A historic building is an official structure where pieces of ethnic, political, social and combat antiquity have been preserved due to their cultural heritage worth. Every building bears history within its walls, floors, ceilings, and foundations. They can contain very powerful secrets, even amulets that were placed there for coming generation to find – a thread linking the past and future thus defining the character of a community. We must learn to date on history and conserve worthy old structures not as wretched museum pieces; but by giving them new uses.
The main advantage of historic preservation is education. It safeguards the heritage of a community by providing information used for educational activities. Conservation and maintenance of historic resources not forgetting scenic areas, foster metropolitan beauty and fortifies community delight.
Practical Reasons to Save Historical Buildings
- They have fundamental value. Old buildings are built with high-quality materials like scarce hardwoods mainly heart pine and woods from old growth forests that no longer exists.
- When you dismantle old structures, you never know what is being ruined. Demolishing historical buildings might lead to loss of the treasures hidden within them. Even the disfigurements can be precious for a community’s future.
- New businesses prefer old buildings. Ethnic restaurants and antique stores tend to blossom in old constructions.
- They are a center of attraction. Old brick, marble, the heart pine, or the warmth of materials just makes older buildings more interesting.
- Old buildings are a mental note of a municipality’s culture and complexity. By viewing historic buildings, whether related to something prominent or discernible; Globetrotters and longtime natives get to witness the aesthetic and cultural history of an area thus maintaining a sense of permanency and heritage.
- Contrition. Once a historic site is ruined, there are no chances to renovate or save it. Therefore, a piece of history is lost forever.
Drawbacks from Pests in a Structure
A pest is any animal or plant species that live in or invades human habitats causing damage to buildings, clothing, and food. Pests are commonly referred to as “competitors of humanity” this is because they are harmful to human beings.
Deterioration of the Building
This is the process of wearing away or becoming worse. Pests damage and downgrade the value and quality of structures. When they overrun a building, they can cause damages, for example, rodents can cause severe wear and tear on buildings. Rats can cripple the framework of constructions and can weaken sewers by burrowing between connections surrounding earth and behind brick drains. For rats, they destroy such construction by continuously biting off the pipework with their incisors teeth thus resulting in flooding and creating fire hazards by disfiguring electrical wiring.
Protective measures comprise of: closing off around pipes and other perforations through the building’s fabric, proper capping of drains, placing fine mesh over air bricks to prevent rodent entry, installing hinged slabs in drains and sewers.
Spread of Diseases
The lives of many individuals have been claimed by diseases caused and spread by pests. This is because the latter are common vectors of diseases. A vector is an organism that transmits diseases from one host to another. Pests spread bacterial, viral and protozoan pathogens by either bites or feces. For instance, mosquitoes transmit malaria by biting while Triatoma bugs spread Chagas’ disease by excreting on the hosts’ skin.
Psychological Effects
It becomes a major hurdle when bedbugs invade one’s home especially the bedroom. Their invasion strikes fear in the hearts of many people which leads to mental health problems, symptoms being insomnia, anxiety, and depression. In some cases, human beings have attempted suicide after failing in the struggle to eradicate bedbugs. People are most vulnerable at night when bugs are most active. This enables them to feed on human blood undetected by injecting an anesthetic which produces a numbing effect which makes the human host not to feel the bites at that time. Bedbug infestation can be a never-ending torture that drives people crazy.
Pests will swarm a building in search of food and shelter, therefore, hygiene is very vital so as to dissuade them. Discovering their point of entry and blocking it, can be the simplest method to control them.
How to Control Pests without Harmful Pesticides
Monitoring
This refers to the regular assessment of pest population levels, assembling conditions and other aspects that might influence the successful management of pest complications. Statistics gained through monitoring is critical for determining which control measures are necessary.
Reduce Access within Buildings
The most effective security against pests is making sure they do not get into the building. Pest management advocates for a regular scrutinization of the building exterior to spot cracks and crevices where pests can gain entry. This includes; not leaving doors open, especially those adjacent to kitchen areas and dumpsters, immediately fixing doors and windows that do not close completely, fixing broken windows, screens, vent covers or holes in exterior walls, placing screens over exhaust and air intake vents for air conditioning and heating ventilation systems among others.
Reduce Water Sources.
This will entail keeping roof drains and downspouts open and free-flowing, emptying mop buckets and storing them head up, replacing water-damaged wood, fixing choked or slow drains and fixing dripping pipes and faucets as soon as possible.
Managing Garbage
Cleaning up spills promptly, storing trash bins on concrete surfaces and avoiding overflow of contents in the dumpsters is an effective way to dissuade pests especially cockroaches and mice.
Managing the Recycling
Recycling can be an excellent method of improving the environment and at the same time cause damage to the surrounding by favoring pest infestation if not handled properly. It can be best managed by using metal bins, cleaning reusable trash bins, equipping storage containers with tight fitting lids and frequently picking up of the recyclables.
To control the threats posed by pests, an integrated approach to control pests should be employed, which include the use of pesticides and the best management practices.