Floor Decks

Lois was by the house on Saturday and took these pictures of the new floor decks on the front porch and bathroom on the back. Lois also said the new sub-floor deck is installed in the kitchen. It's great to see progress. There was some snow but it's gone now and she says the weather is nice there. Next, the walls will get framed in over the additions and the slab will be poured in the basement. It's looking better all the time and thankfully the weather is holding out. Thanks Lois!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Next Phase Begins!

Old George's house is about to get put back together again. I was talking with Mike McCarthy, my general contractor, just now, and he will begin framing the additions tomorrow!

WWGT (What Would George Think?)

Mike will begin with the floor structure of the front porch and then the bathroom floor on the back. He will then move to the new back porch to give a little time to Gordy to get the basement slab poured through there. The plumbing is roughed in and the radiant floor tubing is in place in the basement. Weather permitting, the framing should go up pretty quickly. Mike promises that the roof will get completely replaced as well as all of the cedar wall shingles yet this fall. It is too late to do any painting of the trim so that will be my job when I'm there next spring. The good thing is, all of the new trim will be pre-primed so getting it sealed this fall isn't an issue. The shingles will not be painted or stained anyway and will be left to weather naturally. Within the next week or so I should have photos of additions!

Below are some more old photos I found. I took these in 1995, the last time Grammy was there.

 

Danny, Winnie and the girls, 1958

For a time in the late 50's, Danny, Winnie and the girls lived at the house. Sandy, Lois and Ralta have been going through Winnie's things since we lost her in July and came across these photos from the time when they lived there. To me, what makes the house so special, is that it has been a part of the lives of so many in our family in so many ways, and for such a long time. My memories of the place span 40 years, but it has been a part of our family history for much longer than that, intertwined with both the Munn and Buell families. We are a close bunch and I can't help but think, and always have thought, that the house can take some responsibility for that. Without it, we would not have had somewhere to come together and keep the family bond so strong. That is why I am doing this now. We have maintained the house as best we could but without a major intervention right now, we would lose the house. It was ready to fall into the ground and without a complete rehabilitation, nothing would have stopped that from happening. So much is changing, and there is a sense of loss, but when it is complete, it will be ready for future family gatherings and future generations to carry on the tradition, which is the ultimate goal. Remember too that more is staying the same than is changing. When complete, George Lowe, Mary Anne and Grammy would recognize their house. This project has been my dream for a very long time, and these pictures represent why. Thank you Sandy, Lois and Ralta for sharing your memories with us.

 

 Ralta, Lois and Sandy with Jimmy and Howard Moore, Evelyn's boys. Is that Winnie looking out the kitchen window?

Betty MacLeod, Esther MacLeod and Sandy in the back row. Ralta, Lois and Florence MacLeod in the front.

The girls sitting on a wood pile by the garage (once the house is done it will be time to address that poor old garage)

Ralta, Betty MacLeod, Sandra and Lois. If that is the Betty MacLeod I know, she was the daughter of Annie who lived across the road, and I ran into her on the trail when I was there last month, and talked to her and her sister-in-law Alba MacLeod about the project. 

 The girls at the front door

 Sandy, Ralta and Lois in the field

 Sandy and Ralta

 Uncle Danny, Sandra, Ralta and Lois at the front door

Winnie with Lois and Ralta, with the mock orange and the garage behind them. The bush is doing better than the garage these days

Joists & Sills & Snow & a Wasp Nest

Lois stopped by the house this morning and took these. For me, this is one of the more exciting updates I have had. The steel supporting beams and cribbing that have been supporting the house since mid July are finally gone. The new sills are in for the most part, and it makes me feel better to see the floor joists in and the house securely attached to the foundation. 

 Good looking structure, all 2x8 construction

Carter was on-site yesterday and he discussed with Gordy and Mike the issue of the floor in the dining room. George Lowe installed hardwood in the old parlour and dining room, and the problem now is, they can't nail the new joists to the sub-floor from above without nailing though the hardwood. Toe-nailing from below will not do the trick. The best solution is to pull up all of the hardwood, replace the sub-floor with plywood, and then re-install the hardwood. It's really the only way to ensure a strong floor structure that won't bounce or squeak. Once the hardwood is put down again, you really won't be able to tell the difference. However, I am now on the hunt for old hardwood to match the original to have enough to fill in where the chimney, china cabinet and closet were.  If I can find enough reclaimed hardwood I'll finish the new parlour at the front with it too.

 Lois found this old wasps nest in the wall near the front door

This is looking up into the kitchen. When the house was lifted, most of the kitchen floor stayed behind. It has been completely removed and will get a new plywood sub-floor. The finish floor will be cork tiles.

Lois said the ground is now frozen and it was snowing a little. It's a race against time now to get the house enclosed for winter.

Thanks again Lois for checking in on the place.

1979

I wrote to Lois a couple of days ago that the first time I stayed at the house with Grammy and Grampy alone was 1982, but I found these photographs, which told me I was wrong. It was 1979. I was 12, and I had my first camera, my good old Polaroid Instamatic. Very high tech. As you can see, the quality was awful, and the colors have faded in 30+ years, but still pretty cool, and that little camera got me into photography.

   

Grampy had replaced the cellar hatch the year before. You can see the shingled patch where the old hatch was. The roof over the kitchen was reshingled the previous year as well, the same shingles that are on it now for the moment. The mattresses were always taken outside on the first day there to dry them out and get rid of the musty smell. Grampy started mowing the grass as soon as we arrived and he had the grass cut just around the house at the time I took this. The kerosene stove is sitting on the step, probably so Grammy could have some tea.

Mom, Dad and Christopher came to the River a couple of days later, and that's Dad at the cellar hatch

 

Who remembers the barn? It was torn down soon after I took this photo, and it supplied firewood for many years after that.  I remember taking this photograph. It was raining, and we were all running up the hill to the car to go visit somebody, probably Alex and Katie, or Walter and Hazel, or Danny and Winnie.

More pics from Lois

Lois sent me more pictures that she took this morning. The rain is back, but the house is now sitting on the foundation! The rain needs to go away again so they can get the sills complete. I believe the steel beams will get pulled out tomorrow. If all goes well, the basement slab will be poured Friday and framing of the additions, replacement of the cedar wall shingles and the new asphalt roof will all begin Monday. The windows for the additions are scheduled to arrive today.

Pics from Lois

Lois sent me these. I remember being there when this one was taken in July of 1988. From left, that's Mom, Bill, Arthur, Ami, Grammy and Winnie.

This is Mitchell and Makayla White, Tara's children, with Grammy and Lois, summer of 1995, sitting in the parlour. This was the last time Grammy was at the house.

Thanks for the great pictures Lois. If anybody out there has old photos of the family, especially if they were taken at the house, please send them to me and I'll post them.