Heritage restoration on damaged droppers

Tuesday, 25 February 2025

Meet Tom! He is one of the talented tradesmen from Watts & Hughes working on restoring any damaged or decayed timber elements on the exterior Rotorua Museum building.

Currently focused on the central and northern wings, Tom and the project architects, DPA Architects, remove the decay back to sound timber then assess to see if it can be restored.

If repairable, the main aim of restoration is to retain as much of the original heritage fabric as possible. The images show a dropper from the base of a finial which are mounted to each of the gable ends of the roof. If an element is partially decayed, the process is to remove the decayed area and fill with a modern epoxy compound to rebuild the damaged area. This process ensures we preserve what we can, rather than turn a whole new element that would have no heritage value.
Step One: De-install from building remove rotten or damaged area
Step Two: Assess extent of timber damage, if repairable:
Step Three: Re-build the removed area with an epoxy compound
Step Four: Once dry, dremel carve the new area to match the old
Step Five: Paint and re-install

If irreparable, then options are reviewed for replacement. The process is documented and sent to Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga for notification.