Chainmail Armor for a Historic House

Hill House in Helensbrugh, Scotland, was designed by renowned architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Although built between 1902 and 1904, the design was decades ahead of its time. The exterior was made of portland cement, which was very much state-of-the-art at the turn of the 20th century. Since it rains all the time in Helensbrugh, the water seeps in and has turned the cement into somewhat of a mush. What to do? To protect the structure during its 15-year preservation project, they assembled 30 million steel rings into a chainmail tent over the house! Tom Scott takes us on a tour of this intriguing scheme to save the national landmark.