New member, old methods

Lloyd Meunier · 06-21-2012, 01:14 AM

Hello. Glad to meet all of you.I worked as a carpenter back in the 70s in new Orleans, where I did renovation on old houses,some going back to the 1800s.
But now I'm working on a novel in which a carpenter builds houses alone, just after WWII. So I'd appreciate help from anybody who knows about how houses were framed around 1950 in that part of the country. My approach is to try to figure out how he did certain things that nobody would normally try to do alone and then write it up.
By the way, in doing my research I've learned some interesting things about how the ground was prepared in that part of the world, where they were building on former swampland. The actual house I'm using as the model in my book was built during the Korean War, and ended up under 11 feet of water during the 2005 flood.
Thanks for reading
- Lloyd

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Garry Blankenship · 06-21-2012, 08:49 AM

There is a wonderful film titled "Alone In The Wilderness" which was aired by PBS on multiple occaisions. It's about a lone man in the Alaskan wilderness who lived independent of society for many years, but for the rare visit from a bush pilot. He had / brought a camera and filmed his life in the bush. His building skills with minimal tools are amazing. He built a cabin complete w/ a fireplace, window, hinged door, ( w/o hardware ), etc. He also built an above ground food storage shed that looked like a water tower, ( bears & other critters around ). Should be good material there for your endeavor.