I've Found A New Direction For Me

skippythetownie

I was hired by a local developer 1 1/2 years ago for residential plumbing and then also carpentry. Last fall I was supposed to strip some 1/4" particle board off of a two story, round turret on the front of his office, repair the framing rot, and redo the exterior with cedar half-lap. When I started to pull this old particle board off there were all these sunburst and clamshell woodworks underneath. The owner(my boss) saw these and the plan changed to bringing it back to original. There were many pieces missing that I had to recreate and every trim board was curved roughly on a 12' diameter. I also couldn't disturb the interior and he wouldn't go for replacing the curved window casings or the curved,warped glass so I was limited in how much I could jack the joists. For now it has 1 coat of primer and will receive some touch up work before being painted this year and there is alot more of the building to fix. I had a blast doing this work and I had a big audience of locals watching my progress. It was exciting everday to see what I could do and I'm thinking I want to steer my career in this direction as well. Below are some pics I took but my boss is supposed to email me some in progress pics. You guys that get to do this stuff everyday are lucky and I envy you.

Allright, I gotta have 15 posts before I can link a url or pic but you can search skippy the townie on webshots and then see them in my work album. I'll definitely post them after I'm permitted.

neolitic

Post the link, just leave off the
http:// part and we'll figure it out

skippythetownie

good-times.webshots.com/photo/2821924960092821122DxvYgb

good idea

dennis

Nice job skippy. Looks like you'll be busy for quite a while.

Teetorbilt

I wanna see! What's the site Dennis? I've tried a few possibles but have a really short fuse.

nywoodwizard

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo...ost=good-times

Teetorbilt

Thanks wizard! I tried it but it wouldn't work for me.

Sweet job, skippy. That was one high-end home back in the day, curved glass can still cost you a fortune. Much more so back then.

neolitic

Looks like Queen Victoria bumped into
Queen Anne!
I'm sure they're both grateful
that you set them free!

Jason Whipple

Real nice Skippy! Do the windows in the turret still operate?

I'm dying to see whats under the wall they built over the old banisters on the porch. Did you take a peek there yet?
(be careful!)

Chris G

Fantastic stuff. Very envious of you.

AtlanticWBConst

WOW...that is an amazing house.

skippythetownie

The windows are non-functional but the owner was asked and informed. I think it was more to do with cost and time. The turret was supposed to be a quick fix with half lap and I was needed more on his residential project. I'm not sure what's under the shake on the porch. I think I'll be on the tower this year and there were some bricks that need to be replaced. I was told that the brick was english and we couldn't find anything new to match so when I had the turret open I replaced their brick insulation with fiberglass and got about 50 or so bricks that match the rest of the building perfectly. Thanks for the compliments.It seriously means alot after seeing your projects. Hopefully I'll get to where you guys are someday in this kind of work, for now I'll have to do the generic residential thing and relish that work when it comes along.

skylands

Hi Skippy

NY is loaded with this kind of work. And you're in a region that welcomes the revival of old homes. Stick with it. It's more rewarding each time you do another job like this.

Welcome to the board.

Stop in Stamford anytime you pass through. I was just in Greenville yesterday.

2ndGen

That's my target...restoring old homes.

Upstate NY is full of them.

I saw this magnificent Victorian right on the Hudson on the outskirts of Beacon that could've been had very reasonably.
Of course, it needed to be restored, but it was a huge house (easily 6 bedrooms).

Lucky you!

skylands

2ndGen

Have you gotten involved with the restoration of Bannermans Island? Maybe some of the lighthouses.