Even after 100s of years, many well-built windows only need minor maintenance and improvements.

Fully restored eighteenth century window.  Frame was repaired, trimmed to fit better, weatherstripped, reglazed with traditional linseed oil putty, and painted.  With occasional maintenance these windows will be good for another 100 years.  

Mid-restoration, this photo shows the upper sash from previous photo.  An applied dutchman repair will be carved into a tenon to accept the top rail, and new glazing bars have been spliced into the muntins to accept the original glass.  With the added weatherstripping this window will out preform the original for years to come.

The design of traditionally built windows allow even severely damaged sash to be restored when considered significant.  By removing four pegs, the sash will come apart and any piece can be duplicated and fitted into the original framework.

Two muntins and a spliced stile were tenoned into the existing mortises to revive a sash from the 1840's.  Most historic sash tend to be in fair condition but generally a few sash in every house need extra attention.

In this case, a rotten meeting rail and stile tenons as well as damaged dividing muntins were scheduled for replacement by an architect.  Sometimes an extensive restoration is necessary to save historic material, especially in museum settings.    Here we used Spanish Cedar to ensure a long lasting repair.  This sash is from  a c. 1760  house that was occupied by Ulysses Grant as his headquarters for 9 months during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864.

Air infiltration is the primary reason that old windows become inefficient.  Weatherstripping will help reduce this infiltration significantly.  A properly stripped window, combined with the double glazing effect of a quality storm window, will outperform the efficiency and longevity of many replacement windows.  These are some of the profiles we use.  We have found many of these same stripping styles still functioning on windows after well over 100 years.

Different window styles and designs have different requirements for sealing out drafts.   A lot of trial and error in addition to study of historic precedent, has helped us realize successful draft free installations.  This design for a double hung sash from the 1870's, uses felt, bronze, and a fin-seal set into a kerf routed into the sash that will allow for smooth operation. 

An example of eighteenth century crown glass. The earliest American glass was blown by mouth, flattened with centrifugal force, then cut. This process left irregularities that are unique to each piece. Refracted images opposite the glass often are greatly distorted but the primary purpose of glass sash in an era before electric light was to let in light. In early America, if you were fortunate enough to have glass windows, this is how you saw through to the outside world.

Probably the most common type of old wavy glass is cylinder glass.  The molten glass was blown into large cylinders, then cut and flattened to make larger panes.  It is sometimes characterized by small bubbles called seeds and vertical lines called reams.  This was the dominant style in the nineteenth century until plate glass became the norm in the 1920s and later "float" glass. 

Sometimes it is necessary to recreate a sash to match a style when the original is too far gone.  We use similar sash making techniques and joinery to ensure that the new sash will be as durable as the historic windows tend to be.

Strait grained heartwood Douglas Fir and linseed oil putty hold the original glass for this sash reconstruction. Sash constructed with traditional mortise and tenon joinery needs no glue and can be dismantled for future repairs when necessary.

Sheriffs Building, Romney, WV

Original 1830 window openings stripped of paint, repaired and fitted with recreated sash. Weatherstripped, glazed and ready for paint.

Front facade of a federal farmhouse with fully restored windows.

Rot on the bottom of this sash had compromised the mortise and tenons of both the style and rail. This is a common problem when a window sill does not drain properly or cannot dry out.

The design of traditionally built windows allow even severely damaged sash to be restored when considered significant. By removing four pegs, the sash will come apart and any piece can be duplicated and fitted into the original framework.

New wood was fitted into both the stile and rail to complete the mortise and tenon construction without replacing too much historic material.

Flush mounted beadboard doors fastened on the interior with tapered sliding dovetailed battens were inspired by local precedents of German origin.  A sash style upper cabinet glazed with antique glass provides contrast and highlights dishware.  A 1930s farm sink was aquired  locally and installed with a custom finished brass faucet.

We worked with the existing cabinet boxes and layout to transform contemporary cabinetry into something unique.  Overmount doors were replaced with custom flush mounted doors and design details consistent with period furniture.  A tile floor was replaced with tongue and groove heartwood pine that was re-milled from local beams.

Doors inspired by nineteenth century pie safes and open shelving along with a beadboard backsplash changed the feel of the space entirely.

Hand cut half-blind dovetailed drawers mounted under the cabinetry next to the stove provide easy access to pot holders, utensils, or spices.  A breadbox in the corner is used for cooking oils and makes efficient use of a difficult space.  

