Hello David,

Construction continues at the new building at a remarkable pace. 

With all permitting behind us, we're moving along in full force, and the dynamic duo of Chuck and Dustin continue to amaze us with their efficiency. They now have the upper floor leveled and the lower floor removed and are moving rapidly toward having concrete in the machine shop and the wood floor replaced in the ornamental turning shop.

Leveling the top floor required the contrivances of Chuck's very experienced mind. Through a series of elaborate supports, Chuck and Dustin braced the upper beams so that as the posts were jacked up they'd move inward and hold the upper floor at the proper elevation. However, they had to be careful not to move the roof in the process. This meant that a supporting knee wall in the attic had to be temporarily removed and supports had to be added that went from the basement and crawl space floor to the roof. The lower posts were jacked up, and the the upper floor was leveled to within approximately 1/2" over most of the building, not bad for an 1840's structure.

In the process they jacked the posts on the lower level to plumb by placing a toe jack horizontally and pushing them very slowly. Chuck is shown above in the process.

To get the bottom floor leveled they formed up along the original dry stack foundation's top edge and poured cement so that dimensional lumber could be spread across for floor joists. The original construction set the floor and walls on the foundation as separate systems, which made this process easier, though not really "easy," per se. 

A footer and foundation were necessary to separate the new concrete floor section from the original crawl space and basement. Chuck and Dustin formed up for the footer and poured the concrete for the footers along with the cap on the foundation for the joists, which they formed in a very clever way. Jersey Jon from the TV show "American Pickers" was in town, and when he saw they needed an extra hand pitched in for the day and was a big help.

Historical buildings each come with their own set of special challenges, and this building is no exception.  That said, we’re not finding any big surprises.   At present we’ve completed the demolition stage. The floors have been removed and the crawl space leveled.  The building has been completely cleaned out, and the second level floor is leveled. To do this they created new pillars to set under the “posts” of the main construction. The concrete pad from the old addition has been demoted and the crushed concrete has become fill for the concrete floor of the machine shop. Next they will lay out the plumbing, electric, and dust collection pipes that will go under the slab.  So far, it’s going as anticipated; and the work is being completed as planned or faster. 

Above the post is seen jacked up and held by temporary planks while concrete was added to the original stone pillars.

Dustin mixed and poured concrete for the post pillars.

When he saw they needed help, Jersey Jon jumped in to lend a hand with pouring the inside footer.

Not only did they pour the pillars, but they added a footer for the foundation that will divide the concrete floor of the wood shop from the wood floor of the complex turning room.

A custom shaped form was necessary to bring the stone foundation wall up to grade and provide a level shelf onto which the floor joists could be placed. The foundation has stood for about 175 years and promises to hold the building up for a long time into the future.

Chuck and Dustin really needed a third hand. Mark Neal stopped by the job site one evening to inquire about obtaining some reclaimed lumber. After talking for a few minutes we invited him to have a look at the project, and the next thing he knew he had a hammer in his hand. Seeing our need for a small tractor on on the site, Mark brought his tractor into work, and it's proven extremely helpful. Once again Mark turned out to be a great example of the pride the local people have in their community. Coupling this with his good work ethic, he's been a big help and a perfect fit.

A man and his machine! Mark Neal joined the force and when he saw we needed a small tractor brought his personal tractor in to help out. He's been a huge help on the site since he started two weeks ago.

 In order to brighten up the old wood Uriah Miller of Miller Painting and Sandblasting was hired to give the interior a fresher look by blasting it with glass beads. After the steel and wood were blasted they were coated with polyurethane to discourage dust and rust. Uriah has lived locally his entire life and was glad to take part in restoring the historical building. It's our hope that Plumier becomes a place of local pride, and getting local talent to participate in its restoration is big part of that process. Uriah certainly didn't disappoint, as you will see below. We couldn't be more pleased with the results.

This week both Quality Concrete and Budner's Heating and Cooling showed up. While Quality Concrete began the excavation process Tom Budner's crew began the installation of the HVAC system. It's all a carefully orchestrated and choreographed process. The excavation included breaking up the old concrete pad and using it as fill for the concrete floor in the machine shop section. Chuck and Tom will have to put pipes and conduit into the soil in that area before gravel is placed in on top of it. Once insulation and plastic go down then Budner's people will put in the pipes for the heating system before the concrete is poured by Quality Concrete. While Tom Budner and Chuck do their work laying pipes, the footers and foundations for both the new addition and the alley side of the building will be placed by Quality Concrete. Chuck Huether is the maestro directing this orchestra and well choreographed dance.

As with the other contractors both Don Simpson from Quality Concrete and Tom Budner come from local heritage. Tom if from Homer City, which is about a half hour from Saltsburg. Don lives just a few miles away. BTW, Don is known for making wood fired, pizza ovens too.

The old concrete slab from the previous addition was broken up and used as fill to bring up the machine shop floor.

Tom Budner brought a big crew and made a lot of headway quickly in installing the initial HVAC unit in the basement. He will complete the duct work which will allow Chuck to finish off the base flooring of the complex turning room.

The blocks are in place and the footing is poured and waiting for them both on the addition and the side of the building which will get a new wall.

The footer above will carry the new side wall and the sidewalk will be replaced.

The footers for the new addition have been poured and the blocks are waiting to be set.

At this stage the update will be outdated before I can even get it typed and the the pictures attached. This week we should see the foundations completed and next week the alley side wall should be done. The floor will soon be down in the complex turning room, and the fill work done for under the concrete. Things are moving rapidly, and major visible changes will come to the outside in the next couple weeks.

A new foundation will be poured for the wall between the original building and the addition which will separate the machine shop from the cabinet shop.

May turned out to be a slow month for donations, but we opened June with a $10,000 donation. We're now about $100,000 from being able to emerge from the project debt free. We are deep into the building process now, and we're seeing your donations go to work. The building is coming together beautifully.

Your continued support will help us serve the OT and greater craft community better.  We need your help NOW to build without interruption, and to have the funds to double the number of craftsmen that we train in these skills. WE ARE getting this done, but YOU can make us much more successful by making sure we 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 support us and have given already. It's 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 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 as we progress.

Sincerely,

David Lindow