I’m working at remodeling the old service station. The most interesting thing is that the repairs aren’t a whole lot different than what I read my old high school (now the middle school) needs – and the comments on that read like it would be cheaper and easier just to tear it down and start anew.
My first task was replacing the roof – once the leaks were repaired, other work could proceed. Like the old high school, we’ll be adding another frame to the inside wall – simply enough, the insulation of 1966 hasn’t been adequate for a long time. Framing in a second, internal wall will give seven inches for insulation . The copper tubing used for plumbing will be replaced by pex. Deferring maintenance – whether a building or a piece of equipment – just means you’ll be paying more later.
Someone early in the building’s history removed a load bearing wall. We put it back in, within a couple of inches of the original. The sheetrock cracks disappeared as the 20 ton hydraulic jack took out the sag – it shows where the work should have been done years ago – but it’s OK, the repairs are coming along.
Once we get the old store part fixed, the challenge will be getting the old logging camp cookshack moved a bit toward the south, and, if we can, getting a solid foundation under it. I’ve got the idea that the cookshack and bunkhouse were used in railroad logging down along the Kootenai until about 1936, and that Don Boslaugh brought them up to Trego to work in the impact with Westwood Acres 30 years later. There’s too much history in the old logging camp buildings not to do a little bit of restoration. Again, deferred maintenance is a debt that has to be paid sooner or later.
Trego's Mountain Ear 