Fractured

I had hoped, when my nose started running and I started sneezing last night, that it was because I was sitting on the sofa next to about 200 mass-market paperback sized books that I tossed down from their storage place on top of one of the ceiling beams.  They didn’t look dusty, or feel dusty but it seemed like the most hopeful answer to the cause of my sneezing fit.

I was wrong.

I am still dripping and sneezing, tired, red-eyed and red-nosed, pale of cheek.  It appears that I have finally gotten my annual cold.  Does this mean that, since it has come so early in the year, I will be safe until 2008?  Probably not.  I have probably caught 2006’s cold.

But what was I doing with the books?  My passion to simplify and declutter has (finally) made it to the bookshelves.  I managed to separate them into two stacks, about 110 tossers and 92 keepers.  I was being fairly ruthless, although there are some who would probably say that I am still too soft when it comes to pruning possessions. Now I have to find a home for the tossers and a new storage place for the keepers.

The books had been stored one of of the ceiling beams, much like these:

Unfortunately the beam in question is indisposed:

And now you know the true reason I was sorting through books last night, instead of knitting or sewing.

I suppose G and I aren’t the only ones feeling the aches and pains of age around here. I noticed the crack yesterday afternoon while dusting the ceilings and behind the furniture.  It was not there when we left for Christmas.

The cracked beam spans the family room.  The crack is directly above my chair.  G thinks I should move the chair forward until it is repaired, and it will be as the carpenters are going to bring a support beam to put there until they can order a new one and replace the existing beam.  The beam is 20 feet long and spans the family room with one support about 6 feet from one side of the room.  I have been told that the support should be more in the center, and the original beam is too narrow to act as a support for that size of span.  Well it has held for 40 years.  Of course we built peaked roofs on the house some time ago so although it still supports the weight of the ceiling, which was the old roof, it does not support the new roof or any snow load.  The crack is dead center in  the beam, where the support post will be moved.  We may have to get a bigger beam, as this extends through the walls out to the edge of the roof, about 18 inches beyond the house; I know from experience that most of the lumber in the house is the old dimensional standard and is bigger than the new dimensional standard.  So a new 4×8 is smaller than the one in my family room. If the beam is too small, all the supporting structures which depend on it will be too small as well.

What size beam, where the supports will be placed, and how they will be built is all to be worked.  Why it happened? That we may never know.  I suspect it was already stressed, was stressed further when the sill beam on the foundation had to be replaced about 10 feet away) and it only just now gave out. 

One thing leads to another.