The Exhibition on the Renovation of Old Buildings
Building Heritage Museum Toivo is the Satakunta Museum centre for renovation, where the most important tool in repair information is the Toivo exhibition on the renovation of old buildings. In the exhibition the original structures, materials and surfaces as well as the different phases, methods and materials of refurbishment are left on show. The exhibition shows how the decay damage progression stops when the roof is mended, how a traditional cardboard ceiling is installed, how the thermal economy of an old building can be improved or what kind of finishing options there are for wooden floors.
The exhibition includes tests on the products of different manufacturers as well as old repair methods and recipes. Some of the materials used in the exhibition have been in use for decades or even centuries, so their effectivity has been practically tested in true conditions, outside of laboratories. Some of the products are modern or produced in modern technology, even though the ingredients are traditional or suited for traditional building.
The Toivo exhibition building rooms are decorated in the styles of different ages. The coatings on walls, floors and ceilings as well as the furniture, curtains and house plants depict the furnishing styles of so-called regular town folk in different eras. The oldest rooms represent the mid-1800s, the newest are from the early 1950s.
The other buildings of the grounds are also part of the renovation exhibition. In the ceiling of the large room in the north end of the Korsman House one can study the various renovation phases of a deteriorated cardboard ceiling with painted ornaments. The fixed furnishings of the room represent the end of 19th century. In the south end apartment of the Korsman House the residents live in the year 1951. The red Outbuilding was moved to its present site in the beginning of 2000s. The decoration includes various coating options for log walls, especially typical in the late 19th century, from rag felt sheets to newspapers and cardboard stripes glued on top of seams.