Historic Buildings-

Decay and Damages

Lecture-5
Ayesha Agha Shah

ARCG 557- Architectural Heritage and Conservation

Semester-I 2022-23
Why Buildings Decay?

Causes of Decay

Natural Causes Man made Causes

Causes of Decay- Natural Causes
Climatic Causes
SUN LIGHT UV is particularly damaging on organic
materials such as wood, textile, pigments etc..
Causing colors to fade and surfaces to become brittle.
Peeling of paint from the walls.

COLORS
FADED

DAMAGE TO UNTREATED WOOD

CAUSED BY THE SUN
Causes of Decay- Natural Causes
Climatic Causes

THERMAL EXPANSION Building materials expand when

heated and contract when cooled.
As a consequence, stresses can build up between the
individual materials and the buildings as a whole.

Thermal expansion in brick wall

 Causes of Decay- Natural Causes
Climatic Causes

MOISTURE Faulty disposal of rainwater is the most

frequent cause of deterioration in ancient masonry

Moistue causing seepages on

RISING DAMP
The inappropriate installation of damp-proof courses
to combat rising dampness accounts for much
unnecessary work on old buildings.
Causes of Decay- Natural Causes
Climatic Causes
Mechanism of Wind Erosion on Historic Buildings
• Wind in dry climatic conditions causes an effect
similar to sand blasting.
• Happens on building perched on hill tops or located
in valleys where wind tunnels are formed.
Causes of Decay- Natural Causes
Biological and Botanical Causes
The presence of plants growing in a wall is
usually an indication of decayed mortar and
excess moisture

PLANTS GROWING ON WALLS

Causes of Decay- Natural Causes
Biological and Botanical Causes
Algae:
▪Epilithic On Surface
▪Endolithic Inside depth of
stone
Causes of Decay- Natural Causes
Biological and Botanical Causes
Lichens:
▪Mostly in crust form
▪Less commonly grows on trees as creepers,
etc.
Causes of Decay- Natural Causes
Biological and Botanical Causes

Mosses
Think velvet textured surface layer

FUNGUS AND MOSS GROWING on a roof will cause

damage due its weight, water retention and the lifting
of tiles as it grows
Causes of Decay- Man made Causes
Lack of Preventive Conservation
In this regard, the UNESCO Chair
PRECOMOS (Preventive Conservation, Maintenance and
Monitoring of Monuments and Sites)
was set up at Raymond Lemaire International Center for
Conservation, University of Leuven (RLICC-KU Leuven), and
‘Monumentenwacht Flanders’ was established
with the aim of promoting conservation practices from a preventive view-point – based on
monitoring and maintenance
This has led to a paradigm shift in heritage conservation
• Primary prevention: means to avoid the causes of the unwanted effect
(damage);
• Secondary prevention: means of monitoring that allow an early detection of
the symptoms of the unwanted effects (damage);
• Tertiary prevention: means that allow avoiding further spread of the
unwanted effect (damage) or the generation of new unwanted (side) effects
(damage).
Lack of Preventive Conservation
Wars

New Bridge in Mostar,

Bosnia Herzegovina

Old Bridge in Mostar,

Bosnia Herzegovina
Encroachments and Graffiti
▪Extension around heritage buildings with
new addition
 Vandalism/ Theft
• Neglect of security
Precautions
Risk Assessment
• Diagnostic Analysis
• Mapping the deteriorations
What is Risk in Heritage management?
Risk
Risk is the probability of
something going wrong. You
have to have a definition of
‘going right’ before you can
detect that something is going
wrong, before you can begin to
estimate the magnitude of the
unwanted effect.
Hazard
A hazard is some event or element
of the local environment that might
cause damage. A hazard is not
automatically evil. We need water
and warmth to live but we don’t
want flood or fire if they are in the
wrong place at the wrong time. We
need light to see works of art, yet
we know that light can cause
fading and structural weakening of
some object.
 Possible Risk/ Hazards
• Water ingress
• Pests, mould and chemical deterioration
• Climate change impact
• Vandalism and theft
• Mechanical damage
• Physical forces
 Possible Risk/ Hazards
• Fire
• Contaminants
• UV and light
• Incorrect temperature (T)
• Incorrect relative humidity (RH)
• Procedural neglect
 Risk Assessment:

Natural events:
Flooding
 Risk Assessment:

Natural events:
Earthquake
 Risk Assessment:

Impact of pollutants or climate change on built heritage materials

Risk Assessment

Assessment
An assessment involves predicting what might happen in the
future. In most circumstances this will mean considerable
uncertainty about the outcome. This uncertainty stems from
concerns about the reliability of past evidence and a lack of
understanding of the mechanisms that link current cause and
future effects. It could be the guess of a single consultant
who from a number of sources, or it could involve the
collective effort of a number of stakeholders who each
contribute their own expertise.
 Risk Assessment: Definitions

