Would you like to help George repair your own house?

My wife and I made our annual pilgrimage to Daytona this year Mar ‘03’. We decided to stop at the BMW shop to look around. While there, I spotted the new for 02 K1200 in black. My heart stopped. I think it was the black that got my attention. I can’t take the new latté shades, beamers should be black. The soupy lines didn’t help the situation either. I didn’t go there intending to buy a new bike, I was just looking around. When the conversation came around to price, while I was sitting on it, my wife calmly said, why don’t you just buy it! I didn’t have the will to say NO. My first mistake. I was originally looking fore a black R1150 RT at the end of 02, my dealer told me they weren’t offering it for 02. I called David Robb at his office in Germany and asked him if a black RT was going to be made, He told me No. I asked, what about a special order, he said it was too expensive to set up a special aria just for black paint. He actually told me to buy a 02 RT and have it striped and painted black. I said I wasn’t as dumb as I looked thank you. By March “03″ the K12 seemed like a good alternative. I had never taken a test ride, every time I tried it never worked out. I wish now that I had.

A little background music please.

I presently ride a 1992 16-valve K100RS purchased second hand with 5000 miles in 93. I had to warm up to this bike. I learned quickly why it was called a rubber cow.
Progressive springs and a Fox gas shock cleaned up most of what BMW forgot to do. I know those guys are real busy so I don’t mind helping out. I burned up sets of Metzlrs, especially the fronts. Brigstones improved the handling and removing the rear wheel spacer eliminated scuffing off the left side of the front tire as well as improving the left and right turning cemetry. What a relief.

Aside from these few short comings. I have found the bike to be very dependable. The transmission took some time to smooth out and the motor took 40,000 miles to break in. The motor still surges but I have learned to run each gear up to red line. I can acutely do 100 MPH in second gear and have run at a sustained 140 MPH, (with plenty of throttle to spare) I won’t say were, and I didn’t even have to stop and take off my bags. I would like to add that because of the excellent placement of the mirrors the cold wind and rain stays off my hands, and the mirrors are easy to locate to check my bags, my camping gear and the traffic even at the previously mentioned 140 MPH with out taking my eyes completely off the road ahead. The faring is firmly mounted, built of heavy duty plastic and very stable. Wind protection is good during warm weather but I do own an Aro-flow for early spring and late fall and winter riding. The headlight remains stable on any road condition and you cant out run it. The Stay-in-tune header and pipe bring the horsepower in around 90+/-, which seems to get the job don. The gearing is low and well suited to the motor. For that reason alone I tend not use the brakes as often.

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The ergonomics are great for its intended use. The seating position is excellent especially for those 500-mile days, the foot pegs and bars well placed. Better suited for taller riders, many had to install lowering kits. I have come to appreciate its predictable handling characteristics and excellent feedback from the front end even in 80-MPH tight turns. The moor you push on the inside of the bar the deeper it will go. I regularly ride at the otter edge of the tire. At 530 lbs+/- it is substantial but manageable at speed, there isn’t any signs of twitchiness when strong gusts of wind would blow the wheels out from under you, it merely recovers to its original line with out acting like it forgot what it was supposed to be doing.

In the early 80’s BMW was looking toward new designs to move the company forward with plans to dump the airheads. The specifications for this new machine were given to the design teams. The main requirement, a 4 cylinder longitudinal water-cooled motor. Many designs were tried, but with little success. By 1984 a design had been chosen, tested, and built. At its press debut the design/ engineers were quoted to say that the final product was a compromise, a collection of parts that didn’t necessarily fit well together but could be made to function like a motorcycle. The early car-borated models preformed well. Fuel injection came along and also preformed well until emissions became an issue in the early 90,s. In order to get the motor to run with a catalytic converter it had to be de-tuned which was the next great compromise, the results was the dreaded 3500 RPM surge. Even the 16 teen valve head didn’t help. Creating more power only made it worse.

The K1100 was an improvement of a sort. It was harder to work on with the ABS tucked under the seat, which made it more expensive to repair. It also added weight higher up in the frame that could affect handling depending on the weight of the rider.

