My Crooked House
John wants to put a metal frame around our house as a way of correcting its lean.
He already put metal beams under the floor in the first-floor kitchen in an attempt to reverse its sagging.
He points out how the straight edge of the new built-in bookcase in the first-floor living room calls attention to the ceiling slant.
The space between wall and frame of the back door changes from 2 ¾ inches at the base to 4 ¼ inches at the top.
The second floor has its own set of problems: Much carpentry had to be done to the kitchen window to square it on the wall and objects that fall on the dining room floor roll from north to south.
This morning he, while sitting in the yard, noticed how the stairs are off-center from the door.
Yes, I say to him, all over there are signs of the leans, slants, settles, sags and cracks underneath.
But, I add, this house has survived a century; it does not need to be straightened out.
(used by permission of CavanKerry Press)
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