Restoration Tasks Accomplished Last updated: February 17, 2007
The following describes the restoration work being done on the Pleasantview School by the Pleasantview Community Association. This page lists the tasks accomplished (month finished shown in parentheses) together with the volunteer hours and the amount of money spent on that task. The "restoration process" page lists the tasks that are in process or under active investigation. The "restoration remaining" page lists the remaining tasks that have currently been identified. These are listed roughly in the order we may pursue them, however we may revise the list as necessary or do tasks in a different order to fill available time, match tasks to weather, resolve emergent issues, or use available funding. There will be links to pictures of the projects.
Stage (December 2006) - The stage was rotten and failed. It could not be saved or repaired, so it was demolished. The front wall and wing walls were built on top of the old stage, so they had to be removed as well. We designed and poured new foundations (there were none originally), put down a sturdy subfloor, rebuilt the front and wing walls, and installed fir flooring. In the process we widened the access door to the right of the stage to provide better access to a future rear exit and restroom. Kootenai Electric Trust provided $2000 for materials, and Dee & Elaine White donated $825 for a professional floor company to sand, fill, stain, and finish the floor. --- 840 hours; $4424.60
Repaint the Lower Interior Trim (November 2006) - All of the window sashes and frames were repainted as part of the window rebuild. The doors in the stage walls were replaced and repainted as part of the stage rebuild. We recently rebuilt the doorway between the two rooms. --- 171 hours; $409.50
Water Supply
(October 2005) - The water supply is a spring located about ¼ mile from the school, the exact location of which we have never been able to find even though we own the water rights to it. This spring produces water of dubious quantity and quality at the school kitchen sink. We've been carrying water for major functions. When a new house construction was started on the adjacent property one of our members (Garey Strand) talked to the owners (Jack & Pam Schroeder), and they agreed to let us run a water line from their new reservoir/well to the school property. This run is about 100 yards long, and is now in place. When we add a restroom we'll continue the water line into the school, but in the meantime we only have to haul water about 50' rather than several miles from one of the volunteers' homes. --- 35 hours; $1,181.81Lower Storey Windows
(November 2005) - The lower storey has 11 double hung windows in the kitchen, meeting room, and auditorium. Similar to the cloakroom windows, all 11 of these windows (22 sashes) were taken out, taken apart, cleaned up and repaired where necessary, re-glued, painted, and then re-glazed. Bud Sutherland of Post Falls Glass & Screen again donated the glass and glazing work, with the volunteers doing the rest of the work. These windows are now re-installed and the frames are all painted, and really look (and work) great. One of our members (Mike Darrar) put antique blacking finish on all of this window hardware, which really visually complements the rebuilt windows. --- 476 hours; $277.61New Roof
(October 2005) - The original roofing material was wood shingles according to the dedication photo. Sometime in the past (we think maybe in the 1930s) that was replaced with corrugated galvanized steel sheet metal. This metal roof was leaking and becoming loose. We hired a roofing contractor (Charlie Epkey of Post Falls) to remove the metal roof, put down plywood sheeting over the 1x6 skip sheeting that was there from the shingles, and install 50 year composition roofing that looks like the original weathered cedar shingles. He also painted the flagpole on top of the belfry, which we couldn't reach. The new roof will stop any further deterioration from water leakage. --- 0 hours; $12,770.00Eaves & Fascia
(September 2005) - We pressure washed the exterior of the upper storey, especially the soffit area under the eaves around the entire building. Brent Smith of Young Electric Sign Company donated the use of his sign truck to give us access for this cleaning. In preparation for a new roof we added a 2x8 fascia board to the eaves, and cleaned, caulked, and painted the fascia board and soffit area. Since this work was on the upper storey, we appreciated Mike Darrar letting us use his scaffolding and Dee White using his tractor and trailer to move the scaffolding around the building. --- 630 hours; $1,120.19Front Stairway Structure
(October 2004) - The existing front main entry stairway to the second storey was wooden. This was not original; a photo of the new school dedication in 1910 shows what appear to be masonry stairway walls. The wooden stairway was pretty rotten, so it was removed. A new stairway was designed by one of our members (Frank Fleming). This design is built out of wood but with the walls covered with stucco to look like the original concrete. The new stair tread and riser material is synthetic. One of our members (Roger Oestmann) plans to donate cast concrete caps for the stair walls. We have poured a new concrete stairway foundation (concrete work donated by the Apparicio family) and walkway, built the stairway walls (which now await the cast concrete caps), and cutout all the remaining stairway pieces (stringers, supports, treads, risers). --- 458 hours; $5,987.02Classroom Windows