When my K12 was registered and ridden, I began to notice specific problems with the bike. My first encounter was at the dealer ship. The starter solenoid had failed
with 15 miles on it. Wile at the shop I noticed to my surprise a BLACK 03, 1150 RT. I realized I was lied to. I casually mentioned that I had had Run-N-Lights installed for higher visibility in the rear blinkers. I was told that my warrantee was voided on the brain if it should fail. I said that visibility was an issue considering that the taillight had been reduced to the size of a credit card. They said it didn’t matter unless I took the lights off the bike. I have to say, my dealer has always taken good care of me. They were going by the book on this one, but I have to ask, WHATS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE? A flawed linked breaking system that no one wanted, or at least was never offered as an option as were ABS on all models, is the reason we can’t have optional higher visibility. The new K12RS have the highest incidences of rear end collisions as reported by Jerry Finely of Pirates Lair who says that most of his calls are form riders looking for tail sections to replace damaged ones. I have herd from riders in New England that they get crashed more than any other beamer in the northeast. There just aren’t very many straight roads up here.

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I bought the K12 understanding that it was 1200cc; I then found out that it was only 1130cc. By conventional standards the true designation should be 1150cc. This motor will never make 1200cc because it’s already pushed to its limit. And what about its clamed 130 Break horsepower? GP 600cc 4 cylinder 4 stroke bikes make 130 break horsepower. Maybe they can find a use for the other 530cc,s some ware else, perhaps a spare bike to justify the 16.000.00 price tag

NEWS FLASH – Cycle World 9/02 page 00 announces a K 1300 to compete with the ST and FJR 1300, this will achieved by boring out the cylinders???. You’ll be able to fry bacon on the radiators. And with more power it will be even harder to handle. Believe me when I tell you, more horse power is not what this bike needs. It doesn’t come up to real sport touring bike standards. It doesn’t even come up to the standards of bikes in its own class like the Suzuki Hiabusha which is more comfortable, handles much better and goes much faster and stops better.

The 1200 wheelbase is an astounding 61.22inches vs. 59.5 for the K100. In high speed tight corners its like piloting the Q.E.2, And just when you don’t need it, you ride over a dip in the road and the front end gets longer as the telalver extends the forks. The system tries to compensate for its own poor geometry, as a sharp turn approaches you try to lean the bike in. You begin to drag the foot peg, the bike won’t lean any further, your running out of road. You grab the front brakes, the bike stands up, you barely get through the turn on the pavement. Your sweating under your helmet, your knuckles are white and you can’t let go of the bars. Sort of like road racing a Harley Heritage with a Springer front end.

The telalever is a nice gimmick but a little flawed. Its built to function within a general range of travel A rider has to be able to read the road; a lot of split second decisions have to be made baised on that information. This bike offers none of that. It’s a guessing game, and a deadly one at that. When the forks are compressed the shock responds late on the way up and early on the way down. The triangulation does stabilize the front-end wile cutting the lines of communication to the pilot. In the mean time the handlebars are doing their own thing. As described by Cycle World July 02 Page 46 In spirited riding situations the handlebars feel like they are a ½ a turn behind the machine. You might think the front-end would cancel its self out. Theoretically it should. The vertical placement of the shock on a horizontal swing arm connected to a diagonal fork creates a constant compound geometric nightmare. It’s sort of a mix between a modified Springer and an Earl’s fork. Conventional logic applied, the shock should be placed at a parallel line to the forks in front of the forks for real time feedback.
Re-orientation of the swing arm would eliminate the late feedback and achieve a ride measured in real time. Handling can now be managed by a leading or trailing link (front axel) depending how slow or fast it needs to be to obtain the right feel.

