Finalizing the Milling of Our Reclaimed Wooden Beams
Monday, February 15th, 2010‘That’s it Bryan. If you bring any more beams then we won’t make the Thursday deadline.’ Steve Jackel was smiling, but firm.
‘No problem, Steve. There aren’t any beams left.’ Bryan was smiling, too.
Delivering Another Two Beams to Watsonville
After coordinating the 2-inch rigid insulation for the exposed slab this morning, Bryan delivered the two 22 ft 6×14 reclaimed Douglas Fir beams to Jackel Enterprises in Watsonville. Tim was there and unloaded the beams in minutes. Then, Bryan set to work.
Bryan went through each beam, looking for reinforcing steel (rebar) and nails. In less than 45 minutes, he removed five pieces of #5 rebar (5/8-inch in diameter) from the two beams a number of nails, and a strap tie. Steve’s team will use metal detectors to verify no more metal fragments are in the two beams, then the beams can be milled.
Tim had done some initial milling of the 12-1/4 tall by 5-inch wide beam that will be in the Foyer and Master Study. It looked magnificent.
Tim unloaded the two reclaimed beams with the forklift so Bryan could de-nail them and remove all the metal.
Within 45 minutes, Bryan had removed five pieces of rebar and a number of nails from the two beams.
Steve Jackel enjoys the sunshine while writing up the milling tags for these beams.
Tim started milling the 12-1/4 inch beam that will be visible in the Foyer and Master Study.
The end of the beam looks magnificent.
This beam will be milled to 12-1/4 inches tall. This face will be visible in the Foyer and Master Study.
Driving to Bonny Doon
After removing all the metal, Bryan drove north through Santa Cruz to Bonny Doon. As he was driving along Highway #1, Bryan reflected on the same day (February 15) in 1998. On that day, just north of Davenport on Highway #1, Jo-Anne married Ian Fowler and Merril Schmitt. We’d love to complete our renovation/construction project and host their visit in February 2011.
Out of the Woods
To get to Dave Mechant’s mill site, one has to stop, open the gate, drive through, close the gate and get to the mill location. When the sun is shining, as it was today, it is a pleasant break in the day.
Dave and his team were milling some spectacular wood flooring. They had an order for 1,200 sq ft of vertical grain flooring, with no knots. Absolutely beautiful wood.
Stop. Open the gate. Drive through. Close the gate. Drive to the mill location.
The Out of the Woods milling operation. It was a great day to be milling wood in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Take a look at the vertical grain with no knots. This is very, very nice wood. Dave had an order for 1,200 sq ft that he was filling. (You can click on this photo and expand it to full size in your browser.)
Completed bundles of flooring, measured and wrapped very carefully. Dave finds that having eight layers of wood in each bundle is the best, yielding approximately 28 sq ft per bundle.
Measuring Our Beams
Dave will be milling our beams tomorrow so Bryan had to complete the specifications for Dave. A few minutes with the measuring tape and reviewing the beams. No problem. Just have to e-mail Dave the measurements tonight.
Back through the gate, and back to our project site.
Finalizing the milling requirements for these four beams.
John McLaren Visits Our Project Site
John stopped by for a quick visit. He hadn’t been to the site for several months and we’d made visible progress since then John and Bryan walked through the framed rooms on the ground floor and lower level.
He was wearing sandals and shorts, hardly appropriate for an active construction site. But he was careful.
John McLaren reviews our progress the the Master Bathroom. Note the smile, open toe sandals and shorts (February in California).
John leaves the 'empty' Wine Dining - sorry John.
