Perhaps a bit off topic but here it is for what it's worth. I think most people really underestimate the resourcefullness of our colonial forbears. About 2 miles from my home is Menokin, the home of Frances Lightfoot Lee, signer of the Declaration of Independence. The Menokin project really just got up and running 10 or 12 years ago. The house was a ruin, basically a pile of rubble, stones , and a big brick chimney. Anyhow, I helped catalogue and store a good bit of this material. One thing that impressed me was the house had a skylight- in 1787 or whenever it was built. We found pieces of lead flashing that had sealed up the skylight. The lead was not "sheet", it was thick, like 1/2" thick, formed into complex shapes. Another impressive feature was the hinges on the exterior doors. They are BIG butt hinges, exquisitely forged and fit. They are not simply nailed or screwed to the door. They are dovetail shaped and are morticed into the edge of the door. Wedges were then driven in to secure them, no visible fasteners. they are not removeable and the pins do not rise. In other words, You ain't takin' em off to plane a little off the bottom of the door, and you ain't gonna steal them either. The only way you can see them is the door frame rotted away and exposed one side of them.