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You can bet when BMW goes racing against real world compaction the current tel-alever and Para-leaver will be nowhere in sight.
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At 630+- lbs., 100 lbs more than the K100 it’s quite portly, combine this with the fact that seat was lowered and the pegs relocated further back and higher to accommodate smaller riders eliminated the need for lowering kits. This also achieved a tighter roll center. This practice works well on a 400 lb motorcycle, not so well with 630 lbs plus a 250+ lb. rider, gear and worse yet a passenger. The roll center changes drastically under these conditions as the bike settles under the load. The quest to achieve a ride that feels light is compromised by the shear weight that tries to over steer this bike. This was clearly demonstrated on a ride in late March of “02”. Winds gusts were recorded at up to 50 MPH the afternoon I had the bike out. On my way home a section of road runs between two large fields and makes a right hand sweep, approximately ½ mile long. Immediately upon entering the open field, the wind hit me at 90degrees. The K12 sweep out from under me. I had all I could do to control the line. It was a hand full, wobbling violently back and forth wile the wind pounded it until I exited the field, and I was riding alone. If I had lost control of the K, it would have been labeled driver error. Good riding skills were all that saved me. I wasn’t surprised at this behavior however considering that I had a similar experience on the interstate earlier that month with none of the high winds mentioned above. The bike was pushed all over the road by backwash from tractor-trailers. Even slight turbulence created by passing cars or slight gusts of wind tended to drive the bike across the yellow line. Correction was difficult because of over steering. When I got home I fired up the K100 and went over the same road to see if it was me that was the problem. The wheels washed out just like the K12; the difference was that the K100 held its line with no radical wobbling. It was more predictable exhibiting good manners and control. I didn’t have to fight to keep it in between the lines. The K12 characteristic is clearly explained in July 02 ON page 54 Dang Wind QUOTE A contemporary touring bike with lots of sail above the center of gravity will require constant lean adjustment in gusting crosswinds. This statement describes the K 1200 RS to the bone

Lowering the seat to achieve better balance and allow smaller people to get their feet on the ground necessitated eliminating the fairing mirrors because the handlebars were now in the line of sight. This seemed like an easy fix.
Lets make it look like a street fighter; the newbes won’t know the difference. And after all as quoted by David Robb, DESIGN IS NOT A MATTER OF PERSIONAL
TASTE. Your right David, it’s about comprising the ride for profit. The mirrors on the K12 are set too high, too small and too close to the rider, the placement is such that you have to take your eyes completely off the road to find, focus and evaluate the traffic situation. That’s hard enough to do at normal speeds and in city traffic, impossible at warp speed with a twitchy bike. Use of mirrors to back up, forget about it! I also found my mirrors to be useless from 75+- MPH and up due to extreme vibration. Who has that kind of personal taste David?

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On a machine reported to go 150 MPH you would most likely be leaning over or lying on the tank. At that speed the mirrors are behind and above your helmet and of little use even if they didn’t vibrate.
BMW, Yamaha, and Honda pioneered faring mounted mirrors in the early 80s. BMW was the first to put the blinkers in them for higher visibility, a design that Mercedes was first to copy in recent years on their automobiles. This one design changed long distance high speed touring forever. Sadly, only the K1200LT and the R1150RT are the only bikes left in the lineup with molded faring mounted mirrors. The R1150S has stalk-mounted mirrors on the faring that should have also been used on the K12RS, a far better choice than badly mounted bar mirrors. The bottom line dictates design decisions today. Lets save those Dutch marks and produce more models cheaper. Be all things to all people. The company that pioneered sport touring has become so diluted, it has lost track of exactly what they’re building. In 1992 BMW they built 9 models on 2 different chaises. Today they build 20 or more different models on 4 different chaises. Were will it end There are roomers from reliable sources that a Boss K is in the pipeline. Using the C platform, with a modified V-10 motor and a 20-gallon gas tank plus voice commands for all the gadgets that will be offered including DVD. The company will also soon be selling personal watercraft, pianos and a new line of power tools. Fiction? Maybe!

The K 1200 isn’t an S; it’s not an RS. Were does it fall? You can’t go far on it with out getting severely cramped, if you ride out a tank of gas your legs will be so numb that you will have trouble getting your feet off the pegs and on the ground before you fall over. You can’t strap anything to the bags with out them falling off when you open them to get something out. Lifting the handle on the box, if you can reach it, separates the box from the bike first. The next lever opens the box, which is flopping around while you are trying to get your gear in or out. This is extremely diffucult if your camping gear is bungeed to the box. And this from a company that HAD the best touring boxes in the world. Other problems that exist include, poor low speed balance, poor high speed stability, a flawed shifting lever design, poor gas mileage, high speed oil consumption, Extremely heavy, poor ergonomics (Exact same seating proportions as a Katana 600cc from seat to handle bars to foot pegs), a vibrating headlight that will give you epilepsy, poor mirror size, poorly located mirrors, rubber mounted handle bars, severe buzzing and numb hands, Did they save all there recent engineering blunders for this one model?

