Induni Conservation Ltd. Registered in England, No.:6124875

Dr. Bruce Induni,  consultant on stone and mortar

07971 194454 : induni_conservation@yahoo.co.uk

 

Pitstone font : Unexpected consequences

Intuition is often based on custom and practice. The choice of mortar here was almost certainly stemmed from an intuitive and unchallenging acceptance of then current custom and practice. I have been as guilty as anyone and used 1:1:6 and 1:2:9 mortars, because that was what was used. Not until I had repeated frost failures did I challenge my own intuition and start to look for scientific evidence.

 

The history of conservation is littered with unexpected consequences. Informal ‘guesstimates' have suggested that around 70% of current museum based conservation is aimed at repairing the damage done by previous interventions.

Here the grouting mortar used to secure the straight edged, pieced in repair, has expanded and split the original parts of the font bowl