FOUNDATION WORK
The Putnam property was extended by thirteen feet out and a fourth floor was added To do this work had to reinforce the original foundation from 1875. Normally this work requires underpinning the original facade which is extremely labor intensive and costly. However by adding a reinforced bond beams to the basement and columns from the basement up through the additional 2 new stories it was deemed sufficient support for the 13×20 extention.
The concrete pours became such a ceremonious part of the construction process. An inspector present for each pour, and a larger than usual crew of day laborers since we were using hand mixer for the entire pour. A symphonic rhythm existed during the pour between those who shoveled the concrete into the cement mixer, those who added water, those who poured it into the forms, those who vibrated the poured concrete in the forms.
