NO this isn't a PDF problem, this is real live mud brick adobe issues which are in need of a contractor.

I tried all the contractors in the phone book, masonry, general, etc. I called the Building inspectors office, when I say 1939 Adobe house I get a long pause and a lot of "um"s.

The problem is that the walls are beginning to crack here and there, further there are places where the bottom adobe brick is crumbling away, years and years of water damage are coming back to haunt the house.

More recently the roof was replaced with asphalt shingles, previously it was battens and wood shingles. The recent rebuild of the roof included re-sheathing with OBS - plus the asphalt shingles means there is more weight on the roof which in my opinion based on the where the cracks are the roof is pushing the walls outward.

My Google search returned a lot of PDF (Adobe) hits. Lots of out of state adobe contractors. I'm hoping to find something closer to home,

Any ideas on how to run a search to find what I am looking for?

David

Maybe it will take an acrobat to do the job!

Perhaps you've found some of these discovered during my own search:

Adobe Masters - the site of a contractor in Tucson specializing in Adobe repair. He has a pricey CD for sale, but appears genuine enough that he may offer some sound advice by e-mail or direct you to a resource closer to Modesto.

Preservation of Historic Adobe Buildings - from the National Park Service, is a nice overview though I'm not sure it has the detail you might want.

Gil Sanchez has apparently been involved in several adobe rehabilitation projects in California. Maybe he could also provide guidance or contact with a proper contractor.

A number of "Building Remodeling & Repair Contractors," of course, are listed in Modesto at www.anywho.com. These are probably in your own yellow pages and I haven't a clue as to whether any of them specialize in what you need.

Wish I could be of more help. These were all found by placing the following keywords into Google: adobe repair home

Duh, I tried Adobe Contractors, Adobe Specialists, Adobe - Never thought to add home repair.

Well this will give me something to do while I await for the Conservator in Lost Angels To contact me, they deal with Missions.

thanks Coldfuse

Long shot... But you might check with "THIS OLD HOUSE" GROUP..
They have had a few programs about adobe houses..