march when you want to
open your windows, cawking will simply peel away. If you
don't want to use a calking tube and use that,
there's an old, old product's been around for years called
more Tight. More type is like a clay type gray
(15:12):
roping and it comes in geez, I'm gonna say three sixteenths.
But you could use three pieces of that, five pieces
of that, one piece of that, and just peel that
off and run it right where the window is meet.
If the weather stripping's batter, it's an old double hung
window and I'll tell you what. That'll stop so much
air infiltration. And at that point you can use those
(15:35):
plastic storm window kits. It does a real good job
of creating a dead air space. Also, so if you
have those issues that I just discussed, those are good
remedies to minimize the draft you're going to have. All right,
we'll continue. We're going to have Beth join us from
Cincinni Preservation and talk about their mission and what they're
(15:59):
doing for the old homes in our city and tri
state area. That's next as we continue. You're at Home
with Gary Sullivan on fifty five. Care see the talk station.
All right, back at it we go at Home with
Gary Salvin twelve thirty five. It is and A has
promised we'd have Beth Johnson. She is the executive director
of Cincinnati Preservation. And Beth welcome for the first time
(16:22):
Nat Home with Gary Salvin. How you doing good?
Speaker 4 (16:26):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
You're quite welcome. Of course, for thirty nine years we've
sat here and talked about homes. We've talked about running
toilets and patching walls and doing all kinds of stuff
around the home. And you are the executive director of
Cincinnati Preservation, which has a lot to do with homes.
Can you kind of tell us a little bit about
Cincinnati Preservation.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
Yeah, we have a lot to do with old homes.
So Cincinnati Preservation is the Greater Cincinnati is nonprofit that's
focused and recognized as the resource and champion for the
historic preservation, reuse of old buildings, and basically celebration and
acknowledgment of the importance of our historic and cultural resources.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
There's there's boy, you just said a lot. Yeah, and
I remember when we chatted this past week, you said
we're we're an education resource. So let's just start there,
because I guess I am an education resource also, And
I know you're going to be able to tell me
(17:31):
a lot more than I know because we get we
have you know, we do a national show for the
first three hours on Saturday, and we get a lot
of calls from even New England where there's a lot
of homes and we have a lot of older homes.
I know. Northern Kentucky. Now you do Northern Kentucky too, correct,
we do?
Speaker 4 (17:50):
Yeah, So we are the Greater Cincinnati region, So we're
basically Hamilton County and then all of the counties in Ohio,
northern Kentucky and a little bit of Indiana Hamilton County.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Now there's also historic designations. Tell me how you educate
people on what historic designations? And I mean there's different
ways you have to do things. Do you help people
with them?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Okay, yes you do.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Yeah. So there's basically two different types of designations. There's
one that's called the National Register, which is through the
federal government, and that's basically kind of a good bill
thumbs up, Yay, you're historic and you should be preserved.
But then there's also local designation and that's where you
get into what you can and cannot do with the
basically the look and aesthetics of the exterior of your
(18:42):
property only. And so so there's local preservation offices in
a lot of our cities that you go through and
you basically get a permit, a special permit to make
changes to your house. And we recognize that there are
you know, there's special materials often with the store home
or materials that maybe people aren't quite used to working
(19:04):
with anymore. And so that's where we really come in
to help provide education on how you treat those materials
or if you need to replace it where you can
find them excellent.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
So so how do you educate people about that? Do
they come to you, do you have seminars or how
does that education process work?
Speaker 4 (19:28):
A little bit of all of it. So definitely people
come to us so that we are, you know, have
people can feel free to call us or email us
if they have questions. We call that technical preservation questions,
and that's really we have a preservation director who will
help walking through those. We have a lot of information
on our website. We have a whole section of our
(19:48):
website called Preservation one oh one. It is a great
resource for people, has a lot of disinformation about how
you treat windows and wood and things like that. But
then we also, for for almost thirteen years, I think
we might be going on fourteen years, have been collaborating
with a group of people in Northern Kentucky made up
of most of the local preservation offices there, where we
(20:11):
do a weekend. It's basically a day long event called
Northern Kentucky Restoration Weekend where we have classes on all
of this stuff. So we have a window restoration guy,
usually a plaster guy, someone that comes talks about warnar,
We talk about paint colors, architectural styles, routine. So really
anything that has to do with a historic house we
(20:32):
usually will try and cover it there.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Well, I've got to get some of those guys on,
don't I.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
Yeah, yeah, we have a freat list of tradesmen.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Yeah yeah, Well we'll get together on that later and
I might use you. You've already educated me so we
can steal all some of them and they use their expertise.
