As you can see the timber-frame walls were now going up.
It was easy to be distracted with the panoramic view that we had from this building site. Only a slice of it is seen in this photo.
If you are an old house enthusiast, the completed floor system really draws your eye in this image. But, if you are a real wood junkie your eye is then drawn toward the piles of lumber in the foreground. These are the members of the house that are ready to go up.
In particular my eye is pulled to the pile of lumber on the left, the one with the extremely wide boards that are on top. These are pieces of the salvaged attic flooring.
It’s a funny thing, but back when these vintage homes were built, the choice material was always the flooring that was six inches wide, and as long as the room in which it would be laid. This treasured wood had clear, tight, graining (no knots) and would be the most stable, with no shrinking or swelling, highly resistant to damage, and long lasting. And let’s not forget, very attractive.
Substandard wood, boards with a few knots and varied graining, would be cut wide and used in the attic space. Who would want to see that lousy stuff?
Today. everyone wants this wide attic flooring, and so, this substandard material, the rejects of our ancestors, often commands twice the price of the prime choice material that they so highly treasured.
Go figure.
Originally posted 2015-04-10 16:32:53.