Reference: Ball, D. et al., Risk Management and Cultural Heritage

 Risk Assessment: Methodologies

Qualitative
• Interviews with users
• Historical Research
• Visual Analysis
Quantitative
• Monitoring and Analysis of Environmental
Data (RH, T)
• Mapping (Walls)
• Spot Measurements (Light, UV)

100
Relative Humidity (%)

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30

Temperature (¡C)
Environmental Zones for Collection by Material

Relative Humidity (RH) Comfort Band - Distribution

Paper

Wood

Plaster
Collection by Material

Ceramic

Canvas
Mould RH Too Low
Ideal RH

Steel
germination RH Too High

Bronze
possible
Metal [Other]

Human

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Relative Humidity (%)

based on: NPS Museum Handbook, 2006 Different materials need to be stored in
PAS 198, 2012 different environments
IIC Plaster Sculptures on Exhibition, 2006
Building Condition – Elevations

Decay &
Vegetation
Growth

Stone
Breakage and
disintegration
– splintering

Black
Discolouration

Algae
Building Condition – Roof

Construction:
Masonry Slabs & Screed concrete
added but it is not efficient
Bituminous Felt System (modern
waterproof)
Loss of Original Def-fun
(lime/pottery finish) (traditional
waterproof)

Condition:
Poor Detailing (single down-pipe)
De-bonding
Poor Condition
Inadequate Drainage
Water Ingress to Interior

Vegetation Outlet Detailing Repairs

Diagnostic analysis and mapping

Mapping heritage building façades

What is Mapping?

• The classification and mapping of weathering damage

according to type, intensity and distribution (often using
specially prepared atlases).
• Illustration of results on monument elevations.
• Evaluation of results obtained from mapping.

Different visual glossaries, mapping atlases and mapping techniques:

–ICOMOS – ISCS Illustrated Stone Glossary (attached)
–Queen’s University (Belfast)
–MDDS (TNO, Netherlands) (attached)
–NORMAL (ICR/CNR)
–Fitzner (Aachen)
Mapping heritage building façades
Visual Aids
[alveolization, honeycombing]
[crust/black crust, gypsum skin, calcium [efflorescence, Salt crystallization]
sulphate skin]
[exfoliation, contour scaling, flaking] [cracking, splitting]
[staining, chromatic alteration] [powdering]
Corrosion, dust, smoke, oil, etc..
 A thin green layer
that variously forms
on the surface of
copper, brass,
bronze and similar
metals (tarnish
produced by
oxidation or other
chemical
processes), or
certain stones.
Acidic weather, it
adds beautiful aged
trace.

[plants, climbing plants] [Patina, biological attack]

 "NATURAL STONES AND
WEATHERING"
Photo atlas of weathering forms
on stone monuments

Reference: FITZNER, B.&

HEINRICHS, K. (2004): Photo
atlas of weathering forms on
stone monuments
Weathering form: Back weathering
due to loss of scales
Stone type: Sandstone
Location: Monastery, Birkenfeld /
Germany

Weathering form: Rounding /

notching (Ro)
Stone type: Limestone
Location: Wall, Cairo / Egypt
Weathering form: Back weathering
due to loss of crumbs / splinters
(uW)
Stone type: Tuff
Location: Minster, Neuss /
Germany

Weathering form: Back weathering

due to loss of crumbs / splinters
(uW)
Stone type: Limestone
Location: Castle, Bad
Weathering form: Alveolar
weathering (Ra)
Stone type: Limestone
Location: Citadel, Victoria - Gozo /
Malta
Scale: Width of the dimension
stone: appr. 30 cm

Weathering form: Soiling by

particles from the atmosphere (pI)
Stone type: Limestone
Location: Mosque, Cairo / Egypt
Weathering form: Efflorescences (Ee)
Stone type: Limestone
Location: Mosque, Cairo / Egypt

Weathering form: Dark-colored

crust tracing the surface (dkC)
Stone type: Limestone
Location: Cathedral, Halberstadt /
Germany
 Weathering form:
Microbiological colonization
(Bi)
Stone type: Sandstone
Location: Castle, Haut
Koenigsbourg / France

Weathering form: Crumbling (Pu)

Stone type: Limestone
Location: City wall, Cairo / Egypt
Weathering form: Single flakes to
crumbling (eF-Pu)
Stone type: Limestone
Location: Megalithic Temple of
Ggantija, Gozo / Malta
Rising dampness on facade walls, and preventing
asphalting the roads against historic facades

Efflorescence and plaster detachment

Church of Santa Marija Ta’ Ċwerra
Malta
Example: Building Condition - Mapping

Mechanical Damage Staining Vegetation Snails Perforation Back Weathering

Example: Building Condition – Mapping
Greeks’ Gate Mdina