For this kitchen, early twentieth century built-in Douglass Fir cabinets were salvaged and reconfigured to fit a new space. The old cabinets had a low counter height which allowed us to work below the window sill which is a common problem in nineteenth century houses.  The back-splash behind the 1949 Hardwick stove is an old tin ceiling hung from a picture rail.          

In contrast to the previous kitchen, most of the doors and drawers were reused as well as the face frame and the counter top. However, without compartmentalized boxes as are found in modern cabinetry, it was necessary to rebuild the framework underneath.  Several doors and an extra drawer were built to make them fit the new space.  This was the third or possibly fourth time these cabinets have been reconfigured in their history.  

Mid-twentieth century style kitchen was created in part from recycled materials.

Solid poplar wood was used to make everything from the frame and doors to the custom beadboard backs. The wood is finished with a natural milk paint.

This kitchen was designed around two salvaged glass cabinet doors. The countertop is 2 inches of solid maple finished with strong coffee and mineral oil.

Mike Watkinson tuning a saddle on an oak timber with a 3 inch slick style chisel.  Log and timber work often involves specialized tools unique to the industry. 

A pergola frames an entry way for a re-purposed flour mill granary.  Timbers for this structure were reused from earlier mill parts and joinery was used that reflected the mill's essential construction.  Throughout most of our building history, sturdy mortise and tenon joinery has been utilized to frame our built environment.  

A bad roof caused extensive damage to this braced frame.  Oak timbers and pegged mortise and tenon joinery was used here to rebuild the corner in keeping with the original frame design.

Reproduced rafter plate for an early log smokehouse.  This timber was hewed from southern yellow pine that was felled near a new moon in the  early winter which ensures that it will be as rot resistant as possible.  

Hand hewed white oak corner being reconstructed underneath this eighteenth century log building. Much about log construction is more complicated than it appears and log reconstruction is considerably more complicated.    

Christopher D. Amos roughing out what is to be an oak sill for a log building.  

Logs from a dismantled house are being reused to construct an outbuilding.  Unfortunately the logs had not been labeled, but careful measurements and comparisons of the notch and saddle angles helped to determine how the building could be put back together.

Mike Watkinson and Christopher D. Amos hewing yellow pine for a traditional trades demonstration at Stratford Hall - birthplace of Robert E. Lee.  Juggling is the first and most labor intensive step in the timber making process historically.

The sill plate on this wash house is in a prominent location.  We selected a white oak log with a similar circumference to align the natural edges of this scarf joint repair.  The top was adze finished to match the original. 

Careful notching and gravity are what hold traditional log buildings together.  Many well made log buildings survive in the Shenandoah Valley.  They were often built with a limited collection of tools and axes but a long history of building knowledge and workmanship.    

Foundation collapse.

New concrete footer and interior supporting wall will stabilize the historic limestone.  The stones were meticulously documented and reconstructed.

Rot and termite damage to major timbers of a nineteenth century wash house.

Framing repaired with oak timbers.

Log replacement.

Old termite damage had compromised the corner of this small 19th century timber-framed granary.

Angle brace was cut to fit into existing mortise with the hole drilled slightly offset in order to draw the joint together with a handmade oak peg.

Restored corner treated for termites and ready for weatherboarding.

The east side of this porch had sunk into the ground several inches pulling the upper porch away from the house.  The lower deck had suffered considerable but normal decay from 120 years of exposure. 

An original 1895 Mahogany column had rotted long ago, compromising the roof system and upper porch. Several short-sighted repairs had been attempted in the recent past.  

This is an example of where modern materials are used to inconspicuously repair a hard to replace architectural detail and maintain structural integrity.  The column was removed and a framework of load bearing staves were installed inside the hollow column. A lath system was attached to accept an epoxy repair which then was meticulously carved to blend into the fluting of the original mahogany.       

With a little paint, a repair such as this is hard to detect and is structurally sound.  To the right, a custom white oak hand rail was installed for a new set of stairs that matches the original 1895 design.

Parts of this building had sagged 9 inches.

Old wooden silos have no framework and can therefore be challenging to repair structurally.  Special hydraulic silo jacks were used to bring the structure plumb and repairs were made to the foundation.

Custom tongue and groove staves were milled, installed, then reinforced internally with steel straps and cables.

