Just discovered this site--Fantastic!!

Here's my dilema...On one of my lights, the paint is flaking off the greenery! It has been stored in its original packing and box since I purchased it. I only discovered it yesterday when I went through and looked at all my pieces (I recently moved and wanted to make sure they survived!). When I touched the greenery, the paint began to flake! Then I looked at the bottom of the piece and on the suede-felt and description tag and I noticed all these little holes in them, like a bug had been chomping away at it!!!! AAAGGGHHHH!! Help! What could have caused this? Could being stored be part of the problem? None of the other pieces had this problem.

Also, on a couple of other pieces (they must have touched the cardboard on the box during the move) itty bitty pieces of paint were rubbed off (about the size of a pinhead). How does this impact their valuation?

Thank you in advance for all your responses--you're all so knowledgeable. I look forward to hearing from you!

Julie L

Zounds, Julie!

Can you tell us which pieces these were? Older ones, newer ones? Do you have a good magnifying glass to inspect these holes on suede and label? Sounds like bugs to me.

John

Also be sure to replace the light in the plastic bag because the styrofoam is abrasive
and will act like sandpaper on the lighthouse.

What light? You have lights in your bags? I didn't get any with mine. Will HL replace my missing ones?

(Risk of attempting to add levity to a serious subject. If bugs were eating on my HL's I'd freak)

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Lamar

Yikes! Harbour Lights Termites?? It's probably a plot by those folks over at "Lefton" or "Cheryl Spencer Collins". All kidding aside, please post which light(s) this has happened to, and the final outcome. Also I would be interested in the type of climate you lived in and whereabouts in your home these pieces were stored. It could make for a good warning for fellow collectors in similar situations. Please accept my sympathies for having this happen to one or more of these fine collectibles.

Welcome Julie,
Also sounds to me like your problem could be climate
related. But that doesn't explain why only one was affected,
especially if you were storing them in the same area.
Might want to contact HL to see if any other collector has brought
this problem to their attention.

tnkeeper aka Debbie

Welcome Julie,
Also sounds to me like your problem could be climate
related. But that doesn't explain why only one was affected,
especially if you were storing them in the same area.
Might want to contact HL to see if any other collector has brought
this problem to their attention.

tnkeeper aka Debbie

sorry about the double post guys...how'd I do that?
Editing won't work...yada yada yada

[This message has been edited by tnkeeper (edited 11-11-98).]

Hi! Thanks for all the responses. Here's the deal. The "holy" or should I say holey light is Ft. Niagra 113. I purchased it in 1996. Before I moved they were in my house. After I moved, they've been stored with most of my other belongings in a storage building. We are living in a SMALL house--no room for anything--until we finish building our house. No, the building is not climate controlled, but I would not have thought this would have affected the paint! Most of the storage areas of retail stores and I would guess warehouses aren't climate controlled either, right? At least where I purchased the majority of my lights, they kept my "layaways" in the back of the store, not in air conditioning or warmth. I live in the deep south, so winters are not a real problem.

Also, I know that this light is probably not worth much now that the bugs (I guess) have had their evening meals at my expense, but what about the couple of others where pin sized spots of paint are missing? How are their valuations affected?

Boy, I sure hate that!!!!

Maybe lights should accompany our houses, maybe it'd keep the bugs away. LOL

Take care--thanks for your sympathies....
Julie L.

John,
This may be a good category for a new Forum. Care Maintenance & Storage of HL in the house or hiding away.

Especially good information for the Attic and Garage displays(sic).

Check the boxes Julie. Are they 'Holy' too? Especially the Ft. Niagara. Perhaps the box picked up a bug when the Ft. Niagara was displayed and the box was in hiding?

In anycase, you might was to consider some sort of fumagation of the storage building. Check with the manager. Should NOT harm the HLs if they remain in the boxes and you use a 'fog' type fumagation. But DON'T hold me to that!! Perhaps a few 'pest strip' type things kept in the store room? (Do they still make those?)

As for the pinhead paint abrasions. Call HL with the product in front of you and they'll send you out little containers of paint for touch up. Or they can refer you to a restorer. 800-365-1219. You'll have to weigh the restore costs vs. the replacement cost. (Ask them about fumagation. Just don't tell them who told you to ask.)

John [Mudd]

[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 11-12-98).]

[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 11-12-98).]

What a great idea to have a forum for care and maintenance! Care is not addressed on the box or materials inside (that I'm aware of). Oh, and John, I am assuming that you meant that fumagation should NOT harm the HL's, right?

I appreciate the info on calling and ordering paint for the areas on my lights!

As far as holes on the box, I'll have to check more closely than I did the other night.

Again, thanks for all the responses.

Julie L.

We have lived in the Deep South of MS for l5 years, and were very leery of what would happen with our posssessions, pre-HL period in our life. Being photographers, we listened very carefully to friends who were fellow photographers and born down South. All warnings revolved around climate control, as humidity and heat will make mold grow right on the negatives and slide surfaces. The same mold could grow on HL surfaces. Therefore we keep our air conditioner turned on all year except Nov through Feb. or early March, depending on the temperature range. This keeps the house dry, and the temperature doesn't have to be set on a really cold setting to give protection. We are not there from June through November, so this is our "insurance policy" against growth. The furnace in the cold months keeps it dry also. I have put things like Christmas decorations out in a storage building , subjected to extreme heat and humidity and have seen much deterioration,. One solution, if you have a window in your storage building and can afford to do so, is install a small window air conditioning unit to keep your HL's under climate control. Look in the newspaper ads for used ones. As for bugs, one year we paid a small fortune to have the house interior sprayed every month. I saw more bugs after that than in the years before and after, where we didn't bother. Buy some fumigators and do it without the HL's in the room or storage shed, and then move them back in. I hope the house you are building has a good A/C system!! What state and city do you live in? We just started the NE HL club up here in the north; and were wondering how many collectors are in our area of n. MS and Memphis and Jackson, TN???

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Julie, sorry to hear about your paint dilemma. I am in agreement with you about John's idea of a forum on how to care for our HL collection pieces. I keep some of mine in a storage room off of our lower level which is a walk-out basement/family room. It is very dry most of the time but the storage rooms don't have any dry wall, just the cement basement walls. I have wondered at times if I should keep my HL pieces in a different location. Good luck at restoring your pieces with the small pinpoint flakes!

I live in the south and have also had the problem of moisture and mildew attacking things I've stored. My solution for small items and tools has been to buy ammo boxes at army/navy stores. These boxes have a rubber gasket and are completely air tight. I have seen some large boxes (approx 2' x 2' x 3') at some stores. I think they cost about $60. They aren't cheap but if you have to store your HL in a damp climate, it might be less expensive than replacing ruined pieces.

While catching up on this thread tonight I thought about those air-tight vacuum sealed bags that you sometimes see being advertised on television. The type of plastic bags that you seal and then suck the air out of with a small pump (provided with the kit). I have never tried tried these but wondered if they might work for storing HL's in. Does anyone out there have these bags and , if so, do you think they would work for this purpose?

Ron

Just a correction to my earlier post back up there a few messages.

Habour Lights does NOT provide paint for the touch up or repair of your Harbour Lights.

Sorry about my misunderstanding.

John Mudd III

Thank You for the correction. I found this out a few days ago when I called. They will give you the numbers for restorers that you can contact in your area.