Wednesday 30 November 2016

No Smoking

Definitely NO SMOKING here!

Schell Lumber has been the local centre for providing building supplies and equipment to commercial construction companies and eager home do-it-yourselfers since 1922 when Wesley Schell purchased the property then owned by The Canada Bee Supply Company.
Wesley Schell's sons Harry and Percy started helping out in the 1940s, and ran the business until 2002. The next generation of Schells is now in charge, with a fourth generation of the Schell family as employees.


The main brick building is over 100 years old. Many pairs of boots have clumped up these stairs to the Sash and Door Shop above the main store where a variety of antique milling machines can reproduce practically any type of molding, dovetailing, cornices, crown molding, mortise and tenon window frames etc.... you name it, Schell Lumber can make it for you.


And just in case you didn't see the NO SMOKING sign, here's the heart of the very necessary sprinkler system. For some reason I really like complicated piping..... must be all those years I spent designing natural gas pipelines!



12 comments:

  1. Our house is over 100 years old and the back stairs into the cellar look similar to those in the photo. Minus the no smoking sign. :D

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  2. The stories those stairs could tell...

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  3. Wonderful history in that space!

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  4. That no smoking sign is welcome in any building but especially in one made of wood or one that uses natural gas to function. I didn't know you designed such piping systems. Must have been fun!

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  5. It is just great that the next generation of Schells is now in charge and that fourth generation of the Schell family as employees and so many family members
    Amazing to think that many pairs of boots have clumped up these stairs.
    Great photos, Shammie!

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  6. What a legacy for the shop.
    The well worn stairs are a testament to just plain hard work.

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  7. I love those well-used stairs.

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  8. Four generations and I can hope for four more. Millwork is an art that I greatly appreciate. Those wooden stairs are so lovely.
    You designed natural gas pipelines? Awesome. Tell us more, please.

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  9. I love old buildings, of any sort, but especially those still in use as commercial entities. I especially love stairs so used that you can see the wearing down. Lovely.

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  10. Love those stairs too! Definitely No Smoking in that place!!!

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  11. Sounds like an astonishing establishment. I was involved in the relocation of some test rigs for British gas years ago; you'd have loved all the pipework!!

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