Ten Mile Lake Association

Arthur's Restaurant on Ten Mile Lake - Page 8

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These photos were submitted by Tom Cox in the fall of 2014

Construction Update as of December 15

It's been a dramatic three weeks since the previous update. The week before Thanksgiving, Carl and his crew devoted themselves to framing the floor of the upper level. Here, on November 25th, the Tuesday before the holiday, Jason Snodgrass prepares to insert another of the upper floor I-joists into its hangers......

....and soon Carl Peterson lifts another joist up to Jason.

Meanwhile, Shari awaits a joist-end, which she will steady on the west wall plate while Jason fastens its other end into its hanger.

On Monday, December 1st, following the Thanksgiving weekend, at about noon the building stood looking forlorn and lonely. Many people who saw it in this state remarked about how unexpectedly "tiny" it looked. How, they wondered, could this structure amount to anything like a significant new restaurant. BUT.....

....that same day there arrived some $37,000 worth of roof structure framing. Here are a dozen or more boxes filled with $6,000 worth of beam and joist hangers....

.... and here are $31,000 worth of laminated beams and I-joists for the roof superstructure. You can see that the principal beams are carefully wrapped, as these will be exposed to view in the new dining room and on the screened deck.

On Tuesday, the 2nd, the posts that will hold the laminated beams have appeared, as has the scaffolding in the screened porch area in preparation for the roof's construction.

Then, on Wednesday, the 3rd, the Terex Crane appeared, and soon the principal laminated beams were on their way up to their resting places atop their supporting posts.

Jim and I were there for the excitement. Here's Jim with his grandson Dhilan, 7, who, with his brother, Devan, 9, accompanied Jim on this visit. Note the steel connectors carefully attached to the yellow "lam" on Jim's left. That's the well head behind the lam. You'll see more of that later in this update.

Jim used my camera to catch me at my best with the big lam on the rise behind me.

Here is Carl atop the Lull platform, single-handedly maneuvering that beam into place.

Single-handedly? Well, not really. Jerry and Caleb are on the scaffolding at the other end, waiting to help guide the beam as the crane slowly and tenderly lowers the beam into place.

While Carl, Jerry and Caleb guide the beam, Jason, below, signals the crane operator, who, amazingly, is able to make just the tiniest adjustments in the position of the crane, and thus of the beam, so that it falls precisely on to the tops of its supporting posts. By the way, this beam, and its twin to the south, each weigh about 3,600 pounds.

Here's an overall view of the principal beams in place, the guys just putting the finishing touches on the connections of the one they have just jockeyed into place.

Now for the last laminated ridge beam. It's 2:30 in the afternoon. Carl, standing on the floor of the building holding a line attached to one end of the beam, orients it so that it faces the right direction while the crane lowers it into place.

The "lam" slides gently into place - we all hope........ Imagine the tolerances that have to be met to fit all these big beams together squarely and snugly.

Here Caleb fits his end of the beam into its connector......

....while Carl works at the other end. The beam has to be perfectly horizontal for it to be able to fit into its connectors without binding.

At last Caleb has his end in place.....

...and Carl has his end fitted into place as well.

Here's what the building looks like with all of its principal beams in place.

Now, how to get that crane cable detached from the ridge beam? I wondered, until I saw Caleb ride the Lull platform up to the beam and unhook the cable from the strap and the strap from the beam. (Are there any other reasons to carry insurance on a project like this...?)

Success...!

Thursday, December 4. Caleb and Jerry work on the framing of the north wall. The frames will hold the large screened windows at the north end of the screened deck.

Another view of the work on the north framing, with the roof superstructure presiding over all....

Friday, the 5th: with the roof framing well underway, the building begins to assume it's final shape. No longer do passers-by view it as "tiny" or "insignificant...."

Here is the I-joist rafter array over what will become the screened deck.

John Mason, Park Rapids general contractor, and Mike Hase have joined Carl's crew as the pace of work on the roof structure picks up. Here Mike guides the Lull driver as the Lull lifts a laminated beam into place at the south end of the building.

Jason is up on the scaffold, fitting that beam into its connector.

Saturday, December 6: Carl and his brother, Jerry, prepare to ride the Lull platform' up to the north roof. They're standing on a load of 4' X 8' sheathing which they'll be applying upon arrival.

Here Carl and Jerry apply the first piece of sheathing.

A few more sheets go on before they return to terra firma.

Monday, December 8: This ladder-like structure is called a "ladder," believe it or not. It is the portion of the roof - what I in my naivete call an "eave," or "overhang," - but which I'm told is correctly referred to as an "outlook" that extends on the west side of the roof (toward the lake) over the kitchen-dining room. I believe that's Mike Hase, or Jason, up there fastening it into place.

Tuesday, December 9: Now you can see what an interesting - and complicated - roof the building will have.

Still on the 9th, Jerry and Jason go up on the Lull to work on the north end outlook ladder.

It looks like a well-nigh impossible task, to me.

Again on the 9th: the view of Long's Bay from the "screened" deck.

More "lams" to go: here, on Wednesday, the 10th, Carl guides a laminated valley beam up into place while Brad Edwards waits on the scaffold to guide it into its connector.

It fits!

This was a "valley" beam, as you can see here. This shot provides another overall view of the roof structure.

By last Thursday, the 11th, John Mason had brought his Scissor Lift to help with the high work on the roof beams and rafters.

While much of the crew works on beams and rafters, Caleb and Jason ready a section of outlook ladder - this one will complete the outlook ladder on the building's south end. I'm amazed at what these guys can do aerially!

Up they go with the ladder on the Lull platform, laughing all the way!

Here Jerry and Jason slip the ladder into position and prepare to fasten it. I believe Brad Edwards is hidden in the shadows, waiting to help secure the ladder.

From the heavenly to the earthly.....this past Friday, the 12th, Joe Freeman and his son, Luke, of Lakes Area Well Drilling, returned to the site to flush the well and reinsert and connect the pump. Here you see the effects of compressed air being pumped into the well to force debris and sand out from around the screen at the well's bottom. The well has already been chlorinated for this process.

For a few moments on Friday, we had our own mini-version of Yellowstone's "Old Faithful!"

Here Joe and Luke put the pump back in the well. Joe says the well's shape is is now "better than new."

Joe and Luke again chlorinate the well.

My last photo of the week: December 12 - Shari Peterson in the upper level space which will ultimately house storage space and two small suites for visiting dignitaries.