(April 2004) - Each of the 2 classrooms has 2 sets of 3 double hung large windows. One of these sets (the SW corner) has been re-furbished with work similar to that done on the cloakroom windows. Post Falls Glass & Screen again donated the glass work. These windows can not be re-installed until the masonry and window headers are repaired. --- 169 hours; $104.50Cloakroom Windows
(February 2004) - There are 3 fixed windows in each of the 2 cloakrooms; each window is about 3' square and placed high in the wall. All 6 of these windows were taken out, taken apart, cleaned up and repaired where necessary, re-glued, painted, and then re-glazed. Bud Sutherland of Post Falls Glass & Screen donated the glass and glazing work. The volunteers did the rest of the work. All 6 windows are now re-installed, and make the front of the school much more presentable. --- 143 hours; $79.14Classroom Window Headers
(January 2004) - The Alpine Engineering report specified replacing the 4 headers over the windows in the classrooms with wooded headers. The existing headers were assumed to be masonry. Upon chipping off the plaster covering we found that these headers were steel I-beams rather than masonry. Talking with Alpine Engineering we found that these headers thus do not need to be replaced. However the beam seats, which are masonry as a part of the walls, for these headers have failed and need to be repaired or replaced. This will be done when repairing the masonry cracks in the walls. --- 2 hours; $0.00New Trusses
(December 2003) - Fabricated and installed 2 new 40' long trusses in the attic for additional roof support. This was somewhat tricky due to the limited work space for building these trusses in place. --- 272 hours; $3,338.59Portico Roof Support
(June 2003) - Installed an 18' long beam and posts to add support for the portico roof. --- 24 hours; $119.63Purlins
(May 2003) - Removed 2 existing (and very rickety) roof support purlins and added 6 new purlins to adequately support the roof rafters. --- 88 hours; $812.87Existing Trusses
(March 2003) - Strengthened 2 existing 40' long roof trusses by adding a kingpost, gussets, 2 tie rods, ¼" steel plate joint strapping, and end support angle iron. The angle iron supports weighed over 250 pounds each; we were barely able to carry them into the attic! The ceiling joists are a lot more solid now that they are tied to these stronger trusses. --- 122 hours; $1,320.62Rafters
(February 2003) - "Sistered" 15 rafters which were broken. --- 38 hours; $83.62Bell & Belfry
(December 2002) - Florence Mead funded the restoration and re-installation of the original school bell. The bell was at Post Falls High School for use at football games. Sid Armstrong of the school district said we could have it back. Jerry Keane (Post Falls School District Superintendent) still had the original clapper, which sounds a lot better than the one that was in the bell when we got it back. We built a new rope ring and support frame for the bell carriage, sandblasted the bell, repainted (with some hired help) and reshingled the belfry, and re-installed the bell using a crane provided by Brent Smith of Young Electric Sign Co. Now we can call our functions to order in style! --- 110 hours; $695.87Building Permit (October 2002) - Permit from the planning department for the structural work specified by Alpine Engineering. --- 16 hours; $649.00
Structural Report & Plans (September 2002) - Alpine Engineering did a structural survey of the building and produced a report of what we needed to do to maintain/regain structural integrity. They also provided drawings showing what work needed to be done. A summary of their report is: replace broken rafters, strengthen 2 existing roof trusses, replace 2 and add 4 roof support purlins, add 2 new roof trusses, add 1 portico roof support beam, replace 4 window headers, repair masonry cracks, add a steel band around the top of the building. --- 162 hours; $7,067.20
Cleanout Upstairs
(August 2002) - Although the school has been used as a community center since the early 1970s, the upstairs portion consisting of 2 classrooms, 2 cloakrooms, an entry and office area, and an attic with belfry had been abandoned and unused since the school closed in 1937. The roof has leaks and the windows were broken and (loosely) boarded up, so there was 60+ years worth of water damage, dirt, dust, bird and bat guano and dead bodies, etc up there. Ceilings were falling off. We stripped the ceilings, and cleaned up and hauled away all the debris. --- 141 hours; $153.30Sign
(April 2002) - Built and installed a sign in front of the school reading "Pleasantview School 1910", with a bulletin board below the sign to announce Pleasantview Community Association events; e.g. meetings, breakfasts, potlucks. --- 44 hours; $114.22Outhouse (October 2001) - Scraped, rebuilt, sanded, and painted 1 of 2 outhouses. This was the better condition outhouse of the 2. It was the girls outhouse, and is a 4-holer! --- 66 hours; $17.96