Odd combination of materials and techniques

[Chad Fabry]

I inspected a Greek Revival house last week to provide the owners with a repair/ restoration strategy.  It had the following combinations, and as best I could tell, they were all original.

Mill straight sawn joists

Hewn beams

Cut nails but screws w/o gimlet point ( so pre 1835-ish)

Riven lath

Milled floorboards

Balloon frame with 2x6 studs bearing directly on the foundation supporting a 6x10 beam under the 4x4 rafters on 30-inch centers

It's a weird combination of materials and techniques for this area-  by my estimate for them all to come together it must have been built almost exactly 1828-1830. Balloon framing with riven lath is something I've never seen.  It's the only pre-1840 house I've seen w/ balloon framing. The framers must have been leading edge folks.   

 

[Jim Baird]

...such a historian.  You should be lecturing at local design schools.  (In today's parlance I should have said an historian, but I have always thought the use of an before historic is affectation.  It's like bone doctors calling their practice "orthopaedics" , I guess to claim some connection to ancient Greek whatever.

[Chad Fabry]

58 minutes ago, Jim Baird said:

...such a historian.  You should be lecturing at local design schools.  (In today's parlance I should have said an historian, but I have always thought the use of an before historic is affectation.  It's like bone doctors calling their practice "orthopaedics" , I guess to claim some connection to ancient Greek whatever.

I agree about "an historian".  It's clunky.

The problem with me lecturing is I run out of stuff I know in about 8 minutes.