RESOURCES FOR ADDRESSING FLOOD DAMAGE

[Kerri Rubman]

NOTE: This thread contains information posted about flood recovery for heritage buildings. Scroll down and to subsequent pages for additional information. More recent postings are at the end of the thread.
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My heart goes out to all affected by flooding.

Going forward, these resources for property owners, complied by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, may be useful: http://www.preservationnation.org/resou ... cSWC5VgPHh

Please share this information.

Kerri Rubman

[cjane]

The Board of CHI wants to wish all the best to the thousands impacted by the devastating flood of 2013. We know that many of our members had to evacuate and we sincerely hope that everyone stayed safe and dry.

City staff and emergency support teams are well deployed and working hard to ensure everyone’s safety. The next big job is clean-up and for those who live in heritage homes, or own heritage buildings, we have posted resource information from the National Preservation Trust on social media for ideas of how to respond to flood damage.

We are currently gathering information on the status of Calgary’s heritage resources. If your home or business has survived the flood, please let us know. As an organization powered by volunteers, we will work hard to keep you posted with information and resources to assist with the clean-up and rebuild.

Best regards,
Cynthia Klaassen
President, CHI
calgaryheritage.org

[newsposter]

See above for more resources ^

A message from Alberta-based restoration architect Robert Hirano on drying out historic brick buildings:

I thought that I should explain the potential issues that could occur during the drying process of the masonry. Since these are porous low fired clay bricks therefore they can hold moisture in the voids and if they are saturated then it will take time to draw the interior moisture out of the core. Quick drying of the bricks can compromise the structural integrity of the fired clay. Also the lime mortar does not like fast drying as it can cause the adhesive binders to break down and be carried out of the mortar with the moisture (even after 100 years). I realize that it is a different material and medium but I would compare it to the scenario of a wool sweater drying; too fast and it shrinks and too slow and it creates an environment for organics to grow. My point is that controlled drying is imperative and since there will be considerable humidity inside the building therefore we do not want it migrating into walls as the exterior building envelope dries which means that the interior should be dehumidified at a similar rate as the masonry is drying. Consistency is the key. The walls should be monitored throughout the process so that trapped moisture is not left behind in the walls which can migrate to the exterior during the winter and spall the brick face. I hope that this can give an idea about the conditions we are about to face.

[newsposter]

A message from the Historic Resources Management Branch of the Province of Alberta.

http://albertashistoricplaces.wordpress ... ed-floods/

[newsposter]

More resources from the Alberta Museums Association

http://www.museums.ab.ca/lists/news/latest-news.aspx

[Kerri Rubman]

Ian Rogan, Curator for the Lougheed House, sent me info about a group called Creative Restoration, which offers disaster-relief services. See some very useful information about dealing with damaged art on its Face Book page:
https://www.facebook.com/CreativeRestor ... ion=stream

[Val Jobson]

A few more resources:

Glenbow has detailed advice on salvaging photos, artifacts, paper, books, etc.

See link under "Conservation Questions" here: http://glenbow.org/collections/artifacts/

The actual pdf here: http://glenbow.org/media/Glenbow-Protec ... alvage.pdf

Calgary Herald has advice on what to do when first returning to a flooded home:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Going ... story.html

Also a long list of links at the bottom about related topics, including one about salvaging photos and special objects:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/calga ... story.html.

And there is a photographer offering to help restore photos and negatives for free:

https://twitter.com/lindsayneuf/status/ ... 3783206912

Another offers to scan damaged photos and produce restored digital copies for free; also gives advice on handling flood damaged photoss:

http://albertafloodphotorestoration.blogspot.ca/

[newsposter]

Take a look at the Heritage Trades forum. Some resources listed there:

viewforum.php?f=18

[Carolyn Ryder]

Calgary Public Library's Flood Recovery Booklist may be of help. Volunteers have been distributing but here's a digital copy:





This has also come our way:

Free Public Legal Information Sessions for Those Affected by the Flood

[Kerri Rubman]

Here's some more useful information, from the Canadian Conservation Institute: "Resources for Salvaging Personal Valuables": http://www.cci-icc.gc.ca/ourservices-no ... n-eng.aspx

[newsposter]

A heritage roundtable meeting on flood damage assessment and remediation is being planned. Check back for information.

[HalynaT]

Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC) has some great free resources for flood clean up. www.cmhc.ca

[newsposter]

Information from Eileen Fletcher, Heritage Conservation Advisor from the Province. Eileen will be speaking at the heritage roundtable that is being organized.

After the Flood
First Steps in the Recovery of Alberta’s Flood-Damaged Historic Buildings
http://albertashistoricplaces.wordpress ... the-flood/

[newsposter]

July 25 heritage roundtable on addressing damage to Calgary's heritage places. Information at this link:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1550

[cjane]

More resources for addressing Flood issues provided by the Alberta Museums Association,



If you need a copy of the AMA's HELP! A Survivor's Guide to Emergency Preparedness, please contact them to receive a copy free of charge.

Also see "First Steps to Salvage Water Logged Objects"


For more information, come see Alexandra Hatcher AMA Executive Director, speaking at next week's Heritage Roundtable at Fort Calgary. This free event will commence on Thursday evening, July 25 at 7pm. For on-line registration go to