And I think this is so vitally important, especially in
this area, get a good arc texture, I know, you
know in the Newport and Covington area of course in Cincinnati,
(21:06):
and do you go in the Indiana at all.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
I'm a little bit so south East Indiana. Okay, it's
part of our coverage as well.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Yeah, yeah, we got these kind of just ornate and
beautiful architecture. And the last thing you want is somebody
to go in and buy it and start putting in,
you know, some cheap looking replacement windows and vinyl sighting.
I mean that'd be I mortal sin.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Yeah yeah, now it and it really does. It will
dramatically change the look of a house. And and a
lot of these houses also were We're built in such
a way that like the standard vinyl window won't even
sit in there, so then you have to pour down
the window, and that just it just doesn't provide a
good book. And also our there's another preservations here that
(21:58):
thanklessly would always say the windows are called replacement for
a reason. They always have to be replaced. Whereas wood windows,
you can, you know, you can rehab wood windows. Every
single part of that window was meant was meant to
be able to be replaced if needed. And so if
you have good working wood windows, there's ways to make
them just as energy efficient, is not better than any
(22:19):
of the vinal windows on the market, and we talk
a lot about that and show people how they can
do that as well.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, I even remember it's probably twenty five thirty years ago.
I know Barbin windows came out with a wood insert
to fit inside a window. I mean, you couldn't tell
it wasn't an original window it was. It was outstanding.
And I imagine many companies, wood window companies they have
a catalog of some historic looks or no they do.
Speaker 4 (22:47):
Yeah, yeah, they've come a long way. So Marvin was
definitely at the forefront that they were actually worked with
the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the National Park
Service on that first window to make sure it's that
fit the stecks that were needed. But pretty much all
the major window manufacturers out there now create wood, aluminal
(23:07):
clad wood, or another popular thing that's been coming is fiberglass,
and that they're able to mold fiberglass and it's just
much stronger than vinyl, so it's able to make some
of those bigger sashes, that viny whole replacement windows just camped.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Sure, Sure, that's got to be a fun job you have,
it is.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
I'm pretty I'm pretty lucky.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I'm pretty lucky.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
I've got I've been in the been in the preservation
work in Cincinnati region going on eighteen years now, and
with Cincinnati Preservation about three and a half. But all
of those jobs have let me go into some amazing
magical places. I've been able to go up into the
attict of Music Hall behind a big Rose window. I've
(23:56):
got the roof of Union terminal.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
People.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
And the greatest part of this job is people are
so proud of their homes and their buildings, but they
always want to show them off. And so just even
last week, I got to go on a tour of
the Goshorn House, which is this amazing beautiful mansion up
in Clifton that's actually now on the market, and the
owners just wanted to show us all the work that
he did do it and it was phenomenal, and it's
(24:22):
just like, yeah, it's like I got to go into
pretty cool places.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, I know. There was a guest I had, Young
Gal graduated from XU. She was in her twenties, was
you know, got married and they bought an old home
in the over the run and I can't tell you where,
I've never seen it. And I'm going like, do you
do you guys know what you're doing, and she goes like,
we know it's going to be a lot of work,
(24:47):
but we're just so excited about taking this, you know,
not dilapidated, but in a state of disrepair, and you know,
talking just some of the things that they were her
and her husband were doing and friends were helping. It
was fascinating to me. I mean, it was fascinating and
I always wonder, because I haven't really talked to her
(25:09):
kind of lost tract evers, did they get it done?
And somebody told me when I was telling that story,
they said, you never get it done.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
Now. There's always something to do to do. Even once
you've finished something, it's probably time to time to update
or replace or share something, maintenance, all that sort of stuff.
