farmhouse tear down

[philupthegastank]

ripped the exterior walls off my farm house this past weekend. Only things we found were mouse poop, a few hornets nests and a honey bee hive, no gold, guns, newspapers, collectibles or cool things :/. But i was glad to tear down the walls to get all that old nasty insulation out.

 

[philupthegastank]

sorry, the first picture is flipped 180 degrees and the other one is flipped 90 degrees CCW

 

[brian89gp]

Looks like a it is still in real good shape.

 

[Fsappo]

Sorry you didn't find any "treasures". Getting into old structures and finding history is always a thrill.

 

[Bret Chase]

=

Sorry you didn't find any "treasures". Getting into old structures and finding history is always a thrill.

Sometimes the thrill isn't a good one..... like finding sticky hollow cardboard tubes (decomposed dynamite... extremely sensitive).

During the continuing rehab of my 1865 farm house.. I only have had to call the Maine State Police bomb squad once... I found a 5# brick of Semtex.. in my attic

I have found a lot of less explosive things that were very cool.... and have made a pretty penny off of what was basically garbage. It is astonishing what someone will pay for an old tobacco tin w/ the tax stamps still on it...

 

[Fsappo]

I am trying to figure out why someone would store semtex in the attic

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Found a 1923 penny inside a wall the other day,still hoping for the big treasure find on a rehab.

 

[Fsappo]

That's an old penny. Did you look it up to see if it was a valuable mint?

 

[Seasoned Oak]

That's an old penny. Did you look it up to see if it was a valuable mint?

No mint designation. Like a (d) or an (s) Still waiting for that 1909 VBD

 

[Fsappo]

My son and I went thru a 5 gallon water jug full of chance, took weeks (he was 4) found lots of coins from 20's-40's. by lots, maybe 50 or so. I looked online, some pennies were worth 15 cents, to a dollar, etc. Found a silver nickel,, etc. Anyhow, those few dozen coins with a face value of maybe $2.00 got us about $50.00

North quite worth the man hours if that's all you were looking at, but it was very fun. Kind of like a treasure hunt. Kept him off the iPad for a good long time.

 

[Bret Chase]

I am trying to figure out why someone would store semtex in the attic

I have no idea... and am glad its gone.

buuuut... people used to (when anyone could buy it) store dynamite in the attic too... even though its just about the worst possible place for it (aside from sitting on top of the wood stove). it is amazing more houses didn't just randomly blow up back then.

 

[Whitepine2]

sorry, the first picture is flipped 180 degrees and the other one is flipped 90 degrees CCW

Don't you just love all that horse hair plaster just 2 years ago finished the last room
and don't care to ever see any again. It gets into everything and will be years before it's all gone funny how it keeps popping up.

 

[philupthegastank]

yeah, all the dust is horrible, plus the dust from the old insulation... gonna have to rent an industrial vacuum to suck it all up

 

[Knots]

Man that looks good. No water damage. That's the treasure you found.

My last house was built in 1938. I was digging the dirt floor out in the barn in order to put in a concrete floor. In the exact center of the barn I found one of those big metal milk cans buried. I thought for sure I hit the old man's money stash. Pulled it up and it had a little weight to it. Opened the lid and there was a plastic bag inside. Pulled the plastic bag up and there was nothing but a few inches of sand in the bottom.

Oh well - it was a nice milk can...

 

[brian89gp]

yeah, all the dust is horrible, plus the dust from the old insulation... gonna have to rent an industrial vacuum to suck it all up

What I do is take a normal shop vac, hook up a oneida dust deputy to it, take all of the filters out of the shop vac itself, and hook up a hose to the outlet/blower and hang it out the window. The dust deputy gets the majority of the dust and whatever it doesn't gets blown out the hose out the window. Plaster dust and the old coal soot is so fine it tends to just plug up filters real quick.

Look for the Shop Vac Bucket Max. It is a motor/powerhead that you put on top of a 5 gallon bucket. Costs around $30. Plaster dust will get the shop vac extremely dusty and you might want to have one dedicated to the task.

