More floor joists

April 24

Another busy week. The second floor joists are almost in place. Next will be the kitchen ceiling which we plan to give a timber-frame look using the hand-hewn beams that Jack contributed to our project. They come from his grandfather’s 1860’s barn. Dennis helped us today to get the longest of them (18ft) in place ten feet up on the existing walls by lifting them in place along with Sam and a neighbor. Hopefully sometime next week we should be able to start work on the second floor walls. We need to get a roof on soon to protect our already completed work from the spring rains!  Jim

This house is freeing and restricting. I am able to learn so much and see wonderful results. At the same time I must and have said “no” more times than I have in the past. If I want to reap the results of this project I, in turn, must cull other opportunities. I am happy with the work so far and am better understanding the entire picture.  Sam

Kitchen floor joists

April 7

Work of late has been a little like playing crack-the-whip. The going seems easy as we cut the floor joists and timbers. When it comes to leveling and setting, the inertia picks up and the real effort and work kicks in. What at first seems easy, take caution, more work is around the corner. Sam

Kitchen floor joists all laid and leveled...a bit of a challenge considering the field stone wall they were set against. Plate is also secured to the walls and now ready for the second floor joists. The four 6x6 posts in the center of the house will support the second floor as well as the cupola at the center of the roof. The warm weather has given us a head-start here as has the lack of rain. We are both tired and a little overwhelmed at the end of the day but need to get as much completed as we can before the bugs and heat of summer which can't be far away. Much of the lumber we are using is recycled so extra time is needed to trim it all to the same size as modern structural members. We are beginning to see what the inside of the house will look like as the work progresses.  Jim

Recycling

April 3 2012

After a long winter of working indoors we have finally turned our attentions back on the outside and the house itself. We were fortunate in the last couple of weeks to get nearly all the roof and floor boards from a turn-of-the-century barn that was coming down about 5 miles from here. For a couple of weeks we hauled boards and pulled the thousands of nails from them so that we can re-use them on the roof and for the attic floor. This week we are trying to get the sill plate in place and the three laminated beams that will hold up the second floor joists. The warm weather here has put us ahead of schedule.  Jim

My brother asked me around February when we would start working on the house. When have we stopped! Things are larger than I imagined. Jim has five or six tasks lined up so I will never get bored. There are of course the main carpentry tasks on the house to complete, minor landscaping, and doing little things to prepare many steps ahead of ourselves. Although I am not a fan of grass; it is a waste of gas and time to mow and a poor use of land, the little we spread to help with erosion has added a nice color to our site.  Sam

Starting 2012

Feb. 1 2012

In a construction project winter is nearly always a down time. That is not the case on this project. Sam and I work nearly every day preparing materials for the construction that will pick up as soon as warm days arrive here again. First and foremost is the shaping of stone. The bars of limestone we purchased last summer must all be cut to length and then carefully dressed to produce the quoins and trim we will need. This is accomplished with a six pound hammer and a variety of stone cutting chisels. The split pieces are pretty rough until exposed to the hammer and chisel. It is mind-bending work and takes from 15 to 60+ minutes per piece depending on the condition of the original block. Hardest is the creating of a 45 degree angle on the corner quoins without damage to the thin edge. We will need 90 of them as well as nearly 200 flat ended pieces to frame the windows and doors. Lastly are the 100 pieces needed for arches and base trim. The dressing is done in the basement near the warmth of the wood stove. Dust and chips fly everywhere. We are nearing one quarter of all the pieces completed.

The arm, heart and mind get a little weary of stonework as a steady diet so we have also worked on restoring the wood trim for the gingerbread porch we acquired last fall. There were lots of missing pieces to be fabricated and then glued up as well as the paint stripping and sanding to be done. The 10 posts are finished and look like new. We have turned to the 24 brackets and accompanying gallery, and on the warm days we can work outside in the winter sun. Jim

My brother stayed for a week and a half on his vacation to help strip the bracketing and handle the long limestone bars that we split. It was a great help. Sam

Thanksgiving onward

Dec.2

The site is now officially closed for the season. It seemed to go very slowly as we worked this summer but seeing all the first floor block walls in place on top of their four foot footings, and the basement in under the kitchen and bath, and the sewer and water in, and most of the landscape dirt in place, and the stones for the landscaping in piled and waiting for spring, and most of the wood we’ll need stacked and ready…. Well, it is really quite amazing.

