Roof Progress

When we last left off, about mid-day on Friday, August 24, the lower slope of the south side was about half  done.

And if you're a Facebook Friend, then you saw where they were at the end of the day on Friday - about 2/3 done.

I made a quick trip out here Wednesday evening for something else, and saw that they had completed the lower slope on the south side, but didn't have my camera with me and my phone was too close to being out of juice to allow for photos, so just picture those lovely new shingles extending all the way over to the right side of the roof.

When I arrived this morning, the work had progressed to the upper slope of the south side, and while it is difficult to see well in the photograph, they've covered from the right end to the first set of chimneys, which is pretty close to half.

The crew is off today for the holiday weekend, so work will not resume until next Tuesday, but at the rate they're going, they should be on to the north side the next time we check in.

A New Roof

Well, after much anticipation, and an official state bidding process, the new roof project has begun on the Keith House.

The existing oak shingle roof was put on in 1989 (to replace the first roof the state put on the house back in the 1960s) and was really starting to show its age - both in the warped, curling shingles and in the fact that we had numerous leaks up on the third floor. Back at the very beginning of January a temporary rubber roof was installed to help protect the interior plaster from additional water damage through the winter and spring and we were told that the temporary roof could actually last for several years - we're very glad we don't have to test that out and the project is moving forward as planned.

Using a lift truck, Ressler Construction, out of Brownstown, Pennsylvania, is replacing the existing oak shingles with cedar, a material that will be longer lasting and is also most likely closer to the historic original. Rather than tearing off all of the old material before beginning the replacement, they're working a little at a time to remove and replace shingles. Each tapered shingle is individually nailed to the purlins, which span the rafters, and the shingles overlap so that only about 1/4-1/3 of the 24" length is revealed. The two man crew began work on Tuesday, August 21 and by Friday morning were about a third of the way done with the lower slope on the south side of the house, as seen above. By lunch, they had progressed to the point below:

What can't be conveyed via the internet is the wonderful smell of the new material - if you happen to be in the neighborhood of Graeme Park, stop in and see the progress and take a deep breath while standing in front of the house. We may have white-faced hornets, imperial moth caterpillars, hummingbird moths and walnut twig beetles on the property, but we certainly shouldn't have moths in the attic of the Keith House.

Reparations

Last weekend and yesterday Graeme Park and the HPHA hosted a student film crew from Drexel University working on a short film called Reparations, which is set in the south just after the Civil War. They shot their exteriors around the Penrose-Strawbridge House and used the dining room in the Keith House for an interior scene. In the film, former Confederate Colonel Henry Gibbs must deal with the repercussions of his actions during the war when his ex-lover and former slave Amos arrives at his doorstep demanding that Henry keep his promise to him in order to spare the lives of his wife and son.



Editor and Script Supervisor Lauren Ott putting the finishing touches on the actor playing Amos.



Director Gerard Nocco with the actors playing Henry and his wife.

The interior scene was shot in the Dining Room of the Keith House.

While filming was taking place in the Dining Room, the Director and crew could keep an eye on the action via a laptop set up in the Keith House Office.

Of course we had one of our busiest tour days in awhile on Saturday, with volunteer Jack Washington taking three tour groups of seven, five, and eight people through the house and around all of the equipment. Perhaps they saw the action going on at the house and thought they'd see Mel Gibson or Harrison Ford and quickly signed up to take the tour, but most likely it was just Murphy's Law at work. Despite the interuptions they were able to wrap up their interior filming in just one day and have now moved on to the editing process.We'll keep you updated if they share the finished product with us.

More information.