Full face filter masks are also nice. I use the one in the link below, good filters that keep that super fine dust out of my lungs and also the mask keeps all of that dust out of my eyes. Have pre-filters that snap on over the filters so I don't plug them up as frequently.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JZ1M10

 

[Bret Chase]

I have never even heard of a dust deputy... that is awesome! What I did when I gutted my dining room was use the $40 HEPA filter for my shop vac while wearing an N100 particulate mask..... AND I had 2 20" box fans blowing out of the two dining room windows.

And despite all that..... the water ran grey down the shower drain each night.

I need to get upstairs and tear out all of the plaster.... been kind of avoiding it.... its a terrible way to spend the day.

 

[CrufflerJJ]

Many moons ago, I helped my parents rip loose the plaster & lath covering the interior of their 2 story log home (built in the very early 1800's). Inside a covered-up window frame was a cedar shingle. On the shingle was drawn (in pencil) a naughty picture (as drawn from the rear) of a female bending over. It had five guys' signatures on it, along with "May 24, 1869 The Whore Masters of Miamisburg".

 

[Fsappo]

Many moons ago, I helped my parents rip loose the plaster & lath covering the interior of their 2 story log home (built in the very early 1800's). Inside a covered-up window frame was a cedar shingle. On the shingle was drawn (in pencil) a naughty picture (as drawn from the rear) of a female bending over. It had five guys' signatures on it, along with "May 24, 1869 The Whore Masters of Miamisburg".

Even though naughty.....when I see some random, down to earth piece of history like that, I try to take some time and imagine the moment. Try to imagine the 5 guys..their lives, their commute to that job site. Their conversation while drawing the rump. Like a trip back in time.

 

[CrufflerJJ]

Even though naughty.....when I see some random, down to earth piece of history like that, I try to take some time and imagine the moment. Try to imagine the 5 guys..their lives, their commute to that job site. Their conversation while drawing the rump. Like a trip back in time.

Yup - it's a part of history. When my parents sold the house about 20 years ago, the shingle stayed with the house & new owners.

 

[brian89gp]

I have never even heard of a dust deputy... that is awesome! What I did when I gutted my dining room was use the $40 HEPA filter for my shop vac while wearing an N100 particulate mask..... AND I had 2 20" box fans blowing out of the two dining room windows.

And despite all that..... the water ran grey down the shower drain each night.

I need to get upstairs and tear out all of the plaster.... been kind of avoiding it.... its a terrible way to spend the day.

36" or lager cage fans work real well for clearing the dust. Those 20" box fans are better then nothing but they don't really move much air in comparison. Usually situate the 36" fan in a doorway and open a couple windows on the opposite sides of the house, the cross airflow tends to keep the dust down somewhat. Course I am usually de-plastering an entire house at once.

The dust deputy is also very cool for repointing old lime mortar stone foundations, just vacuum out the joints... Its not perfect and some of the super fine stuff still gets through but its nice not having to buy bags and filters all the time. Also use it for dry cutting concrete (9" angle grinder) and it seems to capture at least 75% of the concrete dust.

 

[Bret Chase]

36" or lager cage fans work real well for clearing the dust. Those 20" box fans are better then nothing but they don't really move much air in comparison. Usually situate the 36" fan in a doorway and open a couple windows on the opposite sides of the house, the cross airflow tends to keep the dust down somewhat. Course I am usually de-plastering an entire house at once.

I used 20" fans... because that is what would fit in the windows. I have a 42" fan... I didn't want to blow the dust through the rest of the house.

 

[ironpony]

Just an FYI, most of the old plaster contains asbestos. Be safe.

 

[Bret Chase]

Just an FYI, most of the old plaster contains asbestos. Be safe.

most of the old plaster contains horse hair... and lime.

 

[Shari]

I am trying to figure out why someone would store semtex in the attic

More convenient than storing it in the basement???

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I have no idea... and am glad its gone.

buuuut... people used to (when anyone could buy it) store dynamite in the attic too... even though its just about the worst possible place for it (aside from sitting on top of the wood stove). it is amazing more houses didn't just randomly blow up back then.

Semtex is entirely stable, thankfully (can hit it with a hammer, light it on fire, run it over with your car), but you did the right thing calling for disposal- it could also lead them to ask questions about the origin.

Now old dynamite... maybe different story