The link to this site is something I found in a thread over at the Knots forum. Absolutely fascinating reading.
http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/bulletin/20011/head.htm
I wonder if there is anything like it from housebuilders of the same era.
The link to this site is something I found in a thread over at the Knots forum. Absolutely fascinating reading.
http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/bulletin/20011/head.htm
I wonder if there is anything like it from housebuilders of the same era.
There are a number of ways to achieve a level foundation and mudsill.
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This really is a fascinating find. A couple of years ago wife and I bought a house from 1778 that had passed down in the same family for 210 years. Many original features remain intact, which is a rarity. We have some history of the family, but I often wonder about the original builder. Ours was a farm house in western Mass. I wonder how common was it for one to build his own house in that period, or would you try to hire it out? This area was pretty unsettled at the time, I don't think carpenters were crawling out of the woodwork like they are today.
I'm thinking, if the original owner/farmer was the builder of this place, these people were pretty talented. In addition to clearing the woods and fields, and building all those stone fences, where did they find the time to build post and beam houses BY HAND?
In addition to clearing the woods and fields, and building all those stone fences, where did they find the time to build post and beam houses BY HAND?
They didnt waste any time on the internet!
Bruce, we think we know what hard work is, I don't think so. My mom's dad, an Irishman in Fox harbour Newfoundland wore out his fishing boat "Elizabeth " so he and my Uncle Philip chained up the mare, went into the woods cut and drug out the logs required. They dug a pit and cut the planks, timbers and keel. Oh, the engineering of this hull was done from a half hull model known to be "GOOD" by the boys who knew. The tools were a pair of dividers to do the scale takeoffs from the half hull, a rule, a rafter square, brace. bits, augers with "T" handle, axe, froe, adz, chisels and a few planes(none by Lie Nielson), mallets, hammers etc.
Thus the "Elizabeth II" was born , rolled about 100+ yards on logs down the lane to the beach . He also raised a family, maintained the fields to feed them and a flock of sheep, cows, the horses, the barn yard animals (read free eggs, goats milk/ cheese etc.), fished for the great cod fish, hunted seals and more as required. I could go on with his very humorous focus on life but I will not press you -unless you ask.
I will ask you to think-what could these Men have accomplished with what we see as a contemporary higher education????? Paddy
what could these Men have accomplished with what we see as a contemporary higher education
Maybe nothing. They were excellent time managers, and very skilled with their hands. That doesn't mean they could even read & write. How many doctors do you know who can't change a tire or drive a nail? very different kinds of people. Now, I'm not disrespecting your grandfather, just pointing out that he was in his element. What he might have benefitted from greatly would have been better tools."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I think you are basically correct but they were all not a common type as I saw (during two fantastic summers aged 12 and 15) that he was a step ahead of his peers. He helped his fellows with documents in very private sessions and his advice was asked for to sell wool, crops, skins or land-mind you strictly between the men.
Yes they were very good time managers as mother nature sets the schedule in a rural provide for yourself from the land/sea setting and it's a hard apprenticeship to refine hand skills.Rural Newfoundland was (as many others) a place where you have what you do-If you don't or can't do then you DON'T have.
I don't think he would have been more creative with better tools as they used what was necessary, but it surely could have been a little easier or more efficient. He did build his own two story house(a small salt box) with three small bedrooms up and one down with a "great room" and pantrys on the main floor. The WC and well were outside. The heat was kerosene up stairs when needed and a six burner wood stove with oven and water tank in the kitchen, a really big deal in those days. I guess you could say he was prosperous. On some very cold mornings this South Brooklyn boy got really good at cutting splits and getting that bloody stove to produce heat, hot water for tea and a hot breakfast. Freezing your arse off is a great motivator. All the best, Paddy
I guess one's idea of what constitutes hard work is kind of subjective. A lot of people today are busting their butts working long hours to make ends meet, but they're not doing physical work. Does that make their efforts less worthy or meaningful? I think we tend to romanticize the past, but I'd bet that if the old timers could fast foward to our times, they would embrace the technology of today.
Bruce, I would have liked to see him with an 18" bandsaw, ya think? Paddy
BTW see my other post, it wasn't making ends meet, it was survival. pfh
We are ex- L.I. folks. Wave goodbye to Freeport for me. We left two years ago to the Berkshires, and there's no going back. It was a nice place to grow up , and there are plenty of great places, but there are just too damn many people now.