So it's the constant cycle. But I love it. I
take it. Your listeners probably love it as well. There's
just something wonderful about being able to put your own
(25:39):
blood button tears into your home.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Even things like you know, there's a lot of stone
and a lot of different mortars and different things, which
is all different than what we use today. So much
of it was used whatever the materials were on site
or in that region, and then keeping them clean. You know,
you've been through a lot of air pollution when there
(26:04):
wasn't regulations on that, and even just cleaning them properly
without something that's too aggressive. I guess that there's a
whole education in that.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
There is. And the great thing is that technology is
constantly evolving. So we always say, you know, you want
to start with the least invasive, the gentlest means possible,
and then you build up. And so obviously sand blasting
to us is just as we said earlier as I
mortal fin like that will just completely damage your brick
and stone. But they're actually coming out with new technologies.
(26:38):
They've been experimenting with lasers and how lasers can clean
zone and do it safely without ruining it. So it's
neat because the technology is still advancing. But also the
great thing though with some of the historic materials, you know,
the historic mortar, you can still make historic mortar. You
might not maybe maybe be able to get the horse
hair that they might put in that fiscally and plaster,
(27:02):
but you can still you know, they still make the
basic ingredients and so there's still line and other stuff
that you can, right that is used to be able
to make mortar, and so it's not impossible, right to
be able to preserve the to preserve these materials, right.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Yeah, Boy, it just goes really on and on, and so, yes,
I got a thousand questions going through my head, but
I was just thinking we'd One of the sponsors of
our show is a company called Dumont Global and they
have they had a product probably in the eighties. They
(27:40):
still have it. It's called peel Away and was removing
paint off of you know, lead paint off walls. And
I remember I met the founder and he was fascinating.
He was like using it in Europe removing thirty five
layers of paint. And I guess I was just kind
(28:00):
of say, I would assume that you're familiar with that product,
and it's probably used in some of those restorations because
it just pulls it off, it's not corrosive.
Speaker 4 (28:11):
I'm very, very familiar with Tilloy and I've actually used
it myself on windows because a great thing about steal
Away is that you can easily get it into like
it will take the shape of the window profile, so
it's really easy then to get it in there, and
so it actually cuts down on the scraping and then
potential damage to wood if you accidentally, you know, gave
(28:33):
it a creeper to put a groove or something. And
so it's you know, it's a great resource and we
still love it.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Sure Sure do you ever And this may be a
silly question, we'll take a break and we'll kind of
wrap things up. I know you got a fundraiser going
on and I want to get that information out. Do
you ever have tours of homes? You know, like a
cavalcade of preserved homes that people want to open their
doors to.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
Now and then we'll do kind of one off one.
But what we really love to do is really support
our neighborhoods because there's a lot of neighborhoods around here
that put on house tours. So like Clifton does a
big one. I know Westwood has done one for several
several times, east Row down in Newport and like coming
(29:22):
to neighborhoods and so rather than trying to replicate what
they're doing, because a lot of these nass that's a
big fundraiser for them. Sure, we sure will go and
support them. So we'll do like calls of volunteers and
just help support them, to help them fulfill their mission
and to highlight their homes.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Yeah, I was just saying for the general public to
get to view some of these what a great idea.
And if there's that many tours out there, let's we'll
get that word out. I think that's wonderful. That's wonderful.
All right, let's take a little break bit and when
we come back, we'll talk about the fundraiser and kind
of wrap things up because we always quickly run out
of time. Beth Johnson, she is the executive director Cincinni Preservation,
(30:01):
and we'll take a little break here at home with
Garry Salvin right here in fifty five care see the
talk station. Well, our wonderful guest, Beth Johnson, the executive
director of Cincinnati Preservation, is my guest today, and we're
just talking about just talking about the preservation of historic housing.
