One of my standard techniques is to have my maintenance programming clients
feel their buildings. If I'm trying to motivate them to paint their wood
exterior I take them out and have them rub their hand across the fragmented,
jagged surface of alligatoring and peeling paint. Then I take them across
the street and have them feel a similar building that has just been painted.
When ever I use this technique they soon (usually immediately) decide to
have the building painted. The sensory experience cuts directly through any
intellectual smoke screens (costs, expert advice, past reports sitting on
shelves, etc.) and goes directly to the unconsious mind where all decissions
are made anyway. It never fails, if I can get the decission maker(s) to
actually put their hand on the wall.


John Leeke, Preservation Consultant

publisher:               Practical Restoration Reports
contributing editor: Old-House Journal
postal:                    26 Higgins St., Portland, Maine  04103, USA
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website:                  www.HistoricHomeWorks.com