New oak log sill spliced into old with a half-lap scarf joint. Adze finished to match the existing exposed framing and transition seamlessly into the rear section.

 

Oak beams on this braced-framed outbuilding were reconstructed in the original manner using pegged mortise and tennon joints.

Proper drainage is one of the most important and also neglected aspects of stabilizing a building.

A rafter plate was recreated  and a new roof system was installed to protect this historic structure. 

Sometimes when other contractors see total floor replacement as the only option for repair, there can be minimalistic solutions that save the original floor.  A flood caused the grooves of floorboards to split throughout a kitchen area of a mid 19th century pine floor.  Recycled weatherboarding from the house was used match the original wood and create dutch-man repairs.   

 This type of dutch-man repair is tedious to execute but can blend well with the original fabric.  Here the repair is begins in the center of the photo and continues up.  This is the same floor as the previous image finished with varnish.

Carpet was removed to uncover a painted pine floor.  Drywall mud had been used fill holes and level out any unevenness.

Salvaged heartwood pine was woven in to replace bug eaten and damaged boards.

Recycled boards were color matched to the old patina.  The old dark finish and drywall mud was stripped off.  Finished with a tung oil based varnish.

Some log buildings have floor systems that are independent of wall construction.  These log floor joists had survived well over 100 years buried in the dirt, but without band boards to tie them together, freeze/thaw cycles had twisted  and heaved the floor to the point that doors did not operate. 

What was left of the original floor was removed and re-milled.  Log joists were dug out and leveled on independent pier systems.  Floorboards from four other salvaged buildings were milled to match the original pine floor to complete the square footage.

Shellac is an historically appropriate finish that has been used to protect wood for thousands of years.  It is a natural product made from resin produced by lac bugs and mixed to varying degrees with alcohol. Due to its organic nature, the color can range from light amber to dark garnet.  It was one of the most common wood finishes in the nineteenth century.  Because it is less durable than modern plastic based products, we top coated this floor with an expendable but renewable coat of wax.  

Varnish is a natural product that  has been used for centuries to protect wood and accentuate the inherent beauty and story in the grain.  Its durability is comparable to modern finishes and is easier to maintain and renew.  The Tung oil based varnish we used here has been manufactured in the original formula for over 100 years.      

Before the mid-nineteenth century, most floors were either left natural or painted.  Often rugs and carpets were used to protect them and prevent drafts.  This bedroom floor was scrubbed extensively and waxed -  no sanding, staining, or varnishing.

Several coats of pure tung oil was used to bring this 200 year old rustic floor  back to life.  The building is a dependency of the eighteenth century Grandstaff House in Edinburg and was used as a law office during the War of 1812.  Oil is less durable than other finishes but is easily renewable.   

Since this yellow pine floor was installed over 210 years ago this parlor floor had undergone many incarnations.  After removing 5 layers of linoleum and 2 layers of plywood we found over 20 holes that plumbers had cut for kitchens and bathrooms.   

Several damaged floorboards had to be replaced and hundreds of shims were installed underneath to help alleviate squeaks and extreme unevenness.  

"Dutchman" repairs  were chosen for the plumbing holes where possible.  Half-lap joints, glue, and matching wood make this an elegant and visually interesting solution - maintaining as much of the original floor as possible.

Metal patches are an authentic and simple solution for damaged floors when economy is prefered. 

A twentieth century oak floor was removed to uncover the original pine at the Skillman Farm in Fulks Run, Va.  The rear section was completely missing and matching salvaged boards were patched into a new framework.  Once refinished, the patch is seamless and only distinguishable with careful investigation.  Remnants of old paint were left along the edges for the historical record. 

In the rear ell of this farmhouse the original floor had been removed.  Here we used newly re-milled pine boards salvaged locally from beams and timbers to match the rest of the house.  Re-milled wood is easier to work with than old floorboards and is a good alternative when an entire floor needs to be installed.

On this rare example of a pre-civil war bank barn in Rockingham County, over 50% of the siding needed replacement. We used southern yellow pine, the traditional species of choice for weatherboarding, locally. 

Cypress weatherboading was chosen for this project  and brought in from North Carolina because of its superior rot resistance.  The old yellow pine siding was salvaged to use for outbuildings.  Removal of the siding revealed a good view of  mid-nineteenth-century braced frame construction.  This project also allowed us to insulate the structure.

