The last bat exclusion project at the Meeting House was done around 1995. Their concern then was the same as ours now - the accumulation of bat guano in the attic. So, they sealed up the areas where they could see daylight - and boarded up the seams between the stone walls and the roof to keep the bats out. We could see their handiwork up there. But for the last several years, it had been clear that the bats were back. I watched several times last summer as at dusk they came pouring out of the building to do their thing. I don't mind them in the neighborhood - I know they are good guys - but I didn't want them living there for 10-20 years, hundreds of them, adding to the piles of guano, and one day having the dropped ceiling fall in from the weight of the guano, and having that smell be the permanent fragrance of the Meeting House. So, that was the impetus for the current project - to exclude them from the attic, but also to welcome them to new bat houses that we would put in place.
So this morning we were again at work at the Meeting House. Another 8:00 a.m. gathering of Scott and Tayo and me. Bob popped his head through the hatch later. As long as we had the ladder up and lighting in place in the attic, I wanted to put down more boards to walk around safely in the attic, and provide a platform and staging area for tools and equipment. So, I bought 1" plywood boards last night, and we hauled them up to the attic; then loaded up more planks that Bob had dropped off earlier in the week as well. Then the three of us climbed up as well - through the hatch, and started laying out the boards where we wanted them.
When you come up the ladder, it does not come through the hatch but ends right below it. So, you come to the hatch, with hands full of gear, you need a place to put down whatever you are carrying up, because then you need two hands free to be able to lift yourself up through the hatch, and then climb off and onto the beams. Last week, and for the last 220 years, you were coming through the hatch and then stretching out to get a hand on a beam, then a foot, then another foot, and then be able to balance on the beams before standing up. There was no floor surface, and you do not want to stand on the plaster and lathe between the beams.
We nailed the plywood in place so now there is a platform to pull yourself on to, and a staging area for tools and supplies beneath the window, which lets in a fair amount of light when opened. We also put in place the planks so that you can walk easily down to the far end, traverse north and then back west, on a boardwalk of planks, all laid from beam to beam and nailed into place.
The last piece of the attic project will be to run wiring for lighting, so that we won't have to carry temporary lights and an extension cord up and set that up to see. A row of ceiling lights and an electrical outlet will provide all the comforts of home for that next group who needs to go up and work in this attic. Perhaps that is 10-20 years from now - who knows - but I wanted to add the electric piece to the project. We could easily just close the hatch and let the next group worry about the same issues when they pop their heads up there in 10-20 years. But I want to make it better for that next group - so that their job up there is made easier than ours was this time.
The planks that Bob has dropped off were vertical slices of tree, not finished sanded wood, but lengths of tree run through a sawmill, some with bark still attached. I suggested that future groups who come up here will think that those are planks from the original construction back in 1791. Scott said "yeah, until they see the nails - that gives it away." The old nails in the 18th century were hand made and very expensive. I did not see any old nails in the attic. Much of the original wood is joined and then has wooden pegs to hold the pieces together, and not nails. We were securing the walkways in place with modern nails. That will be the giveaway. Let those future groups figure that out as well.
Looking back, I know that not many people have been up in this space in 220 years. I've been attending this meeting House since 1995 or so, and had never been in the attic until last weekend. It is inaccessible - there are no stairs in place, no ladder in place, to be able to get there. Before two years ago, you also had to pass through a dropped ceiling of tiles and insulation to get to the attic hatch. So, a long extension ladder had to be brought in and then inserted almost straight up to get to the hatch.
But as a practical matter, there was no reason to go up there, as nothing was stored up there. There had been a bat exclusion project in 1995 or so, and that was the last time the attic has been visited by humans until this spring. I had contacted Beth, one of the people involved in that previous bat project, to ask her about what they had done. She shared the details that she could remember. And then I wondered about who else was in this very select club of people who had been up in that attic. I am guessing that if we gathered together all the people who had ever been in that attic since 1791, we would all probably fit up there. It's a select club. In thinking about that, I decided that when we are done up there this spring, I will print out these journal entries, and the photos of the people who have been involved in the work, and put that all in a time capsule up there, so that the next groups can read what we have done, can add their own entries. If each group does that, and if the Meeting House is still standing in another 100-200 years, there will be a history of the attic visits and the maintenance history up there as well. And each group from the past will introduce themselves to each group from the future in that way. "Hello friends from 3011, and greetings from Doug Humes, in 2011."
After the attic work, we put up the first bat house on an exterior wall of the building. Bob had built the bat house based on readings on the internet. When you are luring bats from their old haunts, we read that it should be sited near the old haunt. It should also face south and east to get full morning sun. While I do not like the idea of having the bat house on the building, I view it as a short term measure. The instructions had further said that once the bats spend a few years in the new space, you can then move it away from the building. So, if the current bats take to this new house, then perhaps in a few years we can move it onto poles in the cemetery.
So, the new bat house went up on the wall of the building, and then Scott reached into our guano bucket, with plastic newspaper wrap on his hand, and rubbed the old guano all over the bat house. The bat house is not far below where the bats had been entering the attic. We were in full sun when putting it up, so it will get full morning sun. So, let's hope they find it, and like it. But I would like to put other bat houses in other locations nearby as well. And soon. They are due back any day from whatever bat cave they spent their winter in.
Two summers ago I tore down the old dropped ceiling and the insulation to open up the west side of the Meeting House so that you could see up to the ceiling below the attic. That also opened up the view to the windows on the south side of the wall, and brought natural light into the room. In uncovering the upper walls, I also uncovered various cracks and bubbling of the plaster walls that need attention. When taking down the dropped ceiling, I had not been able to get to the top of the ceiling to unhook the wires that held the ceiling in place, and so there are about 20-30 wires hanging from the ceiling that need to be removed. To get up to the ceiling to remove those old wires and to patch the various cracks in the ceiling plaster, we need scaffolding. Not many places will rent that any more. I suppose with insurance costs and the risks that working on scaffolding poses, the rental companies simply decided not to carry it or rent it any more. Fortunately, Bob says he has some old scaffolding, and that be believes he has enough of it to build a moving platform. We would erect it inside where we first wanted to work, and the would then move it over, secure it, and then work from point to point, till the wires were removed and the holes were all patched. Then repeat to paint the ceiling. The last piece of the current project would then be to hand new ceiling light fixtures and one or two ceiling fans. With this work done, that room would then be available to hold Sunday meetings in a fresh "new" space, and also make it available for other gatherings - perhaps concerts, speakers, meetings, yoga classes, etc. I want to bring more life to the Meeting, and so I want an attractive space to be able to host those events.
That is where I want to be by June - with that room patched and painted and with new lights and a fan in place. What happens after that is largely out of my hands, but these are good improvements to make. The alternative is to simply let the building continue to deteriorate. Or to say "Let someone else worry about it". But I know that no one else is going to do it right now. I love being in that old building. When everyone left today, I sat down and played the piano a bit, and looked around at the other small improvements that I have made this spring - coat hooks, moving the bulletin board to a more noticeable place, making a more accessible space to display reading material, a new trash can, putting fresh batteries in the flashlight. I have a small notebook full of future potential projects like this. I had the thought a few weeks ago to each week make some small improvement, and over time, they will accumulate. And even after just a few weeks, the chance is noticeable - to me. But if I keep this up, just think what it will look like in a year. I am looking forward to seeing it then.
