Rich Campbell, a Reading area mason, recently completed a five week project primarily at the Staudt barn. Part of the East wall on the wagon shed was crumbling and bulging outward. This portion was removed and replaced with new block and finished with a new smooth masonry surface. All of the interior below ground stone foundation walls of the barn had lost most of the masonry that was holding the stones together. Rich removed what remained of the old crumbling mortar and re-pointed 80% the interior areas. In one section stones had fallen out and had to be replaced and mortared into position. He then moved on and re-pointed the exterior stone walls of the Staudt barn matching the original color and pyramid style of mortar joints. Lastly, he re-pointed the foundations of the Hottenstein granary, the Essig pump house and a small corner of the Staudt corn crib. Foundations are critical to the life of a building and we are confident this repair work will stabilize these buildings for another 50 to 100 years. Many thanks to Rich and his masonry skills for these much needed improvements.