Queen Anne inspired styling on this elaborately detailed Folk Victorian was recreated in the front gable and bargeboards preserving a unique and important custom detail from the nineteenth century.

Cedar porch railing with custom sawn balusters that match an original handmade design.

Antique heart pine found in a barn on the property was used to repair the bottoms of 3 columns of this colonial home. The railing system was also mortised into the Dutchman repair. Custom tongue and groove white oak boards replaced the old floorboards and cedar replaced the rotten pine skirt boards.

Sometimes a seemingly simple siding repair reveals more serious structural issues.  

Graduate student, Don Johnson, peels away boards to examine the framing issues in this ceiling.  Porches get a lot of abuse from the elements and require regular maintenance and repair.  The Marshall house is now the Woodstock Museum

Much of the corner joinery of this log building was failing and a steel plate was bolted on to reinforce this fragile corner.  Here, pine clapboards are coped to conform to the chimney's irregularities and ensure a weather-tight fit.

One of the few original mantels to survive the Greek Revival renovation of the Pennybacker House in the mid-nineteenth century.  Four color shades were used to highlight the delicate detailing of the federal style

The original chimney and mantle had been removed in a nineteenth century renovation and replaced with a wood stove flue.  Vertical tongue and groove boards outlined where the original mantle once existed.  

The original mantel was located underneath a staircase but had unfortunately been cut down.  200 year old heartwood pine was spliced in to replace the missing length.  Custom molding was milled and a fan design was carved to match the original design. Paint was later removed to reveal the earliest Federal blue color scheme. 

The restored woodwork was finished with milk paint, the walls with shellac, and the restored floor with varnish.  Because a nineteenth century kitchen addition existed where the initial stone chimney had been, a local folk artist painted a design to fill the hearth area.  A stone was used to represent the location of the old flue.  

Paint and firebrick covered much of the original detail of the early and unique mantel.

Paint was carefully removed from the mantel to allow traces of the intricate original color scheme to survive.  Clear de-waxed shellac was applied to protect these details.   The original keystone had been cracked and, in turn, stressed the iron lintel  below.  Several courses of stonework above the lintel were removed and relaid with a new keystone and lintel.    Brick was replaced and the back was sacrificially parged.  A cast iron fireback is used to protect the chimney stone.   

Munch House Parlor Mantle, 1834 - Fort Valley

A rare and  unique original paint scheme still survives on this early mantle.  Here we restored the masonry and plaster in the hearth as well as through out the room.  The decorative paint was reproduced where necessary.    

An interesting find that we uncovered during the restoration was this early German fire back from Pennsylvania.  When we removed the iron from the masonry we found that the back side had a casting of a biblical scene and German  writing.  We cleaned the metal and flipped it around.  Research was done and it was discovered that it was cast in the early 1700's.  Later we found a match to it in another fireplace  in an adjacent room.

An example of a very early rustic walk in cooking style hearth.  Here the stone back was relaid and pointed with hydraulic lime mortar.  Antique bricks expand out into the room.       

This Victorian hearth in Strasburg, Va had been bricked off years before to improve energy efficiency.  Here we added a decorative tile treatment with victorian tiles that were found in the attic - probably removed from the house in an earlier renovation.   

Adella Watkinson applying finishing touches to a parge coat inside this Greek revival style mantel.  The decorative painting is an early Germanic style.  

Newly constructed dependency for a 19th century farmhouse. Built with yellow pine timbers, full 1" cypress batten siding,and split eastern white cedar shakes.

The four gates at this museum are built of white oak and are constructed with a  mortise and tenon frame.  The stiles of the frame are built in such a way that from the front of the fence they appear to be part of the picket design.
- Fort Harrison - Dayton, Va
circa 1749

The original front steps had been removed from this Colonial Revival in the 1930's and reconfigured on the side of the porch.  Upon restoring the entire porch we rebuilt the steps to match an early photograph.  The right  baluster was re-used from the configuration and the left was custom milled to match the original mahogany goose-neck design.  All materials are naturally rot resistant.   

This pergola frames an entryway for a renovated flour mill grainery used for weekend getaways.  It was built in part from recycled timbers found in the mill and reflects joinery that is exposed inside the mill itself.  Because of the irregularity of the timbers, an ancient form of timber framing called called "scribe rule" timber framing was used as opposed to the more conventional square rule method. 

Collaborator Jeff Bartley built the screen door on the left to match the adjacent screen door.  The spindles were custom turned on a lathe and all construction is mortise and tenon.