There is a cretin aloofness associated with beamers, the flames of which is kindled by BMW, NA, MOA, Motored and fanned by those who ride. The elusion persist that buying a $ 17,000 dollar motorcycle puts you in the same class as those who buy 60,000 to 80,000 dollar cars. It an’t so buckwheat.

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After spending $ 17,000.00 dollars for this designed machine you can then spend another 1,500.00 for saddle and tank bags and $ 3,000.00 to 5,000. in after market products from MV Verholen, based in Germany to actually make the K 1200 more comfortable and handle better. Then you can buy a new after market black box from Techlusion 831 featured in July 02 ON, page 74, to cure the surging problem for over a $ 1,000.00. Imagine if the bimmer crew had to pay $60,000 for their cars and then spend another $10,000 more to make it run and handle well!! Don’t get me wrong, there are many who like the K1200, it doesn’t matter weather its safe to ride, it can be justified because it’s fast and it says, BMW. After all, they must know what they are doing. I am not making this stuff up folks; all you have to do is read. I am always interested in what’s good and bad in the bike that I ride. I just happen to find out about problems with other peoples bikes, most of them wearing the same roundel. If you are blinded by the manqué or willing to believe what BMW means you don’t have to question them, then shame on you.

If form is suppose to follow function then how does BMW screw up so much?

David Robb quotes in the March 02 issue of Owners News, page 54, “The most important aspect is the customer, “and we are kept in business by him.” He goes on to say that the Japanese have a lot of catching up to do regarding ergonomics, cleaner exhaust, and ABS. Perhaps Mr. Robb has not been paying close attention to the current trends. He states that Japanese manufactures are struggling to keep up. I think the air is real thin were David is riding lately.

Japanese motorcycles across the board continually gain the praises of the current motorcycle magazine when it comes to performance, handling, braking, best ergonomics, best of class, best overall, fastest, best looking, smoothest, and best price and gas mileage. Always achieving “best of” in the shootouts including a superior linked braking system. And best of, in world super bike competition. Where does BMW fall in these comparisons? Usually somewhere in the middle with cool or lukewarm compliments at best. The articles always mention surging, electrical problems, weight, poor MPG for all models, poor rubber mounted handlebars, high cost and dangerous linked brake systems among other things. It leads one to wonder why these bikes are 7 to10 thousand dollars more than the really good machines? Does any one at R/D ever listen to people who actually ride these things? OH, I forgot, the roundel, praise the roundel the fo-racer R 1150 R can only compete with its self in the Boxer Cup Series, give me a brake. The best riders in the world make them look good but its still a rigged race for sales purposes. Any brand R600R off the showroom floor will kick their ass in an actual race.
Like lambs to financial slaughter we go blindly to the manqué. In our ignorance we hope the new design will be good. Being German it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work well, (you will ride it and like it). I remember an incident in the early 60’s; a boatload of Indian madras plaid fabric came in on a ship. Shirts were made, sold,

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and washed; all of the dye ran. Every one started bringing the shirts back. The next boatload was on the way. It was a disaster. A bright sales manager had an idea. He told all of his buyers that bleeding madras was the coolest new fashion to have. You know the rest of the story.

The great myth is that they run forever, and priest takes a vow of celibacy. If you drive 100,000+ miles a year you will have to have your beamer pulled apart at least 2 times to have the main drive spline greased at great expense. Tires and yearly
maintenance alone will run you 1000 to 1500 dollars at normal mileage rates.

