Treatments

During the summers of 2000 and 2001, eighteen separate spaces in Cliff Palace were treated. According to the project's interim report, "Architectural Finishes Treatment Priority Assessment, Mesa Verde National Park, 1998-1999," the following high priority areas in Cliff Palace (5MVO625) were identified and selected for treatment:

 
  • Kiva H
  • Kiva J
  • Kiva K
  • Kiva N
  • Kiva Q
  • Open Area J: exterior facades Rooms 25, 26, 27
  • Open Area M & Open Area 6: exterior facades Rooms, 40, 41, 42
  • Open Area R: exterior façade room 64
  • Open Area 42: Room 58
  • Open Area 25 & Open Area 26: Speaker Chief House: exterior facades of Rooms, 70, 71, 72
  • Room 121: Square Tower
  

Treatments for all the spaces selected were completed during the 2000 and 2001 summer field school sessions, except Kiva J due to structural complications from masonry decay.

treat_process.gif
Field school team cleaning and reattaching
plaster in Kiva Q, 1998

During the summer of 2001, previous treatments were field evaluated and their effective-ness was documented. Deterioration phenomena were described during the condition survey. Laboratory treatment testing was performed to develop suitable treatments for unique conditions. Not every condition noted by the documentation team was treated. Only the following conditions were treated:

 

 

  • treat_patch.gif
    Application of plaster fill, 2001
    Thin layer delamination or flaking between multiple layers of wash or between the wash and the
    plaster with separation less than 2mm wide and with or without a heavily sooted layer.
  • Delamination between layers of wash or between wash and the plaster with a separation greater than 2mm wide, with or without a heavily sooted layer, and occurring primarily in blistered or deformed areas.
  • Detachment and loss of plaster or washes from the masonry substrate.
  • Cracked, loose or brittle mortar with plasters or washes attached.

Summer 2001 Treatments

  • Reattachment with 5% or 10% gelatin in a cold or warm state.
  • An additional treatment with cyclododecane (H12C24) was used for thick, heavily sooted plaster layers of any thickness separation, with a blistered or deformed area greater than 5cm². Cyclododecane is a temporary impermeable layer that prevents staining during the warm gelatin treatment.
  • Injection grouting with hydraulic lime grouts.
  • Mechanical cleaning such as dry brushing and dental picking.
  • Filling and edging treatments with selected sieved soils mixed with 5% acrylic emulsion or water alone matched using the soil color palette (plaster coupons).
   
 
Field school student injecting gelatin, 2001
Application of cyclododecane to an area of detaching plaster, 2001
  

Finally, 118 coupons of different mortar repair formulations were prepared and left on site to weather. The plaster coupons are local soil mixtures used for edging during treatment.