I like to see the guts of buildings when the surfaces crumble to reveal what is behind the plaster and paint
The old substructures were beautiful, and sometimes I wonder why they were even covered.
I see the cane lath exposed under the fallen plaster from the soffits of this 18th century building in Cuenca, Ecuador, and marvel at how little the material has deteriorated.
Many of the old sticks and stones we used to build with were as durable the high tech engineered products we build with today.
— Fernando Pagés Ruiz is ProTradeCraft's Latin America Editor. He is currently building a business in Ecuador and a house in Mexico. Formerly, he was a builder in the Great Plains and mountain states. He is author of Building an Affordable House and Affordable Remodel (Taunton Press).
