Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Maynard School Continued




I am posting some pictures of the outside of Maynard School. Also a video showing the inside before I started remodel project. So far the entire interior walls have been taken off. The slate board has been saved to be put back up when remodeling is done. I found some homework written by a student about George Washington the father of our country...it was in between the walls and is dated 1895. The mice had chewed off a corner so I couldn't see the first few sentences. I am surprised it survived inside the wall that long.
I also made another find in the wall near the front door. I saw what appeared to be a large rag stuffed in the bottom of wall. However, when I pulled it out..it was apparent my rag was a dead cat. The cat was almost mummified it was so dry. I don't know if the cat died cause it fell in there or died from other reasons. This also solves the mystery poop that fell on my head in a couple spots. I had figured it to be a cat or raccoon. Now I know it was a cat.
I started taking the old windows out today. The wood was so rotten on the windows nothing could be saved. I am reframing for new ones. You can tell from the interior the windows were added after the building had been up a while. Because whoever cut them in...just cut straight through without framing around above or below them. They just sort of floated there. The walls are 5" thick so a 2x6 has to be ripped down to match. I can tell there is some variations in the wall thickness so there will be a lot of shimming to make it look good later.
I was glad it warmed up to slightly above freezing today as I have no heat while working on the building. There is a space heater, but with the walls gone and the windows open it is a lost cause. Tomorrow more window pulling and framing...then it will be onto other structure issues and trying to figure out ways to keep out the animals. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

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