Wyneken House
May 6, 2014
Thanks to Ron, Ted, Harold, and Eric for their contributions today. We got it done! Our half-lap joints at the two corners aren’t very pretty, but it’s done. It really makes me appreciate the craftsmanship, and hard work, of those who built this house in the first place with their muscle and hand tools. It’s amazing the precision that they were able to achieve where all their joints come together, compared to ours!
Steve Miller’s tractor was exactly what we needed for the job, and he was able to maneuver it with precision and skill and minute movements as necessary. When we were finished setting the three sill beams, I had him dig up that rock on the side of the hill, to make mowing easier, and haul it down to the “woods” and deposit it by the other big rock down there.
Then I had him look at that big debris jam in the creek. He said he thought he’d be able to get (most) of it out, so I said go ahead. Well the amount of stuff that was piled up there was even more than we thought. We got out most of it that we could without getting off of our property. He dragged it all out to the burn pile, we cut it up, and he piled it up nicely. What we did have there was all burned up, but now there’s a big pile again. But, it did open up the creek nicely, so the next time we get a lot of rain, it should flow much better. You all need to walk down and take a look.
The last thing I had Steve do on his way to loading his tractor back on the trailer, what to take the backhoe part and loosen up the pile of dirt/bricks, so it will be much, much, easier now to sort the bricks out.
The next step is to get the floor joists installed, and that has to be done before the actual structure work can start, because it’s nice if you have some place to stand to work!
Ken Selking