Keeping expectations realistic

William Vincent came to the Church this past weekend and soaked in the space and the light. He and my builder, David Hunt, spoke at length about the stairs to the upstairs lofts. Everyone's first desire is to make a bridge between the two second floor lofts but it is a tricky proposition because there are two strategically placed tie-rods that make the idea seem somewhat impossible. The tie-rods are kind of keeping the sides of the church upright so you can't f*ck around with them.

Here's a photo of the tie-rods. They have been boxed in to look like beams. 

I'm taking the wood off and leaving them exposed. Here's what the rod looks like when exposed.

William sent his first set of sketches to me and I think that he is close to figuring out how to connect the two spaces with a bridge. It's exciting to have a talented and tenacious architect.

We're still working on getting bids from various structural foundation repair people. One bid was super high and totally overkill. William says that is what will happen when they really don't want to bother with the job. I know that the site presents some really tricky problems but I have faith that we will find the right person for the job. I'm meeting with Tom at Heritage Masonry on Saturday and David will meet with Dave from Woodford Brothers on Wednesday morning. I'm both patient and hopeful. The foundation is just that, the FOUNDATION, so it needs to be done well and correctly. 

Here's what happened at the church this week:

William wondered why the second floor lofts had a dropped ceilings and why they didn't go right up to the peak. That's an immediate cue for David to climb a ladder and bash a little hole in the wall so they could see what's up there. I always get a little shiver when the stuff gets bashed up but I have to admit that it would be nice to see the gable. When they peered in with a flashlight it they felt that it could be done. Here's their handiwork:

In what was probably the hottest couple of weekends I can recall, I had the brilliant idea of uncovering the slate sidewalk. I nearly passed out from heat stroke and now I know to keep lots of water on hand while doing that kind of work. Here are the before and after:

It will be slow going until we can get the foundation work happening. There's not much more we can do until that is addressed. 

As I said, realistic expectations, faith and patience!