Wall-to-wall adjustable shelves with beadboard back designed for a collection of old books.

In a cavity behind a curved wall that dates from a mid-nineteenth century renovation, the remnants of an older version of the house was discovered.  Underneath this high style Greek Revival is a simpler building with unpainted batten doors and bare plaster- a time capsule into the early 1800s. A curved window was built into a wall inside a closet of the front hall, and the cavity is wired to illuminate when the closet door is opened.    

Wooden roof shakes were the standard material used for roofs until the twentieth century.  The wood roof on this smokehouse had completed its useful life years earlier and the rafter system and top plate had been compromised.  The pine shakes were replaced with eastern white cedar.  

Christopher D. Amos finish-hewing a yellow pine timber. The timber was felled in the late fall just prior to a new moon to ensure the wood's low sap content and natural rot resistance.

A unique find of thick, wide floorboards were used here to create a table top to compliment the cabinetry work at the Skillman Farmhouse

Loose mortar has been carefully chiseled away and a color matched hydraulic lime mortar is tooled into the joint.

This eighteenth century springhouse has almost no mortar left between the rocks.  Old stone walls were often built to stand without mortar but the mortar is necessary to keep out weather, vermin and water that can cause failure in the long run.

The proper mortar joint for this work is a protruding v-shaped joint that prevents water infiltration.

The wrong mortar combined with moisture from the basement caused the mortar to fail along the basement ceiling level.  Non-breathable portland-based mortar was used below this line.

Unlike stone masonry, brick construction depends on mortar for its structural integrity.  Not much chiseling was involved here, however below this area, the portland mortar removal can be labor-intensive.

Several withes of brick had all but fallen out of this corner.  Fortunately, it was laid 4 withes thick.

The foundation wall of the 1803 addition to this house had collapsed.

The foundation stones were labeled and removed.  A concrete footer was poured below grade and the stones were then relaid exactly as they were originally and reinforced from behind with a concrete wall.

 Fortunately this wall is still in good shape.

A few remnants of the old mortar allowed us to match the mortar color.

Not only is this an example of a sloppy job, but the mortar is too hard for the material and traps moisture inside the foundation.  This is a feature commonly found on stonework we encounter. 

A decorative built up joint was used here to match an early twentieth century technique used in a retaining wall.  Two color matched mortars and a custom made pointing tool were used to achieve this profile. 

Bricks were recycled and cleaned from an earlier walkway to create one that will last a lifetime.

A combination of interesting antique pavers and limestone were used here to create a unique patio.

The plasticity of this material allows for smooth curves as well as flat walls in a way that goes against the nature of drywall or sheet-rock.   This building was used as a hospital during the Civil War.

Plaster failure

Traditional 3 coat plaster repair with horsehair.  Traditional plaster is a layered system made from lime putty, sharp sand, animal hair and water to varying degrees.  It is important to use like materials when working with historic plaster.

Manufactured paneling and 3 layers of wallpaper were removed from this parlor built in the 1850's.  Nails and glue from the paneling had caused extensive damage to the old plaster and wallpaper.         

Early plaster walls were almost never painted but were left natural or whitewashed to help illuminate a room in the days before electric lights.  When wallpaper became affordable in the late 1800s, it soon became the finish of choice.  Once the plaster was repaired in this parlor, wallpaper was selected to continue that tradition.  The chimney was exposed, which frames and draws attention to the refinished offset mantel.   

Sometimes plaster was molded to decorate ceilings and cornices.  Original plaster from the 1840's mysteriously collapsed and became was not salvageable.   We built a jig to match the profile and after applying scratch and base coats to the ceiling, we were able to reproduce the medallion by adding a high level of gypsum to hydrated lime putty and layering dozens of finish coats.

Older wood framed houses often have a system of wood or metal lath that is used to establish the planes to which plaster is applied.  This photograph is of a transition from wood lath to limestone infill which is an area prone to cracking due to disproportionate rates of movement and settling.  This wall has been prepared for a scratch coat, and it is easy to see the various layers of this historic wall system: wood, stone, scratch coat, base coat, and finish coat plaster.  Thin lath riven from six foot long strait grained pine was common during the eighteenth and early nineteenth century.    

Loose plaster can be re-attached to walls where the the original bond has failed.  With wooden lath, it is not uncommon for the plaster "keys" behind the lath to fall away over time.