The structural lumber came from an ad on Craig’s list (Thanks John for helping with a truck and trailer to pick it up!) Some of it will have to be sized to a standard 2x10 but that along with dressing all the limestone and stripping and repairing all the porch parts will be a winter’s project. There is also wood to plane, stringers for stairs to make, etc. etc. etc.! Should be a busy winter as well.

Sam got lucky this week when an old friend offered him a piece of furniture for the finished house… a beautiful buffet for the dining room. It is in a style that both he likes and will match the period of the house. Jim

Today, weather permitting; a few of my family and friends will be heading to Hudson to see the beautiful octagon. It was a year ago that Jim and I saw it for the first time. I imagine that on today’s trip all will be shocked. It is one thing to see a hole in the ground, and then block walls, but few people can imagine what the end product of our pile of materials will even look like. It will be a good time and a real eye opener. Jim has homework for me on this trip. We need a few measurements with the cupola and roofline. Proportion is important and we want to be sure to get it right. Sam

Closing up for the winter

Oct. 23

The last two months have passed without any rain. This made every day a work day without a break and it has taken its toll. I am looking forward to the end of the outdoor work season so that I might collect my thoughts and catch my breath. We have all the block walls and window openings up and in place for the first floor, waiting for its stone facing. Better still we have had 10 truckloads of dirt fill delivered and spread bringing the work yard up to its final height in reference to the house. The result has been quite spectacular in that it makes the house stand out on what now appears to be a point of land high above the street. When the second floor and the cupola are added it will dominate the street and ought to be quite an attraction.

In addition to the dirt, Tom brought us about 60 tons of granite erratic for the terraces and landscaping south of the house. We will have to wait until next spring when the ground is settled to start laying them. Their colors are quite nice ranging from the purple of Sioux quartzite Ely greenstone and black basalt. Sam has already started to think of the gardens and trees he will plant. This week we also got a free load of brick from an old chimney that we will need to clean and stack for use next year in building the chimney for the furnace and water heater. We also beefed-up the footings inside the house that will serve as supports for the interior structure, staircase and cupola. Friend John ,who has more experience with structural matters convinced us that we needed just a little more heft on the footing to be sure that there would be no settling later. Better safe than sorry.

Sam has decided to take a week’s break over Thanksgiving to go east for a visit and a much needed change of venue. Hopefully he will come back renewed and ready for all the work that the winter holds for him. I’m going to turn to some much needed repairs/work here at home as I prepare for the great push next spring to get the rest of the house up and roofed!  Jim

I think I will have nightmares of mixing cement tonight. There is a lot of work to be done as we wrap up for the winter. Today consisted of starting the capping off of the block walls. There is still limestone to be trimmed, woodwork to be stripped, on and on and on. I cannot complain about this busy day. An investment of time is one way to look at this project so far, but it is much more. I hesitantly look forward to winter, and having the chance to get away for awhile.  Sam

Desperation and preservation

We were able to acquire a wonderful historic porch with gingerbread trim from a house about to be demolished. The trim was already partly damaged by water and lack of paint but with effort it should all be restorable. Both Sam and I felt bad about removing the wood as the house is a real gem and was worthy of preservation, yet, the condition of the brickwork as well as the house in general would have made restoration a very spendy project. The owner was thinking of selling the trim to an architectural antiques place where it would have been divvied-up and sold with no connection to its origins. I at least feel good that it has found a home here and will find a new life not too far from its original location. It ought to make the octagon a spectacular stand-out when it is re-assembled. Jim

I am a bit apprehensive to make grandiose proclamations. Being pleased and impressed with the progress we have been able to make thus far brings me to an interesting circumstance that has evolved as this project has developed throughout the summer. There is no time. There are weeks of sheer joy with the work I have done and progress that we have been able to make, this week being as such. There are other weeks where the sun doesn’t seem to shine and ambition is sorely lacking. I have however adjusting to the absence of time. This fall is the first time where I have not gone back to school and it was a little hard at first to adjust to. Initially I kept precise track of my time and felt that time meant progress. This has changed. I am sure that the feeling of joy and desperation will continue but the work must go on. Sam