There are list of engineering, design and manufacturing problems to numerous to mention here including all of the motorcycle lines made by BMW. If you follow the Owners News, On The Level or Cycle World regularly or ride one of these machines you know what I mean. If you don’t read regularly you may think it’s a problem specific to your bike alone. It’s not. The need for greed and speed through out the 90s caused many manufacturing glitches, problems the engineers couldn’t fix during R/D so machines were sent out unfinished leaving those who supported the company to deal with their problems. I might ad at great inconvenience and expense with no reimbursement. They must have taken their lead from Chrysler. In 1989 I bought a new Grand Voyager. In four years I put 180,000 miles on it. The company also replaced seven transmissions. I didn’t have to pay for the repairs. However I had to endure the in convince and down time, rental cars, having the car towed, switching car stuff. You get the picture. In general these kinds of problems don’t occur with Japanese cars or motorcycles. Hum, didn’t David Robb come to BMW from Chrysler in the 80s? Take a close look at the article in American Motorcyclist Sept. 02 Page 24 ZZ 1200 Sport Tourer at $10,499.
American Motorcyclists Nov. 02Page 20 Luxo Cruiser Under powered
A.M. Oct. 02 Page 19 Popular bikes to steal. B.M.W. didn’t even make the 1ist
OnTheLevel July 02 Page 14 Speed wars & low fuel
O.T.L. Sept. 02 Page 22 Cylinders Already Over Bored
OwnersNews Oct. 02 Page 11 Broken belt drives
O.N. Oct.02 Page 48 Tall gear Low power Motor shakes

BMW would do well to look at the Kawasaki Concourse, easy now, I can hear you laughing. The Concourse sport tourer has been successfully produced for over 18 years. It’s a good size, stable and comfortable ride. Steady upgrades have been made without compromising the comfort or handling. As for the K 1200 GT, ON Nov 02 Page 76 offered for 17,990.00-TO LITTLE TO LATE FOR TOO MUCH. Cosmetics won’t help here. Page 84 of the same issue, David, what happened to the complete design process? I am sorry to be the one to break the news to you, BMW’s don’t do everything well !!!! The K 12 hooked me with design and then demonstrated its inferiority as a competent tool in the real world.

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ON Dec 02 Page 46 I was surprised when I read that the interview with General Manager Motorcycles Thomas Plucinsky. Tom states that the company is selling life style, and that they have to be in touch with their owners. (BMW speak.) I truly hope he means that. Tom being an engineer, I was even more surprised when he stated that his favorite bike that he kept in his office was a K1200 RS. He redeemed himself by going on to say that the R1150GS was the one he would choose if he could only have one. Tom, hang the K RS on the wall were it belongs.

Cycle World June 03 issue featured a shoot out of 9 naked bikes. True to form, B.M.W. Rockster placed 8th in the pack just squeaking by MotoGuzzi and way behind all those poorly built Jap bikes. Again the writers were kind. And in the same issue Yamaha announces ABS on the FJ R 1300. The May Owners News also featured the Rockster. Although it was as expected a glowing report, numerous design faults were mentioned as well. That tricky Robb team is at it again.

I am thankful to BMW for letting Yamaha and Honda and Suzuki build a better sport-touring bike with mirrors, foot pegs, and tail pipes located in the right place. And by the way David, You had better give a strong tong lashing to those Italians who took first place in the shootout. After all they will have to catch up to your lofty standards won’t they?
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I’m disappointed with BMW. Believing in this company cost me $5,300.00 having paid $16,800.00 plus 2,000.00 + in options installed by the dealer and having to sell it for $13,500.00 with only 440 miles on it one year later. To ad insult to injury when I tried to tell the pretty boy salesman that sold me the bike at Daytona BMW about the problems with the bike, he actually said “ stop, I don’t want to hear anything bad about BMW, s. I couldn’t bleave it, the conspiracy of ignorance to incompetence goes right to the bottom of the company. I am presently looking at more realistic options, a manufacture with the integrity to build on proven riding formulas including ergonomic comfort, design and constant realistic mechanical advancements.

In closing, my final desperate plea, Please build a comfortable K to ride. A nicely designed K100. Put the pipes in the right place, stop the surging, shave the 100 lbs., give us back our 90 hp , put the pegs and handle bars back in a comfortable place , get rid of the trick bags and offer a touring bag that works and for god sakes, put the mirrors back were they belong. In fact, just put a new tank and faring on the K100 and call it good. You know you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every few years. Every time you do the price goes through the roof. And because you’re in such a dam hurry you get sloppy, all we riders need is a good dependable machine

