Dicey Work

I took a photo of the old beams as they took them out.  It appears that they came from an old barn.  Notice the beam toward the bottom of the picture.  It's not as noticeable in the picture, but it looks like the beam was burned.  It's possible these beams were salvaged from a barn that burned down in the area.

All of the beams on the east wing porches have been replaced, and our trusty guys from Hume (Chad and Chris) managed to keep the second floor porches from collapsing, a major concern given the skeleton like status of the porches now.  There's not much structure to hold it together!  It was difficult to brace the second floor porch while the beams were being swapped out.  This photo shows how they braced the porches.  You can also see all the new beams as well.

The Second Snag

We should have known.  If the beams were in such poor condition, we should have expected the joists would be in bad shape too.  We had a little bit of good news, the joists on the center wing porches are in pretty good shape and probably will not need to be replaced.  The joists on the first floor, east wing porches definitely need to be replaced. This photo shows the rotten joists.  We're starting to realize how lucky we were no one fell through the porch floor!

The photo below shows the new beams going in.  The contractors spread pitch on the end that will sit on the brick pier.  So this time, they will not be as susceptible to moisture damage as the previous ones were.

Handicap Ramp Now Closed

The construction crew is making good progress and they will begin dismantling the first floor of the center wing porch tomorrow, which means the handicap ramp will be removed. Unfortunately, until the new ramp is built, which will be in approximately 4 to 5 weeks, this means we have no handicapped access to the building.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.  We appreciate your patience as we complete this necessary project, which will make the porches safer for everyone to enjoy.  

The First Snag

These photos are from Tuesday, July 22nd.  The brick piers have been demolished and the second floor railings have been removed (See bottom photo).  Once the piers were out of the way, we got our first good look at the supporting beams under the porch.  Many of the beams were significantly deteriorated due to moisture damage; worse than we expected (see top photo).  We hoped to be able to salvage the understructure, but all of the porch's 14 beams need to be replaced.  This will add $10,000 to the project cost.  It will also take an additional 4 days of labor to replace the existing beams with the new ones.  

Need for Renovation

Just to give everyone an idea of the poor condition of the porches, here are some photos from 2006, when we first began working with the State of Ohio via the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission to help fund the porch project.

The total projected cost to replace the porches is $435,000.  The state will reimburse us for $220,000, thanks to our legislators Randy Gardner and Bob Latta.  

Railings in Production

One of the museum's most beautiful features is the detailed handrails on the porches.  We took great care to ensure that the new railings are exact copies of the originals.  The new railings are in production at Schreiner's Custom Stairs and Millwork in Fostoria, Ohio.  

Own A Piece of History!

Good news! Hume contractors are on site today (07/14/08) and will begin working on dismantling the porches on the Wood County Historical Museum. So far, we are right on schedule. 

Some of you expressed interest in having some sections of porch railing. Hume will salvage each section as they start removing them, maybe by Wednesday. If you would like a section, they'll be available on a first come, first serve basis.  Any section left over will go in the dumpster. Also, if you want to stop by and watch the progress on the porches, you are welcome to do that.