Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Living with the Past: the Naked Remodel


They started building this church in the year 870. Eventually, even with brick and stone, things fall apart. I can count about six different repair jobs in this small section, involving at least three different tradesmen using different bricks and different styles. When you work with brick, your workmanship is your brand, and it really stands out - sometimes in a good way, sometimes not.

As a tradesman myself, I try not to be too critical of other people's work. Heaven knows I've made my share of sloppy repairs - but usually the sloppiness was because the owner wanted it quick and dirty and cheap. Eventually I stopped taking those cheap jobs because, like the bricks in the upper left of this photo, your quick cheap repair might last for centuries, insulting your reputation each and every day.

(You can click on the photo to see more detail.)

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