Moving blocks from a cathedral

We purchased the ICF blocks back in the spring. Robbie and Dennis said there was no problem storing them. They were placed in a “warehouse” in Martintown for no charge. At the time, I thought they might be used fairly quickly, but the many delays over the late spring and summer meant that we were only ready for them in early August.

When the day came to get some blocks, Dennis and I got in his ancient van tugging a rusted heap that passes for a trailer. [Dennis says his son Ben has his good trailer and doesn’t want to give it back. Dennis is an indulgent dad, but don’t tell him that.] We followed Robbie and rode along County Road 18 from St Raphaels [that’s St Raffles] to Martintown, but immediately left it driving north along County Road 20 where we turned west on North Branch Road.

Dennis said it had been while since he had gone down North Branch. Ironically, I had been there the previous weekend with Lena, but had never taken it that far west. We were surprised to be so far in the countryside, away from Martintown. We passed a few handsome heritage farmhouses and turned into a newly renovated one with a large barn. We drove to the back of the barn where there was ramp to some large doors. Once open, an enormous quantity of blocks appeared.

It turns out that Robbie has been working with the owner to renovate the barn. Robbie’s company is called Hamelin Restoration and this is his preferred type of work. The building is L-shaped and of a massive scale, dating back to around the middle of the 19th century. Extensive renovations have already been done to the smaller side section and stable in the lower main area. Work on the larger, upper section has yet to be undertaken, so it is a good place to temporarily store a large amount of 4 foot cubes of ICF blocks. Robbie’s working relationship with the owner made it possible to use the space in this way. The kind of relationships folks have here is a big part of the reason why doing this project is so engaging.

Robbie has been responsible for a large part of the barn’s overall redesign: cement floors and foundation, remediating walls, support beams for upper floors and, most beautifully, the stairs. The latter are his design, and he obtained the massive steps from Mark Rickerd of White Pine Lumber. Most of the lumber from our previous house came from Mark. The enormous support beams are Douglas fir recuperated from the bottom of the St. Lawrence river.

This kind of work has long been Robbie’s passion. I first met Robbie when he was just a young adult starting his own reclamation business. His dad, Marcel, at the time, the local drywall master, was doing some work at the old house, and I wanted to change out the steps to the second floor. These were antiques, well worn with carved spindles and decorative conceits. They were also rickety and painted too many times. Robbie and Dave took them away to resell them to folks who wanted the deep patina look.

That business spun out into the construction and restoration business the two brothers have today. A part of the business is moving structures. Robbie says he prefers moving barns over houses. Another connection for me is that Robbie and Dave bought the moving equipment from the family who moved my previous house from Alexandria to the country lot where it presently stands. When we did the addition, members of that family came back to move the garage back about 30 feet. Great to be amidst a long standing culture reproducing itself with a similar devotion to craft.

Robbie left with his trailer, and Dennis and I loaded up his. It’s a clumsy arrangement, but Dennis is a genius with ropes, and compared to some loads I’ve seen on this trailer, it’s actually workable. Mind, we didn’t drive quickly, and we took an alternate road, Beaverbrook, back. [See map above] It’s shorter, rougher, and less likely to have police on it. Dennis has lived here for over 40 years, but he’d never taken the road. I had a number of times. It is a quiet, pleasant strip, remote feeling with a slope on the north side. We chatted casually and I spent a moment or two thinking back to my youth when these kind of vaguely dubious adventures were common summer fun.

Forgive the rough edit and the grammar on the video. Both will be fixed [a little] in due time.