George Yonnone No 67118

As for those hot shoes who ride dells gap at warp speed, and are dumb enough to brag that K12RS, s hold the FASTES time end to end, shame on the owners news for printing such outlaw behavior. That’s how roads get closed down. I read complaints about loosing our rights to ride in the AMA magazine, this is how it happens. How long do you think it would take to shut that road down after the W.V. Highway Patrol reads that article? Too many accidents, too many deaths, All Motor Cycles Prohibited. Don’t laugh it’s already happening in Europe. The best roads are closed to bikes because outlaw riders want to turn public roads into Grand Pre racetracks. Sunday riders thinking their Megal Duhamel, Mat Malden, or Nicky Haden on their new super bikes terrorizing citizens passing on dabble lined blind curve. BMW has been infected by this virus; 1000,1100,1200,1300cc. Were will the horsepower race end? Will we see a 2000cc sport tourer? It’s like handing a gun to a child. Great fun until that family camper catches one of these guys square in its radiator. Lives changed forever. So much for that vacation and the continuing debate to regulate every aspect of motorcycles or worse yet to eliminate them from our roads. This only goes to prove that BMW and those who ride them aren’t as special as they might think.

George Yonnone

Restoration of antique timber frame structures is not a production related process even though carpenters trained in 20th Century production methods would have you believe it is. The word, Restoration, has become a popular code word added to contractors advertising to increase their business leads along with bathroom and kitchen remodeling, additions, and new construction. This is especially true of remodeling companies that have little or no understanding of the word. With the population growing and moving out of the city, demand for skilled craftsman are growing while people filling that job description are getting harder to find.

In the 80’s there were many old timers still doing restoration work. The recession of 1990 put a lot of people out of business. Building contractors struggling to survive figured out quickly that there was no new houses to build but there was a lot of high end restoration projects in the works. The natural response was to follow the money. All of these people became restoration contractors over night. Unfortunately the business changed in name only. The work was production based and priced by the square foot. This was the beginning of the decline of the craftsman restoration specialist , those who gave their life to the perfection of the craft. The beginning of the decline for the restoration trades in general and those skilled enough to do it properly.

If cost becomes an issue and you are gullible enough to believe that you are going to get a proper job cheap, then you will get what you pay for. The price you are willing to pay to have restoration work don to your antique home may be the result of receiving bad information from your Home inspector or a local contractors quoting extremely low bids biased on there lack of experience and knowledge in these areas

At some point in the process the homeowner decides to have a specialist’s look at the structural components of the project assuming that sill and structural member replacement cost are similar to new construction cost. When the inspection is complete, the report written and a price given, the homeowner is shocked. Based on a bad prior quotes you now have a perceived value and it looks like the specialist is trying to rob you. The fact is that professional antique building restoration and structural repair is a craft comprised of many disciplines such as mechanical and engineering skills as well as artistic and intuitive talents and good communication skills. A lot of experience doesn’t hurt either. This is what earns someone the right to use the term Professional in his or her title.

Although a contractor pricing the work low to get the job will assure you they can hold to the price, it’s common knowledge that you can only price what you can see and there is much that you can’t see when it comes to this type of work. Antique structures have a lot of secrets including many previous bad repairs that a craftsman has to remove in order to begin their repairs

Restoring an antique structure on its original foundation has its virtues. Most houses are being squeezed out of their spaces with roads being widened and raised. A road going by the house could be 50′ away and 6′ or more below the sill of an old house when it was built. The road that provided passage for nothing greater than horse and wagon 100 plus years ago now sits 4′ to 8′ away from the foundation and in may cases 3′ or more above the sill with tractor-trailers going buy all day long. A house that used to sit on 200 archers now clings to life on less than half an archer lot. This type of progress raises havoc with field stone foundations. Now add snowplows piling snow up on the foundation, sill and walls and the outcome is easy to envision. I have actually seen paved roads 4’ away from a wall of an antique building. There are no laws in any of the New England states to my knowledge mandating that highway departments provide a safe buffer zone, make an effort to reroute the road or help the owner financially to move the building for the protection of these structures.

