CATEGORY: PORT TOWNSEND HOUSE

Clif performed another helpful miracle. I was building the north porch addition which was to extend the west facing back porch around the corner and provide room for the basement stairs and the pantry.  I had carefully cut all the floor joists the same length to match the width of the original back porch.  I had the floor all framed when Clif came by to see how I was doing.  Right away he noticed that the outside edge was not straight but had a curve in it.  It bowed out over an inch in the middle.  Since all the joists I had cut were the same length it meant that the kitchen wing of the house had pushed out that far over the years.  I had Clif straighten it out for me, which he did simply by snapping a line.  I decided that if I didn’t have enough sense to snap my own line, and if I didn’t have enough sense to build a temporary support for the porch roof, then I probably didn’t have enough sense to be doing these jobs.  Clif said he would exchange labor for rent.  After that we worked together, and it wasn’t long before he was doing it all.