Dan Becker wrote:

> We're doing revivals of revivals. Tee hee.

Dan,

Currently finishing up details on Hessian Hut in upper Manhattan (205th
& Broadway) that was built in 1915 as an interpretation of what had been
built during the late great American Revolution. When we removed the old
cedar logs we found under them very nice sheets of ALUMINUM. Since the
structure is historic itself, even though it is an interpretation, we
had to preserve and maintain the aluminum. We lifted up all of the
aluminum and put new 30 lb tarpaper beneath it. Then replaced the
aluminum (we were fortunate not to have to number each piece as there
were not too many of them and we could keep track of them without a lot
of overhead) only with an asphaltic mastic within the lap seams. Nailed
everything back down with aluminum nails that we had to predrill to install.

We noted that when the logs were removed that there were strips of
asphaltic coating that had obviously been applied after the logs had
been installed. Assumption is to hide the appearance of the aluminum
that was not thought of until the logs were in place... the first
builders thinking the logs would nestle close to each other... but they
did not and do not now. We suggested application of an asphaltic coating
over the entire aluminum area prior to setting the logs, as we were not
certain new logs would line up with the old stripes. In this respect
there was a concern the asphaltic coating would be too shiny. So we
suggested and settled on throwing dirt on it when the coating was wet.

We then made up 4" x 4" aluminum samples of asphaltic coating with dirt
on them, and one without. Dirt samples came from the yard, at our feet,
and from a pile of compost from the Brookhaven Mall, ashes from the
barbi and for good measure a box of macaroni (which we held back from
submission considering artistic review of the abstract or the smiley
face). The approval was for a mix between yard dirt and compost... so we
had to go back to the Mall to get more good black dirt. When the
asphaltic coating was applied the dirt, which had been previously
seived, was broadcast. It made the installation look black and fuzzy.

When the logs were laid we used 8" to 12" galvanized spikes to knit the
logs together (in context with the technology used in 1915), and then
coated any exposed areas of the spikes with asphaltic & dirt. Now the
leaves of the garden site are falling and providing a natural autumnal
chinking. Soon we hope the plants will seed and grow between the logs as
we had first found them when we began the project.

The rough stone (glacial cobble) chimney was never made to be flashed
and one of the problems with the structure was water intrusion around
the chimney. We suspect the original builders were more along the
architectural and amateur archeologist bent as the chimney was obviously
more decorative in nature than functional, as well being a
pain-in-the-ass to flash and the original constructors either did not
know what they were doing or simply whimped out. The rear end of the
structure is offset, one end on one side of the chimney sticks out
further than the other. So I fussed and farted around with a watertight
aluminum flashing (it was a pain-in-the-ass) but got one installed that
even when the sealant fails in 10 years will not leak -- a great deal of
good can be done with a diamond blade on a grinder for cutting in of
reglets in basalt. The flasing is a hell of a lot better than what they
used to have -- even with the asphaltic black and fuzzy dirt. But it
looked wrong... it was TOO square edged and workmanlike and I was losing
sleep over it so yesterday, with prior consultation and approval, I went
at it with a sledge and banged it around a bit to make it look like
authentic shit. I like it now better and had to take pride in being able
to bang the crap out of it without busting any seems or cracking a
corner... I mean, it took a bit of skill and deliberation and three days
of psyching myself up to it. A lifetime of expreience with a hammer.

We bought the cedar logs from Loyalist Forest Products in Ontario,
Canada. It was a pleasure doing business with them especially hearing
about their horses. The layout of the logs, if all thin ends to the top
or all fat, or alternated took us a bit of time to decide on. We ended
with alternating, sort of. Each log was hand fit to the eye & checked
from several angles where people would most likely be walking up onto
viewing the structure. I had to keep tabs of the stonemason's rule to
not be too selective and use up all the good logs first, as some of them
had less bark than others and we wanted a barky and random appearance.
Consciously maintaining a random apperance, despite any comments on my
couture, is often difficult. The ridge ends of the logs were cut on a
bevel with an electric chain saw (Remington), but not well cut, on
purpose, and maintained the illusion of having been thrown together by a
bunch of freezing indentured guys who were not having such a good time
of it. In general I think we have been having too good of a time to
replicate this element of the recreative revival experience -- nor did
we wear traditional Hessian garb and slur our speech any more than usual.

A portion of the rough stonework of the outer walls had previously been
given a mortar stucco and we removed it back to give a rough appearance
to the individual stones. We then had to selectively repoint a few areas
(1:1:8 gray Portland & hydrated lime with a rough sand). I used a cedar
chip as a brush to roughen up the mortar so that it would also blend in
to look like crap. We figured this, along with hitting a rock with a
hammer, was part of recreating the tradtional trade techniques used by
authentic Hessians.

One other interesting aspect of the project is that friends from Apple,
my former company, were working on a portion of the main house. At one
point I was asked by our client to provide a comment on location for the
proper installation of a flashing for Apple's work. Walking over to the
work area I noted to our client that I was being asked to make a
recommendation on the work of the company that I had spent 18 years
building and walked away from. The circumstance was duly noted and I
finished off with a comment that I did not mind so much as I was used to
telling them what to do. In the end what I told them was the same thing
that Hubert had already told them. Downsizing to a consultancy role has
a few perks, and drawbacks that I had not anticipated.

][<

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