It’s been said (perhaps by a French officer in WWII) that “battles are fought at the edge of maps.” While we never want the practice of restoration to be a battle, we do find truth in this analogy.

Consider, for example, roofing systems. Problems rarely arise in the field of the roof. Almost always, failure is the result of a poorly designed or executed detail at the interface (edge) between two components: where the membrane meets a perimeter condition such as exterior wall or parapet, where it changes level, or where it’s penetrated by a vent stack or railing support.

That’s why our construction documents contain multiple details for “edge” conditions. In some cases, we’ve provided 50 separate details to fully delineate the range of flashing configurations.

This approach goes a long way to preventing “battles” from breaking out during construction, or after a failure occurs.

With today’s digital maps, there are no more ambiguous edges to contend with. But seamlessly successful restoration projects still benefit from the additional drawn details we provide.