Picture rail molding is a good way to protect restored plaster walls from the potential damage of years of future redecorating.  It is also an attractive method of hanging ornamentation that has been used historically for over 100 years. 

This  well house space was once used as a law office during the war of 1812.  Many years of soot had covered the plaster and whitewash of these soft and crumbling parged brick walls. Roof leaks had caused the plaster ceiling to separate from the hand split lath.

Much of plaster had to be removed to the scratch coat. The remaining plaster in the ceiling was reattached and the  cracks were dug out and repaired. Several new finish coats were then blended into the original layers. Some base coat and brickwork was left exposed and an antique fruit jar was used to fill in an old exterior flue letting in light for a creative effect.

Some of the base coat that was originally made using sand from nearby stony creek was reconstituted and recycled to be used as an aggregate for new mortar and base coats. Keeping as much of the original material as possible also ensured a color match.

This Fall, one of our main projects is the restoration of windows at Appomattox Manor which is located in Hopewell, Va, and managed by the National Park Service.  The building was constructed in 1751 and is significant because it was used as Union headquarters during the  Siege of  Petersburg from 1864 to 1865.  It was also shelled by the British during the Revolution.  We are performing an extensive restoration of the sash and window frames.

The property associated with the Adam Miller House is comprised of three separate houses as well as several barns and dependencies. The two houses depicted here both date to the eighteenth century. There is much work to be done but the bones of the structures, as well as many original details, are in very good shape. 

Self explanitory 

If the research attributed to this building is correct, this early Germanic structure dates to 1727 which would indicate that this is one of the oldest houses in Virginia.  Underneath the siding is a two over two, center chimney log house. 

Now the rear of the house, this elevation was originally the front which faces the Shenandoah River.  It was constructed in two phases with large hewn timbers joined in a frame with brick infill.   The first construction phase is most likely colonial.  The addition to the right was built in the mid nineteenth century in the Greek Revival style as are many renovations made to the original building.  We are in the early stages of a seven year plan to restore and renovate this building into a livable home. 

Investigating a window sill leak we found extensive water damage

Jay, Christopher and Scott fitting a new girt beam with a scarf joint and dovetailed half-lap into a new corner post. 

An amazing feature we found on this frame was this 20 foot long hand hewn corner post.  What looks like two 4 x 12's nailed together to form this corner is actually one large, continuous timber that was skillfully hewn into an "L" shape with nothing but axes and chisels.  When we checked the corner for plumb it was perfect in both directions - even after 230 years or more.  Unfortunately water had compromised the lower portion. Here, Christopher is preparing this section for replacement.  

Scott and Jay replacing siding after repairing a sill.   Here, the brick nogging can be seen between the vertical posts. In the early 19c, General Skyler noted to Alexander Hamilton that nogging was "used to control fire and vermine".  We have noticed this several times before in early German timber frames around the Valley.

This antebellum residence is being turned into a bed and breakfast and hiker hostel for Appalachian train hikers.  We a currently restoring the windows and doors.

This 1869 addition may have been built over the foundation of an even earlier structure and connects the main house to an early outbuilding or kitchen.  In all, there are over 70 sash being restored

Our main project at the moment is the restoration of this Appalachian-style log cabin located in western Shenandoah County.  This photo was taken in the summer of 2014 before any work had begun.  As is the case with many restoration projects, it looks better here than it does now. 

The rubble foundation had been collapsing, and several logs were in need of replacement.  The cementitious daubing mixture used in previous repairs had  rotted some logs in ways that are hidden in this photograph. 

Upon begining this project in the fall, one of the first priorities was to complete mortar and foundation repairs before freezing weather set in.  

 The majority of the original features had been removed during or prior to an extensive 1970's renovation. We removed the interior partitions to uncover the buildings past.  We found that the floor was really a series of floors built upon each other to compensate for sag and rot within the joist system.  After the layers were removed we found that most of the original floorboards were not salvageable and many of the joists were in need of replacement due to water damage.

Same view; months later; a few of the original white oak floor joists were salvageable but we elected to remove them all (along with interior walls and floors and staircase) in order to replace wall logs and better build the new configuration with new oak logs to replace the compromised joists.  The interior of the foundation wall has been repaired and parged. 

