Although Dad made carpentry his trade, his talents were many.
Where people today educate and train themselves for a specific career and hire others to do the rest of what needs to be done, Dad was what people of our generation called a "jack of all trades". He made a point of learning how to do what it was he needed to know in order for him to complete his projects.
This ingenuity was a great asset. Much was second nature to Dad.
In 1948, while I was just a baby, Dad was working for $25.00 a week. With the aid of a lawyer and a $500.00 downpayment, Dad purchased this home through private finance for $2600.00. By the spring of 1952 the house was theirs, debt-free.
This was the house that I lived in for eleven years. Located on 51st Avenue, it was, in the beginning, a very small dwelling with only a cellar beneath it. Plans for the house included raising it onto a foundation, digging a full basement, adding on more rooms and then completing the project with a stucco exterior.
My father was an independent person who took pride in his work and loved what he was doing. Mom helped when she could as did us kids, although I'm sure our input was minimal as we were so young.
Dad began this project in 1953. With jacks on either end, he raised the house high enough to place two railroad ties, parallel to each other and under the main walls of the house. He repeated this procedure, each time placing the ties at right angles to the ones above, until he had raised the small dwelling to a height of eight or nine ties. This was no easy feat for one man alone, but he did it.
Now it was time to prepare for the foundation. With plans for a full basement in mind, the trench that Dad would have to dig would be deeper than he was tall. He, therefore, excavated by hand, a trench around the base of the house extending it further out to accommodate the future addition. By himself, he dug this trench wide enough so that he could be inside the trench while laying the cement footing. After completing this task, he then laid the cement blocks one row above the other until he the desired height was reached. Dad put in long days. It was imperative to get the house back on solid ground. The next step, which he planned to carry out the next day, would be lowering the house down onto the cement foundation.
It is understandable as to why he did not want the house up in the air for too long. It was not uncommon for strong winds to zip through at any hour. And such one did. Mom had awakened early to the sound of the wind and actually felt the house move. Dad slept through it all, and, naturally, did not believe it had moved. It wasn't until after he had lowered the house back down that he realized the wind had been strong enough to move the entire house about four to six inches off its original mark.
Dad took this all in stride and used cement in his stuccoing to mask over the wind-induced problem. On one side, he molded the base out by four-five inches to bring the foundation out and even with the edge of the house. On the other side, he had to add a wall to the house. Then with cement, and beginning from the base of the window, he began to taper his molding to gradually meet and match the foundation edge. After applying the pink stucco and adding the yellow "splotches", the "problem-areas" were not noticeable unless they were pointed out.
Before the first snow fell that fall, Dad had completed the floor over the extended portion; the future addition area.
During the winter of '53 and '54, Dad continued, by himself, working towards the completion of the basement. When laying the foundation, he had secured windows within it, and, whenever he had the chance to do any digging, he would go down to the cellar, open them, dig, and throw the dirt out these windows. By the spring of '54, the basement was ready for its floor. Dad finished it and then began working on the walls and roof of the new rooms. Uncle Donald was able to help him place the trusses and shingle the roof. The project was completed in August of that summer.
I will shortly enter here, a picture of our home; pink with yellow polka dots. It truly was a warm and inviting home.
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