What's Going on at the old Town House now? October, November & December 2017
October 17, 2017 - Day 1: Work starts on the Town House foundation through access in the floor that was used for the archaeological study in May 2017.
A 28-inch crawlspace is being dug by hand. Given the limited space, only one person is able to work under the building right now.
Excavated soil is being removed through the floor opening, bucket by bucket...
...And out of the Town House by wheelbarrow. It will be spread around the property.
Weeks 2 & 3 - Despite a few days of rain, the digging continues.
Space to work in is still pretty tight.
One of the rotten wooden vents in the foundation has been removed for additional temporary access under the building. All three wooden vents have rotted to come extent and will be rebuilt to match existing evidence of how they were originally made.
Now it is a little easier to remove the excavated soil.
Several very large boulders slow down the digging and will be removed, wherever possible.
Some boulders are so large that the crew can only dig around them.
Another view of working around some of the large boulders.
Finally, there is room for a couple of the crew to work at the same time in the cramped space.
Week 4 - Concrete is poured for one of the 8 footings that will replace the stone-pile piers supporting the Town House.
The first footing was difficult to position between 2 very large boulders.
The second footing bypassed a large boulder and it was much easier to install.
Week 5 - Three of the 8 footings are now installed.
November 17,2017 - Contractor Jim Dougherty (left) and George Born, LCHIP's Historic Resource Specialist, during the midpoint site visit. The foundation work is being funded, in part, by a $21,156 Land & Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) grant and a $10,000 Conservation License Plate/Moose Plate grant.
Weeks 6 & 7 - Progress continues to be made in excavating the crawlspace...
...Removing another of the stone-pile piers...
...And replacing it with this new footing. Joist hangers are also being installed to help support the floor joists.
Week 8 - This is the last of the stone-pile piers to be removed...
...And finally the last new footing is in place.
Week 9 - Next, a vapor barrier will be installed. This area in the northwest corner of the crawlspace...
...now shows the vapor barrier. The vapor barrier extends over all of the foundation interior walls and covers the entire soil floor.
Another view of the vapor barrier as it extends towards the southeast corner of the crawlspace.
This wooden louvered vent in the north wall of the foundation north had rotted away years ago and was covered with a board.
Now, a new wooden louvered vent has been built to match existing evidence of the original one.
The south wall of the foundation had been missing one louvered wood vent. The other had significant rot and carpenter ant damage. It could not be salvaged.
Both vents have now been replaced with new wooden louvered ones, matching the original.
All of the subflooring and floor boards that were removed to gain access for the archaeological study and the foundation work were saved. Here the subfloor is being reinstalled.
Once the floorboards are back in place, the Town House foundation work is finished.
December 14, 2017 - Historic Resource Specialist George Born conducts the final LCHIP site visit.
All in time for Christmas 2017! A very warm "thank you" to our donors, Town residents and the NH Division of Historical Resources' LCHIP and Moose Plate Grant Programs for this wonderful Christmas present!