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  • 1.  Stabilizing and moving a portion of a sod house wall

    Posted 01-25-2023 16:01

    Hello everyone. Recently my institution was approached by our SHPO office about a sod house dated to 1907. Sod houses are a rare find. This house is in poor condition and located on state property as it is in our region of the state they asked if we would be willing to take a portion of the wall into our collection.

    We are excited about the possibility of being able to preserve this piece of history however there are going to be several challenges associated with it so I am looking for resources and suggestions on how to safely move and preserve a portion of the wall.

    Sod houses are essential made of mud. So we will need to find a way to stabilize the wall to be moved and also figure out how to keep it from falling apart over time once on display in our museum as well as finding a way to make sure we do not introduce a pest problem. I fear freezing it might damage the sample.

     

    Thanks for all of your help and suggestions!

    Sod house


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    Amy Johnson
    Curator of Collections
    Enid OK
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  • 2.  RE: Stabilizing and moving a portion of a sod house wall

    Posted 01-26-2023 09:15
    Amy,
     
    Contact people who are experts in preservation of earthen architecture.

    I would start with Cornerstones https://www.cstones.org/ in Santa Fe. They work all over the southwest and I think that Oklahoma is not too far out of their region. I worked with Cornerstones years ago when I was doing research on the long-term stability of earthen plasters.
     
    You can also contact Francisco Uvina-Contreras . Francisco is in charge of the Preservation and Regionalism Graduate Certificate Program in the School of Architecture at the University of New Mexico https://saap.unm.edu/people/faculty/francisco-uvina/index.html. He has extensive experience with earthen architecture and vernacular architecture and has worked all over the world. He knows lots of people and can maybe help you find a local person to help you. He was one of the organizers for the Park Service's big meeting on earthen architecture last summer here in Santa Fe.  Feel free to let him know I suggested the contact.
     
    All best,
     
    Susan


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    M. Susan Barger, PhD
    Fellow, AIC
    msusanbarger@comcast.net
    Santa Fe NM
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  • 3.  RE: Stabilizing and moving a portion of a sod house wall

    Posted 01-26-2023 09:15
    Hello Amy, 

    This sounds like a fantastic opportunity. I'd consider cross-posting this in the architecture subgroup as well -- the scale and material may be more familiar to many of the members there. You've likely already considered this, but the size of the portion you take may be decided by your housing, exhibition, and moving capabilities. Since you'll likely be working with a vendor to move & stabilize the portion, I'd think about the location you'll want it installed long term, and record the current lighting levels, temp & humidity levels throughout the year, and what accommodations you may have to make it install it. As for pests, I work in a library, so many of our approaches are essentially encapsulating a desirable item and regular monitoring with traps. Sod houses are out of my expertise, but I will reach out to experts in the C2C community for any specific advise. 


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    Elizabeth Stone
    Collections Conservator
    University of Iowa Libraries
    Iowa City IA
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