Work on the house continued at pace after the holidays. Jeff Blake returned with his house lifting crew on January 2 to pull out the iron I-beams, and letting the full weight of the 100-ton chimney stack to shift onto the new concrete piers. They hauled away the irons and cleared the basement of their remaining cribs. Masons used shims and small stones to connect the tops of the piers to the granite slabs and then filled in pockets in the foundation walls left open for the irons.
With the season’s first snowstorm looming, the carpenters scrambled to cover the plywood sheathing on the roof with a protective “ice and water” shield. On Thursday and Friday they had to fight stiff breezes but they covered it completely before the snow began to fly. Under the roof, they raised the framing for interior walls upstairs and nailed strapping to ceiling collar ties.
Monday, while we were out skiing in fresh powder, excavators worked on the ell side of the basement, digging trenches for wastewater pipes, and leveling the gravel in preparation for pouring concrete for the floor. And this morning, the mason returned to check his work, and discovered a small crack in one of the chimney stack’s original granite slabs, presumably caused by the house settling again since the irons were removed. This afternoon we found a fresh new pier supporting the fractured stone. Another gap filled.
While we visit the work site daily, we trust our crews to do their work, and take time to enjoy the many benefits of living in this region of Maine – hiking, skating and skiing.
This is a self-portrait takin while cross country skiing along a groomed trail on the edge of field with bright red ilex berries decorating a snow-covered stone wall.