Met History wrote:

> Wait a minute.  Percentage-wise, if New Yorkers spend $1,000,000/year on the
> brownstone-stucco-industrial complex, just what percentage of that is real
> repair/conservation?  This (paper-pusher's) eyeball tells him most is
> cosmetic.

I think $1,000,000 per year may be a low figure. Figure $6,000 - $10,000 per
townhouse. As there are a few companies that sort-of specialize in this work I
cannot imagine they would each gross less than $500,000 per year in the NYC
market. Most of this work is NOT done with a design professional, architect,
engineer, or conservator. Most of this work is not let to public bid and
therefore the quantity of jobs is a drive-by guess. Though it is not structural
repairs in most cases, it is a problem if pieces of stone are falling on the
public. Often the stone is not in danger of falling on the public as much as the
family pet. The delaminated stone is likely to be a symptom of other problems,
like water infiltration into the interior. Water infiltration, if left alone,
will lead to structural problems. On occasion there is the one stone that is
falling apart that supports three other stones.  It would be common sense to
repair the one deteriorated stone rather than strip & stucco 100%. The average
owner does not have the knowledge to recognize structural failure.

As to the gift to the future... I once worked for a stonemason (in this century)
who insisted that every other flagstone in a patio not be properly bedded in
order that we would have a reason to be called back after the winter had passed.
At the time this made perfectly good sense to me. When you are at the bottom of
the economic ladder any scheme that leads to wealth flowing your way makes good
sense. Most stonemasons are never in a position in which they can afford to pay
for the work that they do. I think the same reasoning can be applied to the strip
& stucco process as it is inevitable that repairs will be needed in future to the
stucco after it either cracks or delaminates. The really interesting thing is
that the stucco often becomes a vapor barrier, holding water into the softer
brownstone, resulting in accelerated deterioration of the brownstone due to
freeze/thaw cycling. Eventually the stucco is a shell having relatively nothing
of substance to adhere to.
--
][<en Follett
SOS Gab & Eti -- http://www.geocities.com/~orgrease
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http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A0=bullamanka-pinheads