Oh, speaking of Lie-Neilson planes. Lovely to look at, but what woodworker or carpenter can afford them. They are things of beauty, but to me the end product is more important than what got you there. Too much emphasis on the tools. Norm doesn't really need all that stuff.
Edited 7/20/2007 10:43 pm ET by bruce22
What did you do for a living on LI and what do
you do now in the hills?
Im a guy who moved to the burbs to make decent
money and long for the day I can escape.
Im sure a lot of guys are in my boat.
Im a guy who moved to the burbs to make decentmoney and long for the day I can escape. Im sure a lot of guys are in my boat.
Suggestion: Get on with your relocation search and plunk down some cash. They aren't making land anymore. Competition for it is increasing.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
I've been self employed carpenter/contractor for most of the last 25+- years. The last 10 years or so I was doing mostly stair and railing work. Wife had a dream of owning a B&B, so here we came to western Mass.
It's a whole different world here trade wise. If the local people don't know you , they don't hire you. Folks are very pleasant, but there's a separation between natives and transplants. Fortunately, there is a strong 2nd home market in the Berkshires and this provides a decent amount of work for all.
My best advice is do some homework on where to relocate to. We scoped out many areas in the northeast before making a decision. There are plenty of rural areas that are cheap to move to , but you need to be able to make a living.
Thanks. Pretty commonsensical. I have the land but
looks like Ill be tied to the present gig as it offers
pension and I ain't no spring chicken anymore.
Yes, it is all about the employment.
They sound like men that no matter the year or place, would do well...buic
It was pretty common, particularly in rural areas. Often, a professional framer would cut & notch the frame, after the homeowner cut the timber. The neighbors would get together to raise the frame (think framing bee) & then the farmer would do the rest.If you like this kind of info, drop me an email & I'll tell you how to get a copy of Joshua Hempstead's diary, which is all about the daily life of a CT farmer, shipbuilder, surveyor, & lay lawyer. Alas, it cost's $60...
I recently inherited a quarter interest with my two brothers and sister in the house and land that were given to my great-great-great-great grandfather for his service with he green mountain boys in the revolutionary war back in 1788 (they build the house in 1791.) I've already done two remodels on the place in '83 and in '04. My 24 year old was born in the butlers pantry. I lived there by myself when I was 17 and 18 and had outrageous encounters with ghosts that I still can't quite believe. The house is full of all kinds of family artifacts and so on. Weird thing is I don't see how we can manage to hang on to it as the land is in Maine the family is split all over the country and maintaining the place sucks a lot of time and money. I can't see handing it down to all our children and I don't see any of the my generation buying out the others so we may end up selling it out of the family. Hanging onto it day by day in hopes that one of us kids will hit the big time and be able to buy the others out. The longer we hold on the more the lack of maintenance will take its toll. Tough spot.------------------"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
Edited 7/24/2007 12:49 am ET by ShelterNerd
Could you elaborate on the outrageous encounters with ghosts?
"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."-Thoreau
That would be a much longer essay than I have time for this morning. I'll get back to you on that.M------------------
"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
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"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."-Thoreau
I would like nine acres of heavy wood, and clear out a 1/8 acre in the center. build a 700 sqft house, and leave the rest wild. now leave me alone yall
now leave me alone yall
can't.
Can't let you build a house without a workshop.
So make sure to provide enough clearing for the shop.
That's all.
"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."-Thoreau
Building my shop has been a nightmare, If I had to do it over, I would not.County decided to raise my property tax value $ 50,000 because of the shop"that a mighty fine shop there"
"thank you"
"going raise your tax 50K"
"but it only cost 4k to build"
"doesnt matter"
"Well, who decided the value"
"I do"
"how do you come up with the amount"
" I just write it down"
"who your boss"
"I am, dont have a boss"
"can I appeal"
"nope"Call to county commission, well the county really need money, you know, new roads, new schools, fire protection.Its a concrete house, it can't burn
well we there if you need us, thats cost moneyand then all your friend find out you have tools and shop. hey can you fix this. Dude its 11 oclock at night, well can I leave my car here for couple weeks.And then the lady on the corner that cut their grass every day start complaining.
"he has 21 cars in his yard, work on them at night"
"lady 4 cars, I,m asleep at night'"he makes noise" lady Im always on the net I have 1000's of witnesses. "But he alway........." lady, BITE MEso if a hurricanes blowes me down. No shop
LMAO...
9 acres might be skimpy. Think larger.
83 originally here, no problems so far. And my tax assessor isn't God.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
read between the lines...
that's 700SF foot print...
living space over the shop...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!