Measurement techniques

Mothballing is preventative conservation and can be the best way forward for cost effective environmental management of deterioration to historic fabric, contents, decorative finishes and fixtures.

The key elements in the mothballing of buildings are minimising further water ingress in the building and encouraging natural drying of saturated areas of buildings. A range of different types of techniques can be used, such as:

• rectifying defects in downpipes and guttering and clearing out valleys and other blockages in the rainwater drainage systems;
• accelerating underfloor ventilation by lifting one or two floor boards along the external elevations and setting aside for reuse;
• encouraging general ventilation in the building by opening up windows and internal doors, clearing chimney flues, clearing roof voids of storage goods to encourage cross ventilation; and
• removal of moisture-saturated materials from the building, e.g. floor coverings, debris and unwanted storage goods.

These measures result in changes in the environmental conditions of the building; the micro-organisms then struggle to grow and proliferate since the optimum conditions for their survival are not met. Such measures also dramatically reduce the risk of further infestation in the building.