Attached to the main cabin is an early 20th century kitchen addition.  The floor here was significantly out of level and the northern foundation wall had to be removed and reconstructed.  We decided to save the kitchen floor boards to fill compensate for the bad floorboards when we rebuild the cabin floor.  Tile will replace this system and therefore it was necessary to remove the joists and install a summer-beam on concrete piers to stiffen the floor. 

All of the timber for this project has been harvested on the property. This white oak was felled during a November new moon to ensure it's bug resistance (low sugar content) and longevity.  It was hewed on 3 sides and will  be notched with half dovetails to replace what is left of the southern sill log.  Six wall logs and seven floor joists were milled in the woods with about a dozen different axes; most well over 100 years old and each performing a unique function.   

The last new timber awaits careful notching and strong backs before the jacks can be removed.  A fresh white oak timber such as the one in the foreground weighs over 600 lbs after hewing (and this is for the short side).  Once we get to a good stopping point we will break from here to take care of a few previous commitments.  Next Spring and Summer we have plans to add a front porch and a small rear addition, replace windows, maybe replace a couple more upper logs, and finish out the interior.  Makes me tired just thinking about it.  Fortunately we enjoy this stuff.  We are in the process of designing a new kitchen/bathroom configuration for the early addition on the right.  The original cabin will be restored as close as possible to the way it may have existed in it's early configuration, complete with a winding stair case and white washed log interior.  A State and National Register nomination has been submitted for the Zinck Farm and is awaiting state review.    

All structural work done, 40 year old windows are replaced by modern efficient units, and the original plan for a porch was changed to a deck built from local cedar and white oak.

What we could save of the original floor was put back and refinished, the log walls are white washed with a natural lime and water mix and the ceiling joists were  wrapped and beaded to be left exposed.  The doorway leads to the kitchen. The house is now used as a vacation rental.  

An old abandoned log house was taken down in Shenandoah County.  Logs and other materials were salvaged and re-purposed with the intention of re-building into a workshop. 

A site was leveled and cleared for the buildings new life.  Hand cut limestone was harvested from several other old structures that had been demolished as is used for this foundation.  Some of the original logs, including the sill, were missing or rotten and needed replacing.  We hewed many of the new logs from timber onsite.

When the original house was dismantled, the logs were not labeled.  It took many months of taking tedious measurements determine how the logs were designed to go together. 

Each corner notch was originally cut to fit the log below as well as above it, and also maintain relatively plumb and level.  A spreadsheet was compiled with multiple angle measurements and relative elevation gains was compiled to determine their placement in the building 

Most logs were lifted in place by hand with a little help.

As we got higher up, extra help was needed to get the longer logs in place.  A gin pole that supported a pulley system was tied off to trees to lift the header logs. 

Floor joists for a loft were notched into a supporting log

For the final logs, we decided to get even more help.

For new logs, saddles and notches are created by setting the log in place plumb and scribing lines based on how much elevation gain in needed. 

The top logs, or rafter plates, have not joinery to hold them in place and are therefore pegged. 

A traditional notch we come across to join rafters to the rafter plate in old buildings involves notching the plate rather than the rafter.  It is a time consuming  detail but works best with hewn timbers.

Rough oak sheathing was attatched to a braced rafter system to accept a metal roof with clear fiberglass and poly carbonate panels for natural light.

Branches from both white and red oak trees were harvested from the woods and tied to the rafters along with a toast to celebrate the trees that were displaced during construction.  Topping off ceremonies have a long tradition in timber construction of Europe and America. 

After the building was dried in, a scratch coat of mud daubing completed the chinking joints.  The mud was harvested onsite from the original excavation and mixed with sand, natural hydraulic lime, and straw.

An ancient Japanese practice of charring the surface of wood creates a water resistant finish that also deters bugs and fungi.   This method of wood preservation is also known as shou sugi ban.  We used this technique on some pine weatherboarding that was cut from the property over 40 years ago.

The shou sugi ban was finished with oil.  Two four light sash were restored to light the south gable.

We began to move in and use the shop in January of 2019. There are still plan to extend the shop space with a lean-to on this side with the sliding doors eventually.

We took advantage some time during the Covid 19 pandemic to finish up some of the last details such as a much needed addition for storage and a small roof over the front doors. The siding for the addition was finished with pine tar and raw linseed oil and closely matches the shou sugi ban finish of the main cabin. Two Locust tree were cut from the yard to serve as porch posts and are pegged to the beam with mortise and tenon joints.