Walk with me… Henry the oops

Henry came into our lives very unexpectedly.

North, my Frank Lloyd Wright love affair… a tree house that brings the outside… in.
Then… there is Henry… the oops.

As I developed North, I neglected the reality of aging, and living on a second floor.

I assumed two small dumbwaiters would accommodate our living bounty (Costco/wine/dog food). I never considered the need for accommodating us.
It was our county building inspector who condemned one of our two stairways and flagged changes necessary in the other that initiated a difficult conversation between Kip and I. With our advancing age in the front view mirror… How do we get up into our treehouse if for physical reasons the stairs are not an option. This conversation caused a significant pause in our project.

Henry (the elevator) was conceived on Mother’s Day 2025.

Three weeks ago, the life of Henry began. It started with his anchor into the earth. In the area of the condemned stairway on the main floor, a  62″x73″ opening was cut into the concrete slab floor. Shovels were used to dig a 26″ pit . Five gallon buckets were used to remove the debris. It is not a common practice to incorporate an elevator into existing construction. We were fortunate that our current space could accommodate the required specifications.

Supporting rebar… preparing for concrete

the pour … 8″ deep with 8″ side walls.

Two (2), two-story rails were constructed to secure the hydraulic lifting system. Each column included glue laminated beams screwed and glued together to 2×6 wood inserts, to support a moving weight requirement of 3 ton.

The shaft, that houses Henry followed. The goal in this build is twofold: the rails perfectly aligned with no movement as the hydrolytic unit moves vertically 40′ per minute between floors, and a perfectly symmetrical two story shaft that never impedes the vertical operation of Henry getting us safely home.

… to be continued
“finishing North”