Caring for Your Sacred Place

You might not always notice the changes, but buildings never stay the same. The best way to steward your historic property and prepare for any maintenance, restoration, or new construction projects is to regularly and systematically inspect and document your property. For substantial projects, professional inspections, such as a building conditions assessment, a historic structure report, or sets of measured drawings may be necessary or advisable. For general upkeep, volunteers from your congregation may be able to complete regular inspections themselves with checklists or by following our “Building Assessment Tool.”

Once you have collected accurate information about your property, including maintenance records and photographs, keep it organized, sharable, and up-to-date. A filing cabinet may be sufficient for maintaining a property archive, but consider digitizing records and storing them online for ease of access.

Relevant materials from the National Park Service:

• Preservation Briefs 35: Understanding Old Buildings: The Process of Architectural Investigation
• Preservation Briefs 43: The Preparation and Use of Historic Structure Reports

Checklists and other relevant materials from Common Bond, published by the New York Landmarks Conservancy:

• One-page preventative maintenance checklist
• One-page winter maintenance checklist
• Seasonal maintenance recommendations
• “Warm Weather Maintenance”
• “Special Report: Building Conditions Surveys”
• “Planning a Capital Improvement Program”
• “Endowments for Building Maintenance”
• “Documentation Projects: Photography”
• “Preserving Institutional Memory: The Contents of a Property Archive”
• “Establishing a Building Archive”

Clergy may feel they need to spend their time studying, teaching, and pastoring rather than caring for property. If that’s a concern, they should appoint a staff member, council member, or other lay person to be a maintenance supervisor. Although this person may also be the custodian, the duties of the maintenance supervisor are different. In addition to completing inspections, the maintenance supervisor takes responsibility for keeping records of repairs and maintenance, getting bids for any work that needs to be done, overseeing contractors, and communicating closely with any other custodians or maintenance volunteers. To learn more about specialists in historic religious properties, visit our Directory of Building Professionals.

Relevant materials from Inspired, published by the Historic Religious Properties Program of the Philadelphia Historic Preservation Corporation:

• “Building Administrator: A Job Description”
• Creating construction contracts

Relevant materials from Common Bond, published by the New York Landmarks Conservancy:

• “Administration: Hiring Maintenance Personnel”
• “Managing Small Repair Projects”
• Preparing a Request for Proposals (RFP)

Most historic religious properties fail from the outside-in. The roof on your sacred place is your most important protection against weather–especially water infiltration–and the damage it causes. When roofs fail, issues related to your building’s structural system, building envelope, and ornamental features often follow. Included below is information related to exterior maintenance and repair:

Roofing

By material and type: asphalt, slate, wood shingle, clay tile, metal

• Preservation Briefs 4: Roofing for Historic Buildings
• Asphalt shingle roofs
• Preservation Briefs 29: The Repair, Replacement, and Maintenance of Historic Slate Roofs
• “Slate Roofs for Historic Religious Buildings”
• “Caring for Wood Shingles”
• “A Look at Historic Tile Roofs”
• “Copper & Terneplate: The Facts about Metal Roofing”
• Church Roof Replacement using Terne-coated Stainless Steel
• Flat roofs
• “Inspecting and Maintaining Your Flat Roof”
• Bitumen and roofing compounds

Flashing

• “What’s So Important About Flashing?”

Drainage systems

• “Roof Drainage Systems”
• Internal leaders (downspouts in wall cavities)
• French drains
• Snow guards

Solar

• “Solar Photovoltaics and Historic Places of Worship”

Structural Systems and Building Envelope

• “Inspecting Structural Systems”
• “The Inspection of Structural Wood Systems”
• Preservation Briefs 2: Repointing Mortar Joints in Historic Masonry Buildings
• “Cleaning and Repointing Historic Masonry”
• Waterproof coatings for masonry
• “Clear Masonry Coatings”
• Preservation Briefs 1: Assessing Cleaning and Water-Repellent Treatments for Historic Masonry Buildings
• Preservation Briefs 6: Dangers of Abrasive Cleaning to Historic Buildings
• “Cleaning Masonry Buildings”
• “Some Thoughts on Masonry Cleaning”
• Power Washing
• Preservation Briefs 15: Preservation of Historic Concrete
• Scaffolding
• Historic stucco
• Preservation Briefs 22: The Preservation and Repair of Historic Stucco
• Preservation Briefs 16: The Use of Substitute Materials on Historic Building Exteriors
• Aluminum and vinyl siding
• “Preserving Our Heritage: Repainting Exterior Wood on Houses of Worship”
• Paint failure
• Cast stone trim

