Structural Issues
In order to construct an organ chamber, our architect is working with an engineer to do structural calculations. This page is posted for their benefit, but anyone can look.
Below the Sacristy, the foundation walls measure 10" thick. The mud sill is a full 2" x 6" (actually 6-1/4"), and it is bolted into the concrete, apparently every 32" with a 1/2" bolt. This was rare for 1924, indicating that the building was built very well for its time. (The below-grade slab floor in Durkee Hall, just a few feet away, did not have a crack in it when the carpet was removed in 2005.)
Here are photos of the conrete foundation wall. Photos are taken looking west, of the western wall footings. They are in order, moving left to right (from south to north). Below them are three close-ups of the bolting visible.
2661.jpg. Note there is no cripple wall necessary at the southwest corner. The gray area (behind pipe) on the right side of the photo is a (dirty) wire mesh crawl space vent.
2664.jpg This photo was taken slightly to the right of the one above. The vent is visible behind the PVC pipe. The mudsill continues to the right (north).
2662.jpg Please pardon the crawl space junk which has accumulated. The gray concrete footing is clearly visible behind the pipes.
2663.jpg This picture is further north (out of the range of the Sacristy and under the main Altar alcove of the sanctuary). The floor joists are resting directly on the mudsill bolted to the foundation wall.
2665.jpg Looking further north, the same configuration, with no cripple wall necessary. Cripple walls were used only on the south and north sides of the structure where the original grade probably fell away rapidly.
2666.jpg Again the foundation is clearly visible, with the mudsill mostly concealed behind the pipe. It is a little tight getting in here to take photos!
Three photos below illsutrate the nuts on the bolts which are visible. The second and third shots were taken 32" apart. We assume this was typical around the perimeter.
2668.jpg The bolts are 1/2" capped with a square nut. The first of these three photos was taken near the southwest corner just west of the access door to the crawl space.
2669.jpg These three photos were taken near the northwest corner on the north side, where there is cripple wall present. The threads on this bolt were left sticking up a little bit. Apparently the others were sawed off even with the top of the nut. The horizontal boards visible behind the bottles are 1 x stock.
2770.jpg In this photo and the one above, dirt clods were just brushed off to take the picture. These two bolts are 32" apart, which we can assum is typical around the perimeter. Here also, it looks like the threaded end of the bolt was cut off even with the nut.
Download complete set of foundation photos in WinZip format here.