for 25 years TSB has been the only one-stop source for both historic preservation and green construction that marries the best of old and new technology while designing for longevity and providing training to the trades and novices alike

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Lots of people do the same thing every day and will tell you its the only way to make a living and the only way to get things done right. Well that’s one view. And it gets you the same results every time. That has led us to a world of “historic” buildings remade in plastic to a designer’s ideal and falling apart as fast as they go up and new construction that is destroying the planet and requires tremendous resources from the planet to maintain. If that works for you, the companies waiting to help are a dime a dozen.

If you want better for your building, the planet, and your pocketbook, call 443 – 822 – 0983

We have the diagnostic capabilities to understand the problem – like recognizing this building was painted so acid cleaning was etching the paint – and the ability to repair what had been damaged and infill paint with the same archaic paint technology as was used when this brick building was constructed 130 years before. Ability to readhere in place loose historic materials and seamlessly match to them, even in heavily patinated surfaces across a wide variety of materials. Or to selectively remove bad overcoatings while leaving and repairing original finishes. Figuring out how to clean blackened masonry where others could not. Installing historic plasters and designing modern conference rooms and office into historic structures while maintaining and celebrating original features such as second floor fireplaces and glass reveals that show the history of built-in furniture.

We have the hand skills in multiple trades to repair damaged materials such as parquetry floors or repair just the ends of a cornice, or install new details like flashing of projecting bands to extend the life of masonry features while also training in the installation of carbon fiber to restrain bowing masonry.

We have experience with strawbale and other green construction materials. We have provided training to  both people in the trades and novices alike. Did you know straw bales provide R-40 and when properly plastered with true lime mortar are nearly impervious to fire. Both fire marshals and one of our clients can attest to this durability when the adjoining walls of a house constructed of other materials burn to the ground but the plastered strawbale walls remained unscathed. 

And we have the ability to see what others can’t yet see. A case in point: these two buildings were at the core of a $1B waterfront redevelopment site containing several historic buildings that needed to be preserved before new construction could begin. After three years and $700M in consultant’s fees, ground still had not been broken because the care and interpretive plan for the historic buildings had not been addressed. Our team helped reinterpret the concrete structure, even within a skin of glass for new offices and restaurants, as the soft inviting space with historic finishes and repairs to the wood grained pattern of the formwork and oversaw the rebuilding of historic masonry perimeter walls and the re-establishment of historic paint schemes on the iconic sentry tower at the main intersection so that construction on the rest of the project could move forward (note the restaurants rising behind the tower).

Based in Annapolis, MD we work nationwide. Contact us: info @ traditionalandsustainable.com