Select Preservation Briefs on exterior assessment, maintenance and repair work for historic properties.

HS = reformatted on Heritage Stewardship web site.

• 01: Assessing Cleaning and Water-Repellent Treatments for Historic Masonry Buildings
• 02: Repointing Mortar Joints in Historic Masonry Buildings HS
• 03: Conserving Energy in Historic Buildings HS
• 04: Roofing for Historic Buildings HS
• 06: Dangers of Abrasive Cleaning to Historic Buildings
• 09: The Repair of Historic Wooden Windows
• 10: Exterior Paint Problems on Historic Woodwork HS
• 16: The Use of Substitute Materials on Historic Building Exteriors
• 17: Architectural Character - Identifying the Visual Aspects of Historic Buildings as an Aid to Preserving Their Character HS
• 19: The Repair and Replacement of Historic Wooden Shingle Roofs
• 27: The Maintenance and Repair of Architectural Cast Iron
• 29: The Repair, Replacement, and Maintenance of Historic Slate Roofs HS
• 35: Understanding Old Buildings: The Process of Architectural Investigation HS
• 37: Appropriate Methods of Reducing Lead-Paint Hazards in Historic Housing
• 39: Holding the Line: Controlling Unwanted Moisture in Historic Buildings HS

Heritage Stewardship version of the National Park Service Preservation Briefs

Independence Hall, Philadelphia. National Park Service, 1982.

On this site, the original text of the National Park Service Preservation Briefs will be augmented by new, non-NPS, photographs, vignettes, links to detailed material on this site, and links to other Web resources, including certain companies and products.

Originally, the Preservation Briefs were written to guide commercial-property owners planning to take advantage of Federal tax credits, which are available to owners and investors who undertake "substantial" rehabilitation work adhering to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards. The Briefs did not focus on lesser-scale merchant, museum and homeowner needs: lesser-scale — but no less important — maintenance and repair work. Naturally, the NPS could not include reference to, or endorse, specific products or specialists.

Additions to this Web version are designed to help owners of historic properties preserve their — and our — most important asset.

This material focus on exterior maintence and repair work, which is potentially eligible for tax credits in the United States and which is the basis for regulation by local Historic District Commissions.

These Briefs do not include most of the photographs, charts, figures and diagrams from the original publications. Excluding photographs, some of these have been added to this Web version.

The NPS Web version of the Preservation Briefs is located at Preservation Briefs, Technical Preservation Services.