A Story of an Old House |
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This is an example of creating a new destiny for an old house. As it often happens, a log house built by our ancestors can end up as firewood or even worse − it simply rots away abandoned. The owners of this household were forced to abandon it for the same reasons that affected Estonian farm culture and the way of life as well as the entire Europe after the devastating II World War. A descendant of the family found us by pure chance. The owner had already disassembled the house and stored it in the shed that was still standing. By that time, the material had been in storage for a few years. We drew up a plan for transportation and reassembly but its realization had to wait for its time for a few more years. Eventually, all of the circumstances were right and we brought the logs to our production facilities in Laitse. The preserved drawings of the old house helped us to create a new design which remained faithful to the old one for the most part. During field works four years prior, we had mapped the base logs that at that moment were still half-intact. As the project had been at a standstill for all these years, we were anxious that some of the data might have been lost, but fortunately, we still had all the basic information. Last autumn, we started to re-assemble the log walls; we replaced the rotten logs and reconstructed all of the doorways and windows by installing new jambs to ensure the static durability of the building. It was also reasonable to replace all of the ceiling joists as well as the load bearing logs and the plate-logs. All of this resulted in a sound log house shell which could be developed into a home that meets all the modern requirements. The moral of the story is that you might not have to tear down everything your forefathers have built; if you wish to conserve the emotional heritage of your family and the old family home, it is well within the realm of possibilities. One of the branches of activities of Palkehituse OÜ is restorations and reconstructions. Our team consists of experts in their own field who can solve problems that might seem impossible at first glance. We have added a small gallery. |
