Hello David,

Construction at our new building in Saltsburg, PA is now at a place where visible changes are happening fast.

Chuck Huether, who is running the job, is graciously letting us use his Genie 45 ft. man lift. This lift allows the workers to reach any point on the building safely and securely and in a fraction of the time it would take to set up a scaffold and without the issues that come with ladders. The lift has been a godsend, and we can't thank him enough. Renting one for the duration of the job simply wouldn't have been an option. This is just one of the many generous acts that have helped to move our project forward so efficiently. It would be impossible to remember and mention all the things people have done for Plumier to make this project come to fruition.

July has been a month of volunteers, and the volunteers have really propelled us forward. During the month, volunteers painted the clapboard siding (Don't worry if you feel like you missed out, we still have a lot of painting to go.), painted and set the I-beam in the addition, and lent a hand with the packing and loading/unloading.

The last update showed the footers poured, but the foundation was not yet in place. The main floors were squared, but the outside of the building was still not yet set plumb. Now, the new side wall is in place, the addition is framed in, and the concrete for the cabinet and machines shops is nearing the point of being poured. It's starting to look like what we had envisioned at the inception.

While Chuck and his crew pushed the building project forward, Christian and Kelsey were back in Port Chester getting things packed up with the help of volunteer Anthony Nappi. On the Saltsburg end of the move, Jack Ruebel not only helped unload the truck but has also provided safe and dry storage for the machines.

We are now at a point in the construction where our vision of what our new building will be is now apparent to all.

With the temperatures soaring to near 100 degrees, Chuck sent Mark Neal and Dustin Young to the basement to get out of the heat. Pressing on, they found themselves running a jack hammer to put in a new sewer line. Thankfully we were able to simply reline the old pipe and only had to cut out a few yards of concrete.

Despite the heat, the mason set blocks, preparing the way for the the new wall.

With the foundations in, the back and side walls became the focus and demolition began.

In order for the addition to mate up to the back wall in a pleasing manner, the back wall had to be set plumb. So, a lateral reinforcement was needed. This was a major challenge, as nothing was square or plumb and the two sides of the roof are at different pitches. In the end they got it shored up and plumb, but they still needed a new header for the central section.

Because they had replaced the foundation, they were able to reuse a hand hewn timber from the original plate for the header. It matched extraordinarily well.

In a job of this nature, coordination is everything. There are two things in this regard for which we're extremely grateful. First, Chuck is a master at coordinating multiple construction activities. Second, our contractors and workers have all been exceptional about meeting the schedule. This has made for an extremely well orchestrated project that is coming off in an astonishingly short time, despite its complexity.

With the framing crew due to come in, not only did the end of the building have to be ready, but the 28 foot I-beam had to be set too. Also the side wall had to be done so the corners could be matched on one end and preparations for the electrician to set in the service on the other. Despite the heat interspersed with rain, it all came together.

The side wall had a number of challenges as the original post and frame construction was out of plumb quite a bit. To remedy this a new wall had to be built on the new foundation. The new wall will then be sided with cedar clapboard.

The cedar clapboard will be needed soon for the side wall. It will match the front and canal side of the building. However, it has to be painted before being installed. Both the back and front of the clapboard must be painted or the siding will curl. Thankfully, we had some volunteers at the moment they were needed. John Hurn was able to come for a week, Scott Barrett spend four days with us, and Sebastian Dytrich and Matt Clemens each spent a day with us too. It was a veritable painting party, despite the intense heat.

There was over 2000 square feet of clapboard to be painted, so out came the rollers. All painting had to be done on the second floor of the building to keep out of the sun and out of the way. It was hot, but Chuck set up a big fan.

Geoff Saver, a retired steel mill welder, thoroughly enjoys working with Chuck and the crew, and now volunteers a couple days per week.

With progress going strong on the original building, Chuck decided to hire a crew to frame the addition and chose Plum Creek Construction, a local crew run by a father and his two sons.

The trusses were set without incident. Once again Chuck's man lift came to the rescue and saved us from having to rent a crane.

The ground floor of the addition will house the cabinet shop and will have an 8'x10' set of swinging doors along with its own man door. Upstairs in the addition will be a photo studio, a gathering space, and a full bathroom.

The roof lines were matched as well as possible and scissors trusses were used to gain headroom in the upper level. These trusses give us 11' at the center, really opening up the space.

There are moments of levity amid the toil. Someone thought the world needed more smiles.

The windows are due this week as well, so Chuck put together a molding sample using a sample window. We will be using Boral for the trim work.

We've ordered Winchester Windows from a local company that's only one mile away. Their products are known for being of a higher quality than most vinyl windows.

The job site in Saltsburg is not the only place where a lot of work is taking place. The crew in Port Chester has been going full steam ahead as well, packing things up. The first day of August saw the first tractor trailer load of equipment head west.

Each assembly on the ornamental turning lathe must be packed individually in order to keep it from getting damaged. A good understanding of the physics involved is essential. To make loading and unloading easier, virtually everything is being shipped on pallets. The pallets will be stored at Jack Ruebel's Kiski Flats Keep enterprise. It's a former elementary school that has been turned into a storage facility. Jack offered to let us store the pallets in the hallway until our building is finished, and he used his forklift and pallet jack to help us unload the truck. With our crew on the Port Chester side and another on the Saltsburg side, our pallets only stayed on the truck overnight.

In some cases pallets have to be made. Stretch wrap is used to secure drawers and the machines typically get screwed down to the pallet.

As they say, not all heroes wear capes. Anthony Nappi volunteered to help load the truck, and what volunteer could be more appreciated than the one handing out donuts?

The truck was in Saltsburg by 8:30 the following morning, and unloading started straight away.

For the record, the crew of two unloaded the truck must faster than the crew of four loaded it. Ron, the truck driver, cheerfully assisted on both ends. Jack Ruebel proved to be both adept and essential in operating his forklift for us in the unloading process .

In the course of three hours the pallets were all taken off the truck and safely stored in the hallway of the old school. In the mean time, Port Chester is starting to look bare.

The building is coming together beautifully, but we're still about $85,000 from having it done debt free. As we bear down to reach the finish line on the building itself, please consider donating. Keep in mind that debt equals interest, and the annual interest on $85,000 is about equal to housing a resident or intern for a year. Emerging from the project debt free will speed us toward carrying out our mission of teaching craft skills on the highest level and transforming the work of young artisans. Emerging debt free will also bolster our sustainability deep into the future. Your contribution will help us not only double our space but also significantly increase the number of craftspeople we can reach.

WE are getting this done, but YOU can make us much more successful by helping us to do this debt free.

If you can’t afford to donate monetarily but have craft skills, consider donating a work of art or craft we can sell to raise money.

As always, many thanks to all of you who support us and have given already. Your generosity has given us the confidence to move forward boldly. We couldn't do it without you.

Support Ornamental Turning, Support Plumier. You can donate through the Join Us! page on our website, Donate Here.

We have also set up a Go Fund Me page which accepts donations of any size with more flexibility. It can be found here, Donate Through Go Fund Me.

A check sent to the address below is also a welcomed form of donation.

For more information on the location and building, have a look at the plan here: New Plumier Home!

If you have questions, give me a call at (570) 352-7137 or email me at david@plumier.org. I'm looking forward to sharing more information on the project with you as we progress.

Sincerely,

David Lindow