Guides for owners of old buildings.
How the top of an old building is put together, how it comes apart, and what to do before you hire anyone.
Cornices, parapets, and facade masonry
Brick, terra cotta, stone and metal cornices
How each common cornice material is built and the ways it usually fails.
Cornice inspection before selling or buying a building
How a written engineer's opinion on the cornice helps both sides of a sale.
Cornice repair: who to call first
What an engineer, mason, roofer and sheet-metal shop each do, and why diagnosis comes first.
Historic review and cornice repair in St. Louis
How historic review relates to a structural assessment, and what to ask the city before work.
Parapet walls on old St. Louis buildings
What a parapet is, why it is exposed on both faces, and the signs it needs attention.
Signs a cornice or parapet may be unsafe
What to look for from the ground, and what to do if something looks loose over a sidewalk.
Something fell from my building: what to do now
Keep people away, leave what fell where it is, photograph from a distance, then call.
What a cornice is and why it fails on old buildings
What a cornice is, what older ones are made of, and the usual ways they fail.
Rather have an engineer look at it?
Send the address and a few details. A licensed engineer replies within one business day.