1- Acrylic Injection Stabilization Cost: $15,000 Percent Complete: 100%

Sometime in the 1970 - 1990 period, insufficient maintenance was done on the roof of the main building. Rain got in. Varmints got in. The result was the loss of a large amount of original plaster on both the second and main floors. Of the original plaster that remained, a significant amount was in danger of falling. It needed immediate expert stabilization. The result is that all of the original plaster that could be saved has been saved at considerable cost (as noted). Relatively few plasterers know how to perform acrylic injection stabilization. An excellent job has been done.

Hancock's Resolution was built ca.1785. No one living remembers the last time that the mortar in this stone building, galleted throughout, had been repaired. All of the mortar in the building was checked and the loose mortar replaced with physically and chemically matching mortar prepared especially for this project by the Virginia Lime Works. Also, a few badly weathered stones were repaired using the Jahn technique. In addition, six courses of brick were added to the top of the main chimney to restore it to its original height (documented in historic photographs). The result is a sound building which should stand up against the weather for many years.

The main farmhouse at Hancock's Resolution consists of a ca. 1785 stone building and a ca. 1850s wood, board and batten kitchen with inter-mediate hyphen. It was clear from the outset that the main floor interior walls and ceilings of these structures would be whitewashed with six or seven coats of especially prepared whitewash from the Virginia Lime Works. It was also clear that the exterior board and batten structures would get the same treatment, after having been protected with a borate solution. What was not clear was whether the exterior of the stone buildings should be whitewashed, there being excellent reasons to do it and excellent reasons not to do it. After considerable debate among the principals, the decision was made not to whitewash the stone exteriors.

For reasons that remain unclear, a substantial number of the stones in the ca. 1785 Milk House had deteriorated to a considerably worse condition than the stones in the main house. For structural integrity, it was decided to repair the worst stones using the Jahn technique. An excellent job has been done and the mortar repaired throughout. More >>