The Building of the Laft Hus - Part 4

Utilities Installation

After much debate it was decided to forego some authenticity for modern heating and lighting to make the structure more useable. Care was taken to install a virtually concealed refrigerator, stove top and modern furnace. Fred Anderson and son completed the electric installations, metered in the nearby Recreation Centre building. Electric and telephone lines were installed underground. Gas lines were brought over underground diagonal from the Recreation Centre building, and metered at the south end of the east sval. Un-metered cold water was brought over from waterlines directly west of the building, available throughout the summer from an exterior water tap on the northerly west corner. Ron Harden, of Red Deer, installed the hidden gas furnace with Herman Thorsen of Innisfail, installing the ductwork. Ron also was responsible for having the old-fashioned ceiling chandeliers designed, build and installed. They accomodated both candles and electric bulbs. An automatically timed underground roof sprinkler system was added a year after the house was completed, to keep the roof grass alive after having to replace the quickly drying sod on the south roof slope.

Fireplace

Often the fireplaces of old Norway, called "peis", were constructed of boulders, but more often of flat stones, plastered over to a smooth white surface. The materials and labour for the fireplace was donated by Bendt Husted of Red Deer, another immigrant from Denmark in the late 1940s. Again the Provincial Building Codes prevailed, replacing the planned mammoth double "peis" to one restricted to a much smaller firebox. This was covered and shaped over mortared firebricks, then plastered overall to the shape which closely resembled the fireplace in the old Norwegian houses. The iron fireplace cooking hardware was designed, produced and donated by Don Maygard of Piegeon Lake, Alberta.