House Progression
The weather in July was hot, hotter and hot. It was humid too, so Ellen and John took their time removing the stone from the old house. Knocking the stone off the house went relatively easy and in a matter of days John and Ellen made it around to the master bedroom wall. When Ellen started the stoning of the house back in the early eighties, she had started on the northwest corner of the house. By the time she made it to the master bedroom wall she had become an experienced stonemason and it became increasingly harder to remove the stone. There came a point where there was no safe way to stand on the ladder and try to knock the stone off. Mr.Massey!! I carefully maneuvered the Massey around the ash tree and, after knocking a hole in the south wall to accommodate the corner of the bucket I was able to use the other bucket corner to knock off the remaining stones. Now to remove the roof shingles and decking! Meanwhile the monthly phone call to Drew at Certainteed resulted in no good news… they are still waiting for that machine part… “Call back at the end of August.” Rats! My patience is wearing thin…
as the stone was removed from the house John transported it to the east side of the new house, while taking the left-over rubble (mortar chunks and chips of stone) to the rock wall foundation ditch. It is filling up fast! :-)
Between it all Ellen takes some time tending her flowers, the limited amount of landscaping she has done around the house is sure looking good!
Once all the stone was removed it was time to remove the shingling and then the decking. Up on the hill we are in process of filling in a ravine with rubble that we’ll cover with dirt later. It is a good spot to dispose of all the shingles. It took Ellen and John a couple of days to remove the shingles. And then John and I went to work on removing the decking. In just one morning we removed almost all of it! It won’t be long now or the house will really be history. Tomorrow the roof joist and rafters and then John can go nuts with the sledgehammer. Like any other thirteen year old he’s having fun being “Mr. Destructo”! Once all the decking was removed Mr. Massey , a few chains and I went to work and it took just minutes to tear down the part of the house that used to be the living room and the music room. De-nailing, sorting and burning took up a few days, but by the middle of August the house will be history. Then the final (yeah, right!) cleanup and landscaping can take place.
The original cabin had been built in 1929. There was not much to be salvaged in that old part, so most of it found its way to the burn pile. The additions that we built in the early eighties however yielded all kinds of good and usable lumber. Two-by’s of various widths and lengths added up to a large pile once they were all de-nailed. A stack of 3/4” plywood sheets was salvaged from the roof and the floor of the master bedroom. Some of the plywood is in good enough shape to be used for the upper storage cabinets on the utility porch of the new house. The only thing left to do is use the Massey to topple and dig out the foundation, parts of which will be used to reinforce the riverbank. We placed an ad on the Hoosier Topics web site offering the used lumber for sale. Should you find yourself in need of some good used lumber, come see us! The price will be right!
Now that most of the really labor intensive work is done in the aftermath of the flood, now five and a half years ago, we can spend some time doing “fun” things. The front flowerbed is really taking shape and becoming a “welcoming mat” to those approaching the house. A small extension was added to the pond, it sports a small fountain, that gets its water from the main pond. Since the extension is a bit higher than the main pond the overflow creates a nice little waterfall. The fish seem to like it too, as they swim all around the waterfall’s splashdown. The whole scene is definitely soothing and reminds us of all the blessings bestowed on us. Between relaxing on the screened-in porch, this whole beautiful mansion and now the beginnings of some serious beautiful landscaping we are blessed indeed! Now if only CertainTeed would come through!
Life’s good!