Ellyn suggested I start a blog re the work being done at the Vineyard. It so happens that we get a free webpage from Comcast since we signed up for high speed cable internet through them. I'm on my way home now, but when I get back, I'll try to activate it and send you all the url.
Here is a start to the blog. Peter and Bob arrived at 38 Samoset in the pouring rain on Friday, April 4. Bob had already made two day trips to the Vineyard this spring, the first also in the pouring rain with Bill Bond to get a list of materials to replace the back wall and install a new roof, and the second to meet successfully with the historic commission to get the heads-up to do the work with Anderson 400 double hung windows and to borrow a few bucks from the commission to afford the taxi back to the boat. "You know I am good for it," said Bob. The taxi fare from Oak Bluffs to Vineyard Haven has gone up to $10 but the bus which runs every half hour is still only $2. By the way, the commission was dead set against Casement windows which would have been a whole lot less work for us and provided more air. Apparently someone installed a raft of casements recently without permission.
I digress. Bob and I arrived about 2:30 and Peg came over after school about 4:30. Peg and Peter tried with the usual zero success to get the hot water heater and the living room heater going. This was after Peg had convinced the hardware store folks to let her buy a fire starter at 5:20 when the store had closed at 5:00. We all froze that evening although Bob built a big fire. Peter stayed warm by starting to clean out the back room starting with the white dresser. It was amazing what he found squirreled away - lots of boxes of nails and screws as well as all kinds of electrical and plumbing fittings. But the white dresser is no more. We loaded it onto Dan's truck and sent it off to the side of the road up by Peg and Bob's. Dan and Joe and the truck arrived on Saturday the 5th and Joe soon had the heaters going - ah, hot showers at last. Apparently, Peter and Peg were not strong enough to turn the gas knob on the outside tank far enough.
Peter had finished clearing the back room sufficiently and Peg and Bob had cleared out barrels of leaves so we could get to the roof when Dan and Joe arrived. They made short work of peeling the tar paper off the roof. Actually, Mother Nature had started the process as the bottom two feet of a good portion of the roof covering had peeled back over the winter. We would have had to recover the roof this year anyway, after 30 years of no problems. There was just one layer of tar paper over the bare boards. Peter cut off the last 4 feet of roof boards so we could get to the back wall, but he insisted that we try to preserve the tongue in groove to use on the floor in the new back room. It took all four guys twice as long to do this as it did to take off the roof covering. Finally we could put up the 30 x 20 blue tarp which hung down over the stuff along the kitchen side of the back room.
Then Peg got busy cleaning all the roof junk that had filtered down into the kitchen through the cracks in the roof.The cable guy arrived to install cable as well as internet just in time for the semifinal NCAA games on Saturday afternoon. Joe set up the internet on the desktop that Peter has bought down to leave at the house. It was stored in a black plastic bag in the pouring rain coming over on Bob's truck and only the keyboard got a little wet. Peter worked away on disconnecting the back wall of the back room from the sides and Peg and Bob worked on the gardening tasks which were much easier since no leaves had come out yet. Everyone slept well and warmly on Saturday night after a wonderful roast pork dinner prepared by Peg. We set up blankets between the dining room and living room so the heat would stay in the living room. We also put a blanket over the stairwell, but kept it open during the night.
Sunday dawned clear but cold. Peg, Bob, and Peter went to 8:00 Mass and on the way back looked at the back of the house and discovered that the entire back wall was gone. Dan and Joe had knocked it down. "It just took three pushes," said Dan. They used Mike Lieberth's Saber saw which Peter had borrowed to cut up the wall and stacked it neatly in the alley. There was nothing in the yard of our neighbors in back of us.
Fortunately, no one has been seen at the house to date. I hope our luck holds out until the new roof is up since we will have to use their yard to build the back wall. Peg had to leave on the 10:45 boat to make a meeting north of Boston. Dan and Joe and Bob decided to stand by for that boat as well since all the heavy lifting had been done. A very good weekend of work.Peter stayed on a few more days until Wednesday, the 10th. He cut away the last few feet of the back room floor to get access to the "foundation" under the back wall which consisted of two layers of a motley collection of 6 x 16 x 8 inch cement blocks, 8 x 8 x 16 inch cinder blocks, some bricks, and some broken blocks, all pointing every which way. He had to pick up all the blocks, chip off the attempt at mortar, and dig out for a level cement footing since of course the ground was not level under the back wall. He was hard pressed to figure out how a cement truck was going to get close enough to pour cement since the parking lot of the Iroquois house is over a drain field and they would be foolish to give us permission to bring in a cement truck.
Fortunately, Peter looked up foundation depth for MV on the internet and discovered that if you line the outside of the footing with polystyrene insulation board, the ground won't freeze under a 12 inch-deep foundation. So digging down 16 inches on Norman's side meant the level on the other side was 12 inches. Also, the insulation board was easy to mark with a magic marker so Peter drew lines for the 4 inch cement level and the two 8 inch cement block levels above that, thus making it easy to keep the foundation level. Another advantage of the insulation board preventing freezing is that you can use hand-mixed concrete as a footing. So off he went to Hinkley's in VH to order cement, mortar, and wood for the new 9 foot 9 inch back wall. They delivered the building materials, but Peter bought a 4 cu ft. wheelbarrow and wheeled it back to Oak Bluffs. Lots of exercise. One needs a wheelbarrow to mix cement however. The cement comes in 80 lb bags and it took 11 of them to do the job. It was quite a job getting the bags from the front porch where they were delivered to the back. Shades of Uncle John at 70.
We also needed to put a smaller window in the back room or the drainage from the roof would be very poor. The feral cats would have a ball up there. We needed the back wall so high to make the back room floor level with the kitchen, allow for a 36 inch counter, a 4 inch backsplash, 31 inch window, and 8 inch header. Peter took out the current back room window and framed in the space for the smaller window. Now you can rest your elbows on the sill when you stand in the back bedroom. Definitely safer for the little ones! He is waiting for the concrete to cure and returning to South Bend for a few days to vigil outside the post office on tax day. It is supposed to rain very hard, and even have some snow flurries at the Vineyard this week, but next Wednesday when Peter returns is supposed to be sunny and warm. Hopefully the blue tarp will not have leaked or blown away, the trench for the footing will not have caved in and the covering over the back room window will not have collapsed - who is a pessimist now?
The next bit of work mostly on Patriot's Day weekend is to put up the new back wall, install the new roof and cover it with water and ice. Bill Bond will be sheparding that job. I have to leave on Sunday morning to go to Katherine's birthday party, so help would be appreciated on Sunday and Monday - even Saturday could use some young blood. By Saturday, the 19th, hopefully, Peter will have laid the two courses of cement block and tied down the 2x6 pressure treated plates with foundation bolts. Do you have to set them in concrete or will mortar do? Bill and Bob are going to pick up the lumber, nails, and water and ice covering on the mainland and bring it down on Bill's truck Saturday morning. It will be a lot cheaper that way and we will be sure to get what we need.
Take care
Peter
Peter Smith
Professor Emeritus of Math and CS, Saint Mary's College
Facilitator, Michiana Peace and Justice Coalition
Webmaster, National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
Author, Editor, and Treasurer, Academy of Process Educators
Publicity Director, Association of Small Computer Users in Education
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