Finishes and coatings are an essential component of the architectural experience. Whether they be decorative finishes such as stenciling, gilding or wood-graining or simple opaque coatings, architectural finishes help define the aesthetics of a building's exterior or an interior space. More so than perhaps any material, finishes are updated and changed in response to maintenance needs, spatial alterations or the desire for a new palette.
Keystone Preservation Group specializes in the analysis of historic architectural finishes. Also known as paint analysis, this service is most often provided for clients who want to restore to a specific historic period, or who need to identify changes to a building which have taken place over time.
Our laboratory is equipped with a Leica DMLM microscope capable of producing incident color-balanced light, incident longwave ultraviolet light and transmitted polarized light. Bulk analysis is completed with a Nikon SMX-2T reflected light microscope. Both units are capable of producing digital photomicrographs.
Finishes analysis can include:
- Analytical microscopy for polished cross-sections in incident color-corrected and ultraviolet light (fluorescence).
- Color matching to CIE L*a*b coordinates and Munsell Color standards.
- Exposure windows to reveal ornamentation.
- Pigment analysis with transmitted polarizing light.
- Media characterization with microchemical staining.
- Elemental and compositional analysis using FTIR, FESEM/XEDS and other techniques.
