Tim Hyde
Tim Hyde
Chief project manager
Heritage Grade, Ottawa, Ontario
A skilled carpenter, Tim Hyde is the chief project manager at Heritage Grade, a firm that specializes in wood and iron restoration.
It is his responsibility to oversee projects from start to finish. That begins with preparing documents for bids on multimillion-dollar jobs and figuring out details with construction companies, architects and engineers. He also consults with conservation experts on restoration techniques and is responsible for hiring and training the crew.
Hyde is the guy who makes sure that the job is done to the highest standard. And to do that job well, he has to be a perfectionist.
Hyde has made it to the top of his field. Yet when he was a child, he struggled at school and doubted that he would succeed at anything.
He learned some carpentry at the local Y in Toronto when he was 12 years old, and was so enthusiastic about woodworking that soon he was buying tools and equipping his own shop.
After high school, he drifted from job to job, not able to find satisfying work that paid a decent wage.
By a stroke of luck, a call came from Ottawa from a friend who knew Hyde was a capable carpenter. It was a job offer to restore the wooden windows of the Cartier Drill Hall.
At the beginning, he had trouble just understanding the job specifications. But he persevered. When the job was complete, his supervisor and the project architect were pleased with the fine workmanship. Now Hyde was hooked on heritage restoration. He started reading everything he could find about window restoration.
Another lucky break was a meeting with a contractor who appreciated his ability and attention to detail. Together they bid on a prestigious job: the restoration of the windows of the East Block of Parliament.
At the start it wasn’t clear if the windows could be salvaged. Hyde removed the first window and examined it. White oak, with fine, tight growth rings—the window was built to last. He repaired the window slowly and carefully, tightening the joints, strengthening the sill with epoxy, cleaning it and putting back the glazing. Then he showed his crew what to do.
The windows will last forever, Hyde predicts.
His most demanding job was the restoration of the interior of the Library of Parliament.
The crew worked for about two years. Sometimes 20 people were on the job. They restored the original carved pine book stacks and shelving, stripped and reapplied faux finish to the double iron doors (the doors that saved the Library from the fire of 1918), and refinished the spiral staircase.
Hyde can’t imagine a more satisfying job than what he is doing. He thinks there are good jobs in restoration carpentry waiting for men and women with training in basic carpentry. The most important qualification, he stresses, is the willingness to work hard.
Heritage Grade
http://asbex.net/HG/index.html
http://www.parliamenthill.gc.ca/text/cmplbr/
libraryworkvideos_20070117text_e.html
Video stills# 67 and 68, showing work on Library of Parliament, Sheila Petzold, director, Telewerx, Mary Soper, executive producer, PWGSC
“Our Library of Parliament” by Mary F. Soper, Heritage Magazine (Volume II, Number 2, Spring 2004)
g/news/archived/spring2004/feature.html
