We mentioned in our first update on the roof that this is actually the third roof the state has put on the Keith House. The one currently being replaced was put on back in 1989 and before that the roof was replaced in the 1960s. Jim Houston, Preservation Construction Specialist for the PHMC's Architectural and Preservation Division, was recently able to track down the photos from the 1960s job at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia and shared some scans of them with us.
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| Photograph from the Raley Collection, Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Used with permission. |
The other differences are interesting to look at too - for starters, the observant among you (Herb, I'm talking to you) will have noticed the two dormers to the left: yep, when the state first acquired the Keith House, the south side had three dormers (the other was to the right of the contractor, out of view of the camera. Two were removed (see the Before and After Restoration photos here for more information on why this was done).
Our current project is being accomplished with a lift truck while in the 1960s they elected to use scaffolding and what looks like a pulley system to bring their materials up. They were also replacing structural members back then - you can see the contractor nailing new purlins to the rafters while the current project is just replacing the shingles.
The first job seemed to work right to left, while the current one started left to right on the lower slope, but is now going right to left on the upper - not that it makes a difference, but as long as we're doing a compare and contrast and all. Did anyone else pick up on any differences we missed?