The question now is, can these structures survive the ignorance and indifference of the 21st century and a disposable society! ? There are many once beautiful structures that have been converted to apartment houses or commercial space. Floor plans and architectural details destroyed forever. Worse yet, exteriors reck-o-vated beyond recognition. The grand examples of our recent 300-year past turned into manikins and dressed up like clowns, victims of processions of uneducated carpenters hired by less caring cost conscience property owners. The resulting losses become staggering by proportion. Situations do occur ware poor repairs hold the building together long enough to be saved by professionals but not often enough. By consretive estimates we are losing 200 buildings a day in New England alone when you consider that developers bulldoze antique buildings in the way of progress, fire departments burn them to the ground for practice, harvesters dismantle and part them out, and owners neglect them until they fall to the ground. Add natural disasters to the equation and you begin to get a clear view of the demise of our natural architectural treasures.

WHEN IT HAS TO LAST 200 YEARS

I don’t mind paying you the final payment George, the sill work you did was good. The only problem I have with it is that I can’t show it off. That is what a client in Otis MA said to me 20 years ago. I have never forgotten those words.

Restoration of colonial homes and barns and related structures in the 21st century has been market driven and diminished to the lowest common denominator by modern building standards. Clients ask for bids to restore wonderful antique houses as if they were having a common ranch house remodeled. The word, estimate has become confused with and therefore accepted into the language as a firm or fixed price. The word, restoration has also come to mean something other than intended in the general terminology of fixing up old houses

It’s not that anyone expects the work to be less than perfect, it’s more that prices driven by uninformed buyers and uneducated builders creating a market demand that accepts the Lowest Bid Syndrome. I also agree that one should ‘t pay top dollar for someone with little or no experience, which happens way too often. This I’m sure is also the result of client’s not taking time to research references or looking at previous projects.

Young and inexperienced, hungry for work, many carpenters take on projects that are out of their league or above there skill level. Homeowners begin to think that anyone equipped with a pickup truck and a level hanging in the back window can save them a lot of money on there restoration projects. Whether they are licensed, pay taxes , carry insurance or even speak English is often overlooked for obvious cost cutting benefits, a determining factor when it comes to the bottom line. Few homeowners ever question them while honest and legal contractors struggle to make a living.

Good restoration specialist fall victim to the demands of modern building standards as well . These craftsmen are eventually forced to lower their price to get work and adjust the quality of work to meet lower socially accepted building standards. The buildings suffer as well. Many buildings are more severely damaged at the hands of inexperienced or price driven carpenters than by the passing of time. This is the reality of the world we live in today. It’s hard to justify good repair/restoration work that cost more when TV ads bombard us every day with propaganda like, WHY PAY MORE or I’m not going to pay a lot for that muffler. As a society we have become conditioned to big box stores selling stuff cheap, including clothes, food, tools and inferior building materials. This conditioning leads us down a dangerous path that continues to get steeper as we go.

Modern building codes if any usually only address new construction and those who enforce the law try to squeeze old homes between the lines of the codes. Many unyielding building inspectors lacking an understanding of the superior qualities of antique structures demand that these structures be repaired to this new lower standard causing havoc with historic architecture, forever changing the castor and historic value of the building.

Antique buildings were built to a much higher standard than current building codes. Materials were cut from old growth lumber making it stronger and also cut to larger detentions. The craftsman who built these structures went through a long apprenticeship insuring that the quality of the work met high standards. There are many inspectors who appreciate these buildings and work closely with craftsman doing every thing in their power to invoke Grandfather clauses allowing the building to coexist in its original grandeur.

I have been involved in a number of municipal State or Town owned antique structure Restoration projects that have been put out to bid using the AIA format. This contract has very strict and narrow guidelines determining start and finish dates and unreasonable demands and perimeters for true restoration.

All of the bid packages are well documented describing the parameters of the project with blueprints. I read them and throw them away because it’s common knowledge that these projects go to the lowest bidder. Larger companies have a staff dedicated to this type of bid process. Small companies more qualified to make the repairs could invest many hours putting a bid together and lose it to less qualified larger companies. Once a company gets chosen for the project, extras such as unforeseen damage are hard, even impossible to get paid for. This means that these repairs are handled in a less than professional manner. A recent phenomenon occurring in the profession is that no one is submitting bids because they don’t want to get caught holding the contract so to speak. Again the low bid mentality infects the states ability to hire professionals to do the work.