A couple of real quick questions. You also do work
where there isn't a house we got.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Yeah, we say that we can we do above above
amvelo ground preservation and so we you know, we recognize
that archaeological resources or even when buildings have been torn down,
still have stories to tell, and so we want to
make sure that, especially with archaeological resources and with southwest
(30:44):
Ohio and northern Kentucky having a lot of native mounds,
that we want to make sure that those are respected
well and taking care of properly. And then when buildings,
you know, unfortunately, some buildings obviously do have to be demolished,
but there's still stories of the people and of the
holding that can be told, and we want to make
sure that we still are able to tell those as well.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
When people buy these types of homes, are they usually
renovated by pros or is a lot of a DIY work.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
I think it's a bit of both. So I think
it really depends on kind of where you where you are,
I know, you know, and over their ie we've definitely
had both. We've had professionals and we've had a lot
of di wires. Obviously there's challenges with with di I wires,
and you know, just basically the knowledge base and making
sure that they have the knowledge base and there's you know,
(31:37):
a couple of things obviously electric and plumbing, h fact,
things that that needs licenses and permits that we always
encourage people to look for the professionals. But you know
a lot of the stuff like you know, painting and
maybe basic carpentry and stuff like that, you know, take
take a hand at it, and if you can't do it,
then then you can always bring in a professional.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
That's what I'm always talking about. Anybody body can paint,
especially with today's quality of pains. Quite honestly, they're wonderful. Yeah,
but nobody should be ripping out knob and tube and
rewiring unless they're an electrician exactly. All right. So so
you're dispensing all this knowledge, you sound like you have
a wonderful, wonderful program. How's it funded?
Speaker 4 (32:22):
So we most of it's funded through we are a
membership based organization for membership, and then we have our
end of the year fund drive where a good portion
of our yearly budget and revenue comes from. And so
it's you know a common thing for nonprofits that we
fund raise. But we're currently in the midst of what
we're calling our Guiding Star fund drive, where people can
(32:43):
can donate to us so we can continue this work
throughout the region.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
How do they donate? They can go.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
Online on for our website and it's the first thing
that pops up is would you like to be part
of it? Would you like to be a guiding Star?
And so people can click on that and can donate
to us. They can also send us checks if they'd
rather do that. I know some people still don't like
internet donating things on the internet, but we also people
can send us checks to our our address at eight
(33:13):
twelve Dayton Street, Cincinnati, Ohio for five two one four.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Right amongst a lot of historic buildings.
Speaker 4 (33:22):
Yes, yeah, we're located in the John House House, which
is a historic house.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yeah, exactly, exactly. Any volunteers needed in your organization.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
Always, we always love having people volunteers. So we you know,
we have quite a few events throughout the year, and
so it's always great to have extra hands for that.
And then also we have a bunch of different committees
that do that do various work, and so people want
to get even more involved and want to really lend
their their knowledge or talent that way, we have we
(33:55):
have that as well, or if people just want to
come in and help us with things to envelopes and
stuff the letters that we can always have that as well,
and so people can find out about how to volunteer
with us as well on our website.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Okay, and the website again.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
Is www dot Cincinnatipreservation dot org dot org.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
All right, Beth, thanks so much for giving up your
Saturday or part of it on this weekend, and it's
been fun. I am going to touch base with you.
I want to get a couple of your resources if
you don't mind so well, probably chat with you this week.
But thanks for thanks for joining us today and thanks
for your knowledge, appreciate it, thanks for the work you.
Speaker 4 (34:37):
Do, so thank you, and thank you so much for
having me.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
All right, Beth, thank you, bye bye. All right, Beth Johnson,
since INI preservation and interesting. I bet we scratch the surface.
I know, literally there's a lot more to learn about
this organization. And you know, we have guessed on to
(35:02):
do basically the same kind of work that she's doing
to educate you. Not all of us can go do
all the you know, redoing or rehabbing of these homes,
but the knowledge to do some of it. We talked
(35:22):
today about an old handrail, put a hair handrail and
an old plaster wall, and how to do it those
you know, maybe not preservation, but it's older homes, older materials,
different types of ways to accomplish that. And so maybe
I can get a couple of her resources on during
(35:44):
our regular shows weekend and week out. But I hope
you enjoyed the conversation. We will have that podcast available
maybe for your friends. If you know somebody that's into
that kind of work or into that kind of history,
you could pass that along term. I'd certainly appreciate it.
You can find it on the iHeart app A little
(36:04):
magnifying glass just put in at Home with Gary Sullivan, So,
Beth Johnson, we certainly appreciate your time today. All right,
Danny boy, another weekend, well not another weekend, but a
half of a weekend is in the bay. Another Saturday. Yeah,
thank you so much for your efforts today. Yes, it
was kind of slow in the beginning with it, but
(36:25):
then everybody woke up, got the turkey hangover over, ready
to go. That's what I say. All right, good Lord Willing.
We'll be back tomorrow for more At Home with Gary Sullivan.
At Home with Gary Sullivan News
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