BUILDING STONE CONSERVATION IN PRACTICE

Summary Serious deterioration in the fabric of historic buildings throughout Europe has necessitated extensive conservation and remedial measures. The conclusions of this study, together with that on the six EC buildings recorded in the Third EC Environmental R+D 1981-85 Programme, suggest that the quality of granite from certain quarries in the Dublin/Wicklow area is variable and that 18th century stone was mainly boulder stone, and stone removed from the upper quarry layers. It has been recorded that this stone, although of inferior quality, was used because it was softer and therefore easier to carve. Cleaning, treating, consolidating and repairing granite of this quality has its difficulties. It does not respond well to consolidation techniques, and attempts at manufacturing repair mortars are not fully satisfactory. No really successful alternative to stone replacement has been discovered.