Late last week Steve showed me something interesting he had discovered while doing all the work upstairs in our bedroom. The outside walls are just over 2 inches out of plumb...they bow out significantly. He showed me how the collar ties are old and tired and no longer doing their job. His solution to fix the problem was to screw two large brackets into supporting beams on both the east and west wall and pull them together with cables and chains. He then began re-supporting the walls with new horizontal boards and will install new rafters next week. He left the tension wires in place over the weekend even though the walls should be set in their new positions. I just checked to make sure they didn't snap and that the house is still standing!! It is:) A pretty neat way to solve a challenge, I think.
bowed out wall
bracket installed
cable and new board
chain and new board
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