Clarke began his adventure into the basement to begin our newest challenge of shoring up the beams. As with just about every job we have taken on so far, before you can even begin you must clear out 100 years of garbage. So once that is done you can begin the task you set out to do.
It is obvious that when this part of the house was built, there were no building codes. Each beam in the basement was small by today's standards, 2 x 5 and was riddled with holes from the multitude of wires. He supported each of them with a 4 x 4 hemolock beam. (always helpful to have a sawmill in your backyard for such projects)
He had to replace a supporting beam that was broken and twisted with a 6 x 6 beam. It is really amazing how strong even a broken beam could be because it had supported a very heavy wood cookstove for years.
After the tedious task of shoring up all the beams and figuring out good wires from old, the kitchen no longer bounces when you walk on it. The sag went from 2'' to almost level . Maybe I can put ceramic tile under the cookstove!
Nancy
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