May 2008
|
|
|
|
North side of lodge before staining logs. |
|
|
|
North side of lodge with new stain and new parking lot. |
|
|
|
Masking the rock foundation and windows takes 23 man hours of labor. |
|
|
|
Crushed rock holds masking, ALL log cracks cleaned with compressed air before staining. |
|
|
|
East hall floor finished with 3 coats of stain, 5 coats of sealer. |
|
|
|
|
|
Lodge tongue/groove flooring takes a total of two months labor to finish. |
|
|
|
Diamond embedded red/green discs polish concrete entry floor. |
|
|
|
$30K machine diamond grinds concrete floor. |
|
|
|
Grand entrance polished concrete looks like marble when complete. |
|
|
|
Sealing the eaves one brush stroke at a time. |
|
|
|
|
|
Gutting the old kitchen space. |
|
|
|
Disassembled kitchen temporarily stored in west hall. |
|
|
|
Kitchen gets a brand new subfloor. |
|
|
|
70 foot long "new-old-stock" rain gutter assembled on saw horses. |
|
|
|
Replacing rotten 2X4 trim nailers in the rock wall with new material. |
|
|
|
|
|
The rotten stump of a carpenter ant infested tree is cut down next to the lodge. |
|
|
|
Lunar landscape like soil - one year after removal from lodge crawl space is still barren of plant growth. |
|
|
April 2008
|
|
|
|
Sandblasting in progress, the operator has to lean forward to counter act the blasting pressure. |
|
|
|
Blasting a corner log column, the debris cloud on the left is a clean up issue and a health risk. |
|
|
|
Carrying 5 gallon pails of sand to feed the blasting pot, note breathing respirator + ear plugs. |
|
|
|
The blasting pot holds up to 25 gallons of sand and is LOUD LOUD LOUD. |
|
|
|
Touch up hand grinding following the sand blaster, the operator's head/torso is covered with debris, note face mask and lung protection. |
|
|
|
|
|
Cleaning rotten logs in preparation for chemical treatment, note face shield + respirator. |
|
|
|
Careful masking of area and the two step chemical application begins with protective gloves and breathing apparatus. |
|
|
|
Removing ice dams from the roof to prevent sandblasting hazards is a slippery business. |
|
|
|
The view after sand blasting and prior to hand grinding. |
|
|
|
With paint removed each log stands out in unique detail, the "chocolate colored blob" appearance is gone. |
|
|
|
|
|
The two epoxies used in two separate steps to repair damaged floor sections. |
|
|
|
Step One: Liquid Wood epoxy fluid is mixed and then poured into gaps and holes |
|
|
|
Step Two: Wood epox putty mixed then applied on top of cured Liquid Wood. |
|
|
|
A second coat of stain back brushed into the wood grain--note darker color on left. |
|
|
|
Using heaters and fans to cure the final stain coat in the east hall. |
|
|
|
|
|
Newly applied west hall floor color matches the original wall color well. |
|
|
|
Sanding and scraping the kitchen gable in preparation to paint it, with snow still on the ground. |
|
|
|
Door on far right still has the original color. Doors and windows on left stripped and prepared for new stain. |
|
|
|
Stripping the doors reveals custom black iron hinges and latches fabricated by hand in the Peace Garden blacksmith shop circa 1935. |
|
|
|
Ice forming on roof edge illustrates how water has rotted the log trusses over the years. |
|
|
|
|
|
Stone chimney over the kitchen shows cracked and missing mortar. |
|
|
|
Broken and missing mortar allows water penetration. |
|
|
|
Water entering these cracks freezes, which pushes the stones apart, which then enlarges the cracks, which then allows more water in--a destructive cycle. |
|
|
March 2008
|
|
|
|
West hall tongue and groove installation, note piles of material in background. |
|
|
|
Each piece of flooring is tagged and mapped to fit in an exact original location, painstaking work. |
|
|
|
West hall, all original flooring re-installed as it was circa 1937, now the repair/restoration begins. |
|
|
|
First step of the east hall tongue and groove restoration is removing the layers of old varnish and wax. |
|
|
|
70 years of accumulation comes off slowly requiring 12 to 15 passes of the big sander for each individual piece. |
|
|
|
|
|
Very few people will be aware of the work that occurred beneath this stage when all the bracing and joists were replaced one at a time in a 3 foot high crawl space. |
|
|
|
Half of the east hall rough sanded, detail sanding on "hands and knees" remains to be done in order to remove areas the big machine cannot touch. |
|
|
|
Preparations for sandblasting the exterior of the lodge include covering the windows with plywood. |
|
|
|
Sandblasting will remove old layers of paint, caulking, rot etc and plywood protects the antique doors + hardware/glass during the process. |
|
|
|
The big diesel air compressor arrives and will power up the sandblasting equipment. |
|
|
|
|
|
Proverbs 31:10. |
|
|
|
Surprise spring storm puts a fresh blanket of snow on the sandblasting equipment. |
