Roger, our barn miracle worker, along with his son and another colleague, managed to get the workshop floor sorted out and the main structural support beam under the barn sistered and restored to its proper form. What a relief! But, like the old song: “The knee bone’s connected to...” or a string of dominoes laid out in an intricate pattern, additional structural problems emerged up the front of the barn all the way to the rafters! Yikes! No worries though, Roger and Company, sawed their own beams and boards; brought them over to our house and, after much sawing, chiseling, hammering and winching, put everything to rights. Yay!
People like Roger (and his late partner John) deserve all the praise in the world. Roger always treats every building with the utmost respect. He treats the homeowners the same way. When we first began looking into restoring the barn eleven years ago, only Roger and John truly appreciated the history and residual integrity the barn still possessed. They never even thought of tearing it down. Instead, they listed off its good points and triaged its problems. Other than the installation of the cupola in 2000, this is the first time in ten years it’s ever needed any additional work. Not too bad for a reincarnated barn that’s better than 100 years old.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
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3 comments:
It's so hard to find a builder who knows how to deal with elderly buildings. Next door hired an "expert in federation houses" and he still managed to knock down most of the internal walls - including chunks of the one that divides our homes! You're lucky to have Roger indeed.
I could go crazy for a barn, no idea why, I just think I should have one,so may I borrow yours on the occasions when I need to park my imaginary tractor too ;o)
Also - Morgan, can you ping me an email so I can add you to the photos list for Flickr, and thanks for the link to the photo tweaky thing - it's fab (see today's post) xx
Hi DMM -
We know how lucky we are! We solicited multiple quotes for the big barn work a decade ago and were shocked at what some folks wanted to do. Most of them said tear it down and start over!
So sorry you had to unwillingly go through a home rehab along with your neighbor!
;o)
- Lee
Hi Roo -
Barns are pretty darn cool. They sure beat a plain old garage! Now that the floor has been shored up and the support beam is sound, you can park your imaginary tractor in there any time you like!
;o)
- Lee
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