There are many people buying antique houses as investment and restoring them on the cheap. There rational, professional repairs will exceed it’s market value and I won’t be able to get my money out of it when I go to sell it! This is flawed thinking. Again the antique falls victim to shoddy logic as well as bad repair techniques preformed by low-end carpenters, at the request of greedy, unscrupulous investors and sold to unsuspecting buyers; there’s that pesky spiral again. Once you remove moldings, doors, staircases, period fixtures, plaster, and lath all you have is a Home Depot show room and usually poorly executed one’s at that. A stately single family converted to four apartments is the equivalent of hitching Funny Cides to a carriage for rides around Central Park, another antique diminished in value. All buildings appreciate including, antiques even more so if treated with respect and dignity. The point that seems to be ignored with antique homes and barns is that a professionally restored antique becomes more valuable because of the documented restoration.

If a client takes their Model A Ford to a shop to be restored, the shop will give them an hourly rate and some idea of the time frame of repair. The shop will also tell them that they won’t be held to the price. When the restoration of this car is completed its value becomes that of the combined original value plus the price of the restoration. This is also true for fine furniture, artwork, boats, your car and musical instruments, in effect any thing that requires someone with talent to perform the repair. Craftsmen that restore anything built by hand that requires care and patients charge by the hour. This falls into the category of CUSTOM WORK. Restoration in and of its self is not a production related sport; as I have stated, it’s about slow and steady progress. The understanding of applied multiple variables. The ability to comprehend existing conditions, materials, accepted norms for the period, and the desired outcome. This is where the plaster hits the wall so to speak.

There was a time when I was a young pup that the phrase, made In America meant quality, we joked about products labeled Made In Japan. Today Japan dominates the electronics, camera optics, and auto markets as well as robotics among others while our jobs are sent over seas and collage grads flip hamburgers to get by. I agree that competing with senior citizens and high school kids for work doesn’t leave a lot to restore the old barn or even fix the roof and windows on the 18th century house that Grandma left, or worse, you had to pay for.

What’s the point you ask? The point is that we have a rare indigenous species of life planted, nurtured, and left behind to grow for generations to admire and learn from. Living proof that we have been here for 300+ years, the result of struggle and hardships endured by brave and adventurous soles. Fine examples of their dwellings are not all that they left. They left us with a government created by the people. A new concept called democracy, a bill of rights, and a legacy that taught us; if you work hard you will be rewarded. Today our great architectural legacy is disappearing as fast as our civil liberties. We can act with revolutionary vision to save the buildings that bore and nurtured our patriots and launched a consciences change toward the global awareness of freedom of speech.

Restoration of 18th century structures in this country should be considered the highest level of custom work. It encompass knowledge of soil conditions, grade and water management, stone foundations, timber frames, lath and plaster, milk paints, architectural detail, wood shingle, mechanical repair skills, restoration and replication of period moldings and siding to name a few. Combine all of that with a working knowledge of integrating modern amenities and mechanical systems into antique structures and, blending of the 18th and 21st century. Add passion to the list of qualifications of those charged with the responsibility and the final product becomes a finished work of art.

If you are building for two to five decades than the price will reflect the quality of the work. If you are re-building for two to five centuries the price should also reflect the quality of work.

Level, plumb and square.

For those with a background in economics or stocks and bonds, you are fully aware that long-term investment provides greater value. When you prorate a 20 year repair against a 200 year repair the better repair begins to look much more reasonable. “Restoring the Past to Preserve the Future”, is not just a slogan, it should be a mantra helping us to be aware that the responsibility belongs to all of us to maintain and nurture these buildings for future generations.
George Yonnone

There is also an article about Classic Kitchens where Vintage appliances add the perfect touch to a period kitchen.

Learn how to Save Your Wood Windows in the new edition of this Practical Restoration Report. Wood-Epoxy Repairs is updated with important new sections on wood technology and safety issues.

He’s is a great resource and has a wonderful website with lots of great article and information on restoration issues.

Read the rest of this article on Curing Sills here

The American barn is disappearing from the landscape. It may not evoke the nostalgia of a one-room schoolhouse or covered bridge. But for more than two centuries, it has stood as a symbol of hard work and a rural way of life.

Here it is hitting the mainstream with an article at USA Today.