Rick Ladina, a foreman at The Durable Restoration Company, has received the Central Ohio Builders Exchange 2006 Craftsmanship Award for the restoration of one of Groveport, Ohio's great treasures, a log house dating back to the early 1800's.

The entire project consisted of overall restoration of the structure, including a new roof and drainage system. However, it is the restoration of the logs and the chinking and daubing between them which reveal Ladina's superb artistry.

"I would like to thank the Village of Groveport for giving me the opportunity to work on a 191 year old building," says Ladina. "That was unique in itself. I appreciated being able to help keep a community monument in working order so the people in that community are still be able to use it for many more years to come and enjoy the serenity that everyone feels who goes in there."

After almost two hundred years, time, insects, and weather - especially weather - can do a little damage to a simple log building. Several logs had severe damage with various degrees of damage all over the building. The daubing, which is considered a replaceable element anyway, had already undergone many replacements, but incorrect applications had led to further damage of the logs.

The Village of Groveport wanted a restoration that would preserve the building with as little removal of the existing structure as possible, and Ladina, along with his crew, delivered.

First the chinking and daubing was removed. Rotten wood was carefully scraped out, and the remaining sound wood was treated to prevent future insect damage and water penetration. A wood replacement compound was applied in as many as ten layers to gradually build up the surface so it would align with the sound wood which remained.

The final coat of the compound was sculpted with various tools to mimic the appearance of the intact portions of the log - including wood grain, hatchet marks, and insect holes. With the detailed sculpting completed, the restored portions were then stained.

Next to be addressed was the restoration of the chinking and daubing. Historically chinking elements consisted of odd stones, pieces of wood, clay, and moss which were found around the site where a log structure was being built. Daubing, the wet-troweled finish layer, was most often a mixture of clay and lime.

For restoration purposes, insulation board was inserted between the logs - each section hand cut to match the profile of the adjacent logs for a tight fit. Diamond wire lath was also cut to fit and inserted on an angle between the logs to assist in directing rain water toward the outer edge of the lower log.

A custom formulated lime-based masonry product was used as the daub application. This was built up in as many as five or six layers, each only 1/8th to 1/4th inch thick. This thin-layer application will allow for expansion and contraction of the building, resulting in a long-lasting restoration.

This was a highly specialized restoration project; requests to restore a centuries old building don't come every week. Therefore, with no past experience in restoring a log structure, Ladina developed on site, by trial and error, the methods and procedures which would best work to produce a sound and lasting restoration.

Over 550 tedious man-hours went into the log restoration process with the cleaning, disinfecting, sculpting and finishing, and the results were worth every minute spent. Over 400 hours were needed to do the chinking and daubing. Ladina doesn't find this kind of effort daunting. "Everything I touch I do the best I can to the best of my ability," he says.

And how does Ladina feel about winning the award? "I'm in shock that I won and I'm happy that this is the fifth time that I've been recognized by the Builders Exchange, knowing that they strive to recognize excellent work. I am also really happy that Durable Restoration continues as a company to bring in recognition for excellence. It causes others to use our services which means that we get to help restore many more historic buildings."

This historically significant building means a great deal in the Village of Groveport. When you walk in the front door of the Kroger store, there's a picture of the log house right there. The image of the log house is on everything from the town's letterhead to their maintenance trucks - so you know this is a highly prized local treasure.

The building serves today as a museum/activity center where Scout meetings, nature programs, parties and receptions are held.