Playing with My Level

Does this house look level to you? It isn't, and of course you know this already because you've been reading my blog for a little while, perhaps? If you didn't know this, look at the photos below! Behold our crooked Little Blue House. Being that it was built in 1898, during the big Gold Rush, and being that the house was moved 7 km to its present location, the fact that it is not level should not come as a surprise. Please read previous posts for the story of this house, although the story isn't over yet. :)

The House is Settling In

Okay, we promised ourselves that we would focus on restoring this house from the bottom-up. We actually had a peek underneath the house - specifically, my husband had a peek - and it is not too tragic. We think that it can be repaired, with some work. Those crawl-space photos will follow in a future post.

I went round the house with my little level, just for fun, to see how bad it really is.

Table in Parlour

Here is the table top in the parlour, where the level sat for a little while recently, telling me that the house was all crooked. Look at that! One notices while standing in the LBH that one has one knee bent, and the other leg straight, in order to maintain a somewhat normal standing position! My mother commented recently, "This house makes me a bit dizzy."

Level Resting on Window Frame

The level hung out for a bit on a window frame in the 5-sided bay window room. It looked out at the neighbor's house and said, "What does it feel like to stand up straight?"

The house is slumping towards the street; the house sits on a sloping property, and it's just settling in because it is comfortable there. I think we shall give it a wee lift, gently, so as not to hurt it. A local builder, the fellow who built the extension on the back of the LBH 20 years ago, said we probably should not level it perfectly. If we do so, it may hurt the structure of the house, and will likely damage the roof also.

So I think that this work will be like a face lift on an aging woman. It must be done with care, it must be done by qualified people, it must be done right, it will cost money, and if we screw it up, we will end up with the house equivalent of Cat Lady.