On my way out of Le Roy, I stopped by the Wiss again and got there just before Tim Hens did.
I know from previous conversations, Tim was pretty interested in how a third floor was added to a wood-frame building.
It looks like the third floor was just built right on top of the roof of the original structure. What we're seeing is the back of the original structure and a portion of the added on third floor, which was built across the original structure and a later extension to the back of the building.
The other key thing -- and this picture doesn't really capture it as obviously as it is visible in person -- is how much the third floor and second floor ceiling is sagging.
Hens and Bob Lathan talked about the condition of the building a bit. As you know from our previous tour of the building, there was a sheet of ice on a large portion of the third floor.
Lathan said since then we've have a few thaws and refreezes.
Hens said ice weighs as much as concrete.
Lathan said the string he had stretched through the second floor to measure settling of the building had dropped 3/4 of an inch in the last month.
Though Hens said it's just his opinion and not scientific, based on what he observed today, he doesn't think the building would have lasted through another winter.
Hens said it probably still would have taken a developer gutting the building to accurately access the soundness of the structure.
