" -Hey, Richard, before we talk about the work that has to be done on the wooden facade, I want to ask you about this part of the house."

" -Okay."

" -Which I guess is a Charleston staircase with brown stone threads and old iron work from the 1820s. It is in pretty bad condition."

" -Yeah it is. You can see, looking at the brick work that it was originally exposed brick with a finely tooled and lined mortar joints."

" -Oh really now, I would have thought that it was always stuccoed over and that the stucco had simply fallen off but the original design would have been brick and the tip off is that you can see the elegant joint here."

" -Right. The white and long joints."

" -Yeah."

" -But it is interesting, this dark brown stucco was kind of a fashion statement at one time after the 1820s they really liked the look of stone."

" -Uhu."

" -So this was stuccoed with a natural cement mortar and probably lime washed and scored to looked like stone gloss."

" -Really."

" -It is interesting how fashions change in even 20-year period so this house built in the early 1800s underwent an extensive remodeling within 20 years."

" -Right and then later changes were just layers and layers of lime wash."

" -So how are we going to deal with it? Are you going to try to get back to the bare brick?"

" -We would like to. We would like to get it back to the brick but unfortunately we cannot get a lot of the stucco off so we will treat it as it was with a stucco finish. We will repair there is that are not stucco. We will remove all the paint with probably some chemicals and pressure washing and then we will go back and lime wash it to look like stone blocks."

" -Lime wash it to look like stone blocks?"

" -Right and so that we will actually highlight all the joints of the blocking to look like mortar joints."

" -That will be fun to see. Well, let us go up there and talk with Dave about what he is doing to remove all that paint. This is a pretty ordinate piece of molding. How are you dealing with it?"

" -We use various tools with their contour, the fitting to these grooves to keep from digging the woods. Since it is all wood, it tends to be a little spongy so you want to try not to get in and dig it at. We still want to leave as much detail as possible."

" -Uhu."

" -And we use usually."

" -What is your technique in there with that thing? You pull or do you push?"

" -Well, it is a technique like you said, you can actually turn a little and scrape the rounded edge but you have to very tenuous with this not to hurt the wood."

" -And this knife is basically a triangular blade so you can go."

" -Triangle."

" -When the way gets a little dotty you can go to the next [unk]."

" -And also you use it out on a flat surface to scrape like this."

" -Yeah."

" -But you have taken off your mask but that is a very important part of the deal here, right?"

" -Oh it is, this is lead-based paint and you do want to have full protection on."

" -Uhu"

" -Mostly on breathing protection."

" -And here in a situation like this where we are on top of a wooden porch floor and there is no big wind today, we can just let all the scrapings fall and sweep them up?"

" -Yes we will."

" -But on the side of the house you have set yourself up with a tarp to catch everything plus the neighbor's yard will be protected and cautiously picked up at the end of the day so nothing is dumped in their yard."

" -Right. Now, let me ask you about the new work up here. This is pine that, Richard, you have milled especially the match up with the old [unk] in terms of the size and [unk] in there. How do you prime it?"

" -We use an oil-based primer which we feel is the best."

" -The oil-based or alkyd primer?"

" -Mix an alkyd-based primer, alkyd primer."

" -Why do you prefer that?"

" -It absorbs better. It adheres better."

" -It penetrates the wood?"

" -It penetrates much better and it will be longer lasting."

" -And the finished coat of paint will be?"

" -Will be a latex."

" -Wow."

" -Exactly. It breathes much better. It prevents large amounts of mold and mildew which will we find is a problem here at Charleston."

" -Sure."

" -And that is what we have been doing lately. Just using latex paint we find is the best to use."

" -Good"

" -For our finished product."

" -I think that it is remarkable that all these work is hand work. Down below there they are just hand sanding, right?"

" -Right. We try to stay away from a lot of machines and rotary grinders."

" -Uhu."

" -Because of the way they scar the wood."

" -Right."

" -They really can damage the wood. You can see them hand sanding the siding. After it has been scraped, it gets hand sanded and has been pressure washed to clean away all the loose debris."

" -Do you have to get it down to the bare paint or to the bare wood?"

" -Well, it is better to get it down to the bare paint but we have something that is adhered, that it is really hard to get off, we tend to leave it because it is bonded well."

" -Yeah. You are lucky that this house was not well maintained for the last 50 years or so."

" -Yeah. A lot of the paint comes off easily."

" -Indeed. Over here you have already primed it. Now do you do the same routine that we were just talking about with the new wood."

" -After this was scraped, it was then hand sanded, pressure washed, and after it is dried very well, we have primed it and you can see some of the holes that are in the wood left from nails."

" -Yeah, you got some big ones down below here."

" -Right."

" -How do you deal with all these?"

" -Well, these, that was where the shutter hardware was and we take a water-based wood filler and it gets filled in to all the cracks and this is kind of in conjunction with the caulking. After the house has been caulked and filled, this will get lightly sanded out and then the first finish of the paint will belong."