Walls

Alan J. Hawk <alan.hawk [at] us__army__mil> writes

>Our museum is interested in collecting walls of a waiting room with
>graffiti (names of patients) that have passed through Balad Theater
>Hospital.  I am trying to get an idea of what we are up against and
>have received the below response from personnel in country.  These
>people are not trained museum people nor where they around when the
>walls were put up nor are they construction workers.
>
>   "[T]he walls are made of common drywall (3/8 inch) with ... years
>    of overlapping paint and poor quality craftsmanship [when]
>    putting up the work. It would be best if a trained team were to
>    come in and take down the walls. We have the ability to make
>    (wood) crates to ship them in to prevent any further damage. We
>    were advised against using any type of lacquer or sealant to
>    protect against chipping. (the writing would bleed). Your
>    assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated and needed for
>    this magnitude of a project. Thank you for your continued
>    interest in what our heroes have left behind."
>
>The building appears to be a masonry structure.  Since the interior
>is lined with drywall, I am assuming that they were put up over
>studs or wood furring strips, but I am not positive.  Since I am not
>sure whether they were put up by American or Iraqi labor and cannot
>assume American construction standards.
>
>I would appreciate thoughts on how best to remove these items as
>well as how suggested questions that an untrained person could
>answer.  I can forward images to anyone if they would help
>understand the situation.

Since the walls you are concerned about are at a medical facility,
you can get someone to use a fiber-optic scope to look at the back
side of the wall. By using something like a sigmoidoscope or a
bronchoscope, a small hole in the wall would allow a view of the
backside. I would assume the scopes are both articulating (the tips
move around) and can be hooked up to a video recorder. This will
allow some flexibility in see behind the surface. Getting a better
understanding of the wall construction should be a simple task.

This should first be tried in an area that does not have writing on
it just to allow the user to get use to the process. The strength of
the light source and quality of the optics will play a big part in
the quality of the resulting image.

Photographic documentation would be the first step before any holes
or damage to the surface created. It might be possible to recreate
the wall photographically or by a scanning process. It would be good
to do this first if the wall is to be removed. That way you have a
back up even if the removal process is a failure.

Bryan Blundell
Dell Corporation
Architectural Preservation Specialties
PO Box 1462
Rockville, MD 20849
301-279-2612
Mobile: 301-908-7562


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:5
                   Distributed: Friday, June 18, 2010
                        Message Id: cdl-24-5-006
                                  ***