|
|
|
The sandblasting process begins, note "blasting pot" in lower right corner. |
|
|
|
Sandblasting in the snow, note use of scrap boards to protect windows and doors. |
|
|
|
Log stack with old paint removed exposing beautiful patina below. |
|
|
|
|
|
These log walls were layered with pink, tope and brown paint, at one point in history nearly every building at the Peace Garden (including the water tower) was PINK!! |
|
|
|
Over 200 man hours involved in sanding and leveling the floor with this particular machine. |
|
|
|
Each day we nearly fill one entire garbage can with sawdust from the floor sander. |
|
|
|
The large volume of dust in the air makes the heater catch fire periodically, note smoke drifting upward. |
|
|
|
Rough sanding and finish sanding completed in the east hall, now patching each broken piece by hand begins. |
|
|
|
|
|
A narrow swath around the edge of each room is sanded by hand exposing the raw maple below, note repair patch being fitted. |
|
|
|
A repair patch being fabricated at the base of the east hall fireplace. |
|
|
|
New door sills being chipped from the old concrete for a perfect fit. |
|
|
|
One chip at a time the old concrete is removed and a new door threshold is formed all by hand. |
|
|
|
A brand new threshold installed in an east hall doorway. |
|
|
|
|
|
N.O.S. (new old stock) rain gutters arrive from Michigan as snow melts off the roof and drips into the basement note shipping boxes stacked beneath the trailer. |
|
|
February 2008
|
|
|
|
Brand new floor decking, joists, and bridging are now installed in the concession stand area. |
|
|
|
Looking from the grand entrance into the new concession stand - note 220 volt heater used to warm the space. |
|
|
|
Installation and restoration of the original circa 1937 flooring begins one piece at a time. |
|
|
|
Many of the hundreds of scraps and broken pieces of original antique flooring that need restoration. |
|
|
|
Original floor and its circa 1964 repair had both failed because breathable floor paper was not used - we are using it now. |
|
|
|
|
|
Circa 1937 flooring that was numbered, mapped and stored back in May 07, is moved back into the east hall. |
|
|
|
Antique tongue and groove flooring carried back into the west hall where it will be installed in its original position. |
|
|
|
As re-installation of the old flooring begins we use Red Rosin Floor paper to prevent future decay. |
|
|
|
Looking toward the stage with east hall flooring re-installed, now the restoration of each separate piece can begin. |
|
|
|
Note two types of flooring: original thin strip on the right and wide strip on the left - the wide strip was installed circa 1964 during a repair attempt. |
|
|
|
|
|
West hall flooring install begins - note white bags full of small flooring pieces that need to be carefully restored by hand - one tiny piece at a time. |
|
|
January 2008
|
|
|
|
Removing the last of the rotten floor system in the concession area, this is where the freezers used to be stored. |
|
|
|
Digging out the last of the contaminated and moldy soil one shovel full at a time and out the door in the wheelbarrow. |
|
|
|
Making the final drain tile connections begun in the summer of 2007. |
|
|
|
Over 1300 feet of drain tile has been added to crawl space of the Lodge, a stagnant pond in the past. |
|
|
|
Grading and connecting the last drain tile to one of three new sump pumps installed in the crawl space. |
|
|
|
|
|
Bringing in 24 more yards of crushed stone to replace the contaminated soil removed earlier. |
|
|
|
Covering all the new drain tile with fresh stone in the concession area. |
|
|
|
Spreading the stone by hand to a uniform depth of 6 inches, note new sump in lower left corner. |
|
|
|
Note east hall to left of photo, and orange 220 volt heater used to warm up the space. |
|
|
|
New vapor barrier spread over the floor in concession crawl space. |
|
|
|
|
|
Looking from grand entrance to concession crawl space preparing to anchor vapor barrier to walls. |
|
|
|
Looking toward the fire place vapor barrier installed under east hall , note new floor joists and decking above. |
|
|
|
Constructing a new laminated beam to support the concession stand. |
|
|
|
Fighting back against decay with new floor joists, laminated beam and bracing installed in the concession area. |
|
|
|
Three new laminated beams installed beneath the lodge kitchen replacing the single original which had rotted away. |
|
|
|
|
|
The final new kitchen support beam, note fresh piping, vapor barrier and new floor joists in the background. |
|
|
|
Rotten and mold infested floor joists beneath the east hall stage. |
|
|
|
Rotten wood removed, mold killed and fresh new floor joists installed beneath the stage. |
|
|
|
The lodge at -28 degrees F, note heavy frost on the trees. |
|
|
Page Last Modified:
06/11/2008
