Jarvis House Gets a New Survey 2016

 

 This is my surveyor, Paul Ruzenski.  He possesses the paper surveys of my house going back a  hundred years, plus.  The original map of the Jarvis House property, which I got in 1975, was drafted by  Edward Pizanelli.  When you go to the Town's hall of records, the town clerk, they give you a list of surveyors that came before and later having to do with your property.  Amazing!

 I have always protected a locust post the is on the north west corner of my property.  When workers digging up the side walk for new gas lines or water lines or telephone lines are about I try to steer then around the locust post.  There was a county sign placed near by as pictured above, but the locust post remains.

 

 I thought that he could start there, and after digging a bit down into the soil, sure enough there was a cement monument (marker)  with a flash of orange paint.  He thought that that one was created when the flag lot next to my house was being created for a new house.  All along that side of the property were other cement markers, underground, which Paul found that corresponded to that construction.  The Jarvis property goes back a bit farther than the flag lot, so Paul used the 1975 map and measurements to complete that side and mark the north east corner of my lot. 

 There were so many high tech instruments that Paul brought to the job.

He found other cement markers along the north lot line.

 Although this marker was on the other side of the flag lot driveway, I took a photo of it because the marker was a sort of nail.

 Cement markers

A pipe which corresponded to the original map.

Paul made marks or reference for his calculations in the street and around the neighborhood.  He obtained property maps from adjoining properties to check for accuracy.

 This was a reflective device.

 After he found the monuments he hammered in a piece of lathe with an orange plastic ribbon.

 On the extreme north east corner I had put a metal pipe for a wire fence, but I was a bit shy of the actual corner.

 There is an extremely huge tree on the south east corner of the lot.

Paul hammered in markers on either side of the tree.  Old trees a common exactly on the lot lines.

 While I was waiting for my new property map, showing all of the essential buildings and features, I went to the big Orange Home store for some paint and PVC pipes.

I found a spray paint that would adhere to the plastic pipes and be visible for the markers.  I spread a piece of plastic to protect my bricks.

 But how to dry the pipes?  I stuck them in between the slats on my antique Salterini bench!

 They needed to dry at least one hour.

This is the mark out paint.

Now I have to use my rubber hammer to drive them in near the lathe markers.  Whew!

Repairing the Yankee Gutter On the Jarvis House

 An architectural feature of the Jarvis House is its Yankee Gutters.

Why did the gutter on the rear of the house need repair?  Simple.   It was draining the water from the large roof on the wrong side of the  house.  Last winter with the extreme cold and ice, the water ran down the inside walls of the small extension room.  Probably, originally there was a cistern located at the bottom of the drain pipe.  But when they added on this small room, they forgot to change the gutter.  

 The gutter's structure had to be reversed, so that the drain pipe would empty out on the north side of the house, as does the front Yankee Gutter.

 Unfortunately, the old sheets of copper had to be removed.  They could not be reused.

Next the original wooden Masonite structure was exposed.

 That had to go so that the two by fours could be removed and reversed, and the trough pitched in the opposite direction.

 Finally the Luan plywood, which was flexible,was placed in the trough. This provided the copper finisher the proper form for the next part of the job.

 Safety first,  so he brought ladders and a scaffold.

 This is Brian Cheshire of Northport , New York.

 

 He is a Leonardo of copper finishing, and the only craftsman I would ever recommend for a job like this.

 The new sheets of copper came delivered between sheets of plywood, which he propped up on saw horses.

 Brian is a true professional and came with his own custom fabrication machinery and tools.

 Of course things do not always go as planned, so I had to call in an exterminator to spray an infestation of Yellow Jackets that had started to build a nest behind shingles right where Brian had to work.

Got them.

 A hole was cut in the north end of the new gutter to  receive the down spout.

 The sheets of copper gleamed in the sun light.

 Brian working on the gutter after the under laymen was in place and the ice guard too.

 

 A custom job was done for the copper down spout.

 

 

 

 These photos show what a true craftsman at work.

 

 He attached it to the copper gutter.

 

 A view through the pipe.

 

 The copper piece poking through the wooden structure.

 

This photo shows the trough shape of the gutter.

 The side of the roof was about thrity-two feet long, so the sheets of copper had to be joined by Brian.  He added end pieces to the trough.

 A very artful job.

 The copper gets tucked under the shingles.

 In order to do a great job, you have to have the proper tools, and Brian had them.

 Machines which can create a perfect crimp or bend.

 The new down spout on the north side.

 Brian moved his scaffold over to complete the left end of the gutter.

 A real master craftsman. Thanks Brian.  Will you do the other side next year?