lavender fields farm
keep in touch!
  • home
  • the blogs
    • the house and grounds
    • calm in the crazy
  • events
    • weddings
    • teas and celebrations
    • retreats and workshops
  • gallery
  • contact

straightening up...

1/22/2016

3 Comments

 
Our lovely house has a sill problem. It’s only one of a host of projects to complete in our restoration, but it was huge, and so it desperately needed to be done. Basically, the sill was built of pine back 185 years ago or so. Time and moisture and the nature of pine beams led to what you see here. The corners sagged, and the sill beam shows its rot and age. 

We called a local contractor who does beautiful work to come rescue it. He grew up with one of the kids of the family, and knows the house. He also appreciates old houses, so we liked him right away.
   
Inside the basement, there were frame walls, a corner barbeque, and a room that still had a dirt floor, all from a much previous start as a finished rec room. Ground seepage from the 2011 flood soaked the wood and insulation and sagged the ceilings and walls, so it all had to go.
 
Getting the new sill in place straightened up the front of the house (breaking a painted-in window, some plaster, and some floorboards in the process). I really can imagine the house as a person taking a sigh of relief at being able to stand up straight again after being hunched over for a long time. Kind of like me, after sitting at my computer all day long…
  
It was an expensive project, which took more of our saved funds than we would like, but it was worth it. Here's some photos of the basement work and the sill-jacking, which was a HUGE job; those were 55,000 lb jacks on top of all that massive cribbing. It looks scarier than it is. At least, that's what they tell me.  
​
3 Comments
    Picture

    Author

    Welcome! I'm Michelle, a gardener, a soul-tender, a wife, a mother and a pastor.
    Lavender Fields Farm has filled my imagination for years, and we are working to build this dream. I am passionate about people, community, gardening, and old houses, and the beauty and strength they represent. I am skilled at event planning and ceremony-crafting, and am trained in spiritual direction. I can create a ceremony for any milestone or transition in your life, and provide the place to observe it, whether by yourself or with a couple dozen friends. 

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    May 2019
    February 2019
    February 2017
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    March 2015

Proudly powered by Weebly