Maintenance vs Sustainability

To talk of sustainability without a timeframe is meaningless. But nowadays things are labelled sustainable without any reference to duration.

Sustainable forever applies to a very select catalogue. The best we can do is aim for as long a lifespan as possible. This must of corse vary depending on the subject.

The key to long life is maintenance. Not sexy but capable of giving great satisfaction.

Transcript

Speaker 0:05

Hello and welcome to another episode in the series. Make Life Better by Design With me, Kevin Drayton. Now I have to say, I have a real problem with the word sustainability. You hear it all the time. Nowadays, it's applied to just about anything and everything. For me, it's lost any value it once had, talk of sustainability has to relate to a timescale. Ideally it would mean in perpetuity, but very little in life is sustainable in that sense. Yours isn't. Mine isn't, for example. No. The word is a comparative, not an absolute. However, one way I can allow very grudgingly use of the word sustainability is in terms of making things last as long as you reasonably can IE maintain, preserve, prolong, keep going. So essentially I'm talking about maintenance. Uh, I've said before that new things have a certain appeal simply by the fact of being new, but that by definition can only last a short time. However long something maintains its original virtues and the pleasure it gives you. It is down to how well we look after things over the course of their lifetime, and if it's done well, that can be almost limitless. One of my off repeated favourite phrases is Long life loose fit. Low energy. It was a, a term coined by a former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, um, a Welsh architect called Alex Gordon, and now he was applying it specifically to buildings and architecture. But the principles actually hold true for just about everything. The better you look after something. The longer it lasts, be that buildings, motor vehicles, the human body, clothes, the environment, and, and on and on. One of the most affecting incidents from my time in practise came from meeting a guy who had, at one time been a, a high flyer. In one of the big industries, you know, finance, aerospace, petrochemicals, something like that. But he was now retired or thinking about it, perhaps had been, uh, relieved of his job some years ago. He lived in a house, I would say built probably in the 1960s, and it may have been built for him specifically. It was quite large, located in a very pleasant suburb, and the star feature was an indoor swimming pool in the house. Where he told me he used to hold lavish parties for his industry guests. Um, and the pool obviously would be the focus of that. I'm sure that was all corporate funding, by the way. Not him individually. He conjured up an image of a sort of. A large scale Abigail's party at the upper end of the middle class spectrum. However, the guy, by the time I met him, had two fundamental problems. He was no longer earning the big bucks he'd become used to during his career. And secondly, the house had been built in the 1960s and like many of that period, it had been built using sort of average quality cardboard and industrial strength cow gum. Actually he had a third problem, uh, which is that nothing like enough regular maintenance had taken place on the house for a good many years. He could no longer afford to heat and ventilate the building property and the swimming pool water. Had condensed and migrated throughout the property, which just accelerated the collapse of the building fabric. I wish I could say otherwise, but the story did not have a happy ending, although it did make me realise that whilst we are encouraged to live in the moment, that shouldn't be without any regard to the future whatsoever. Maintenance activities can actually be quite enjoyable and certainly can make life better. Too many people seem to think you buy, acquire. Or find yourself in possession of certain things and then just observe their steady decline without intervening until they ultimately expire. And this does seem particularly true very often with buildings. Uh, many petrol heads, lavish attention on their vehicles, aiming to keep them as close to box fresh as possible, and those who don't have at three years of age to submit them to the annual MOT test. Now, this usually ensures that the most deadly faults are rectified regardless of the car's appearance. So why don't we have an MOT for buildings? A building can be just as deadly as a car, but no one gets prosecuted for letting a building go to rack and ruin unless it's a listed building. Of course. The expression, look after your kit, and your kit will look after you. Uh, supposedly originated with the armed forces. I think as a maxim for life, it's got a lot to recommend. A chef ensures that his knives are sharp. A caned gardener keeps his tools clean and ready. The artist doesn't let paint dry in her best brushes. You clean your teeth every day, wash your body regularly, and don't let the laundry pile up ridiculously. So why ignore the weeds growing outta the gutter? The green stain from a dripping pipe, the crumbling pointing in a patch of brickwork. That other saying, a stitch in time saves nine is just as pertinent, but by the time building problems have hit a nine, they tend to be quite pricey to rectify. Okay, I accept building maintenance is about as sexy as a dead mouse. There's always something more interesting to do, but if you don't think about it, it, it may be years before it actually catches up with you. So may I suggest a simple checklist of things to review once or twice a year. That'll help you get to know and understand your home better. And perhaps catch something before it turns into a major problem. One, if you have a roof space, get up there and take a good look round. Do you see anything wrong? Damp or water? Signs of wildlife that shouldn't be there? Is there ventilation? Uh, but not too much. Is the insulation okay? Is there any insulation? Two, go outside and check over the roof. Any slipped or missing tiles or slates, binoculars can be helpful here. Or if you're lucky enough. A drone equipped with a camera check for any missing, haunting or launching. And if you don't know what that is, look it up. Three, check your gutters and downpipes. See they're flowing freely. In 99% of cases, gutters will need clearing. If you do nothing else, please do this. Four is the pointing between the masonry, generally firm and continuous. It's there as much as anything to keep rain out, and if there are cracks in it, if bits have fallen out. Uh, it can let in water and various other things as well. Five are all your doors and windows well sealed and weatherproof, whether that's paint work or some other finish? Six, if you have the tools and indeed the stomach lift manhole covers and make sure drains are running free. If you can see any plant roots anywhere, then you have, excuse the pun, a growing a problem. Seven. Make sure any steps are secure and any hard surfaces have no trip or slip hazards. Eight. Are there any trees in close proximity that are getting too big for their roots and threatening foundations? Inside nine check pipe work, taps and so on for leaks or failed washers. If a tap or overflow is dripping, it's water's way of calling for help. Sort it.. 10. Your electrical installation should be checked visually. Any dodgy switches or sockets need immediate attention. I own up to the fact I've played fast and loose with these things before and somehow live to tell the tale. Don't you do that. Check smoke alarms as well. 11. Gas appliances have the capacity to kill quietly and without you realising. Have carbon monoxide sensors where they're needed and get your gas installation checked by a qualified engineer annually. This brief list can't be regarded in any way as comprehensive. It's more of a friendly reminder that just because buildings stay in one place as a rule, it doesn't mean things don't happen to them. A maintenance stitch in time can avoid. Wet rot, dry rot, timber decay, infestation, rats, mice, and more. If you're new to being responsible for a home, take time to learn about how it's constructed. Get a basic DIY tool set, and most importantly. I recognise when maintenance is something you can handle and when you need a professional. I knew a chap once who I was constantly moving home him. He was doing it to climb up the property ladder. He was getting a better and better property each time. And at some stage, for some reason, he decided that he really ought to get into this DIY game, and although it really didn't need it at all, he thought that he could sand and repaint his window sills. Well, he only got as far as the first one because, without trying out this new sander that he had, uh, on a piece of scrap timber somewhere first, he just dug great holes in this window sill into which any new paint he put just pooled and failed to dry properly. Oh, well you live and learn. Your furniture and decorations might look a bit tired, but if you have to spend a couple of days without water, heat, or electricity, I think you'll quickly recalibrate your priorities for spending. Now, today is not a scare story. Maintenance can be enjoyable as well as making life better. Uh, how long did it take you to enjoy cleaning your shoes? Oh, oh, oh, I see. Well, it'll come in time. Anyway, as usual, if you have been, thanks very much for listening. And I very much look forward to seeing you. No, I've gone that way before, talking to you again next time. Bye for now.