Photo of the Day: Over Underkill

While looking at older homes, a client and I stumbled upon this odd construction technique.  The builder had the right idea to support the floor with a 6x6 post.  However, he neglected to put the 2x6 cross beam in a vertical position to support the load of the floor joists.  Whoops!  Notice the nice arch going on there...that's not lens distortion from my camera.

Amazingly, this handy work is about 80 years old.  It's a testament to the integrity of the materials they used back then.  A 2x6 today would have snapped if used this way.