Steeples, Belfries, and Lightning Protection

• Preservation Briefs 50: Lightning Protection for Historic Structures
• Inspecting lightning rods
• Lightning rod and fire safety checklist
• Bell restoration
• Antennas on historic religious properties
• “Cell Towers and Historic Religious Properties”
• “Steeplejack Season: What You Should Know About these High-flying Craftsmen”

Exterior: Other

• Preservation Briefs 38: Removing Graffiti from Historic Masonry 
• Graffiti removal procedures
• Cleaning rust stains
• Removing snow & ice
• Removing ivy and vegetation
• Vegetation on buildings
• Bird control
• “Good-bye to Guano”
• Preservation Briefs 27: The Maintenance and Repair of Architectural Cast Iron
• Repairing cast iron fencing

The interior is where your sacred place shines–where you encounter your property’s most precious materials and finest craftsmanship. Because your congregation actively uses the interior of the building and directly experiences the environment it creates, the interior is also where you are most likely to notice a problem! Again, many of the problems that are manifest in the interior of your property are related to the performance of your property’s exterior, so try not to isolate one from the other. Included below is information related to interior maintenance and repair:

Water Infiltration, Cleaning, and Pests

• Preservation Briefs 39: Holding the Line: Controlling Unwanted Moisture in Historic Buildings
• Humidity in crawl spaces and basements
• “Storm Sewer Connections”
• Plaster ceiling failure
• “The Importance of Attics”
• “Cleaning Interior Stone”
• “Termite Control”
• Termites

Windows and Stained Glass

• Repairing wood windows
• “Maintenance and Repair: Wood Windows”
• Repairing metal windows
• “Caulking and Weather Stripping”
• The Stained Glass Association of America
• Preservation Briefs 33: The Preservation and Repair of HIstoric Stained and Leaded Glass
• Stained Glass Windows: Managing Environmental Deterioration
• “Protecting Glazing of Stained Glass”
• “Installing and Ventilating Protective Glazing”
• “Is Stained Glass Protecting Glazing Necessary?”
• Inspecting stained glass
• “Tiffany Stained Glass Windows”

Decorative Elements

• Encaustic tiles
• “Some Thoughts on Mural Conservation”
• “Reviving a Nearly Lost Art: The Restoration and Maintenance of Scagliola”
• Seasonal decorations

Temperature Control and Energy Efficiency

• Preservation Briefs 3: Improving Energy Efficiency in Historic Buildings 
• Preservation Briefs 24: Heating, Ventilating, and Cooling Historic Buildings: Problems and Recommended Approaches 
• “Energy Conservation for Historic Houses of Worship”
• “Cooling Sanctuaries”
• “Winter Energy Measures”
• “Asebestos Abatement: A Primer”
• “Maintenance: Steam Heat Systems”
• “Purchasing Inexpensive Fuel Oil”
• “Building Systems: To Insulate or Not to Insulate”

Lighting, Instruments, and A/V Equipment

• “Creating Effective Lighting Systems for Historic Houses of Worship”
• “Lighting Design for Historic Houses of Worship”
• Organ maintenance
• Information on conservation and restoration from The Organ Historical Society

Every winter, fires in religious properties make the headlines of American newspapers. While arson remains a serious problem for sacred places, many fires in religious structures are caused by other factors. Below are a number of articles that provide important information about fire prevention.

• “Fire Alarm Systems in Historic Places of Worship”
• “Project Planning: Preventing Fire During Construction”
• Fire Safety for Traditional Church Buildings of Small and Medium Size
• “Fire Safety Retrofitting Guidelines for Historic Buildings”
• Fire Safety in Historic Buildings

Accessibility

• Preservation Briefs 32: Making Historic Properties Accessible 
• That All May Worship: An Interfaith Welcome to People With Disabilities 
• Easy Access to Historic Buildings 
• Easy Access to Historic Landscapes 
• “Houses of Worship Open to All: Making Older Religious Buildings Accessible to Persons with Disabilities”
• ADA Checklist for Existing Facilities (2016) 

Mothballing and vacancy

• Preservation Br`iefs 31: Mothballing Historic Buildings
• Vacant Historic Buildings: Guidelines on Managing Risks

Kitchens

• The Community Incubator Kitchen: A Workbook for Faith Communities 
• A Legal Guide for Community Kitchens in Massachusetts 

Cemeteries and graveyards

• “Historic Burial Grounds: Assessment, Treatment, and Maintenance”
• Pennsylvania Bureau of Historic Preservation: Instructions for General Cemetery Survey 
• “Cemetery and Grave Marker Survey”