Author Topic: Bear9350's Home Remodel (Read 11375 times)

Bear9350 · « **on:** January 14, 2016, 10:15:51 AM »

I thought I would post up the "remodel" job my wife and I did on our home over the past summer. The finishing touches are still ongoing but for the most part we got it finished up.

I use the term remodel somewhat loosely here. Basically we built a new house inside the old one.

We purchased the house and about 2 acres about three years ago. We were looking for something out in the country somewhat close to where we both work and with a little bit of land. The home was originally part of a farm and was part of a 40. Here are a few pics of what it looked like before we started.

I didn't have much for interior pics before we started. I will see if the wife has any stored some place. When we purchased it the plan was to do a major renovation. Initially we didn't plan on doing this much but then decided we should just go all in.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 14, 2016, 10:21:16 AM »

The house was original built in 1856. My wife did a lot of research on the home and previous property owners. After over 150 years my wife and I are only the fourth owners of the property. It was obvious much of the home was still original and the rest hadn't been touched since the 60's. A lot of it was in bad shape.

At some point the original owners added a little addition. The summer kitchen was built early in the 1900'. Then at some point one of the owners decided to take the Summer kitchen off and use it as a hog barn. In it's place they built this lean-to, which I hated. It looked so out of place on the house. It was decided we would tear the roof off at some point and add trusses to match the existing roof line.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 14, 2016, 10:27:02 AM »

The summer after we bought it the insurance company required us to update the electrical. The house was still running of 60 amp, in a fuse box, with a lot of knob-and-tube wiring. I had a buddy at work who was a licensed electrician come out and help me get a 200 amp service installed with circuit breakers. We replaced some of the knob-and-tube but left most of it. At the same time a buried a line capable of handling a 200 amp service to the garage and area where I hope to build a shop in the future. The line that was running to the garage could only handle 20 amps. This wasn't going to work to run my welder, air compressor and some of my other tools.

Last summer we started talking to a couple different designers and had a set of floor plans drawn up that we liked. We decided to start remodeling starting spring 2014.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 14, 2016, 10:45:11 AM »

We starting moving everything out mid-April to get ready for demo. The initial plan was to demo and then rebuild one half. Then demo and rebuild the second half.

We started out by taking up the old hardwood floors. We were considering trying to re-use some of the original hardwood floors so I took every piece up carefully. Amazingly for how old this stuff was I was able to safe 95% of it.

After the flooring was gone it was time to start the real demo work. Taking out the latte and plaster. Lattes were loaded in my truck and moved to a burn pile. Some of the plaster was also dumped in the bed of the truck and then dumped in a pile in the back corner of the property where a barn foundation was. The intent being to bury it all later.

I removed nearly all of the latte and plaster and loaded up and hauled it away myself. After seeing how the framework and beams were constructed for the second floor I quickly realized the initial plan was not going to work. We were going to need to demo the whole place at once.

At some point I borrowed the neighbors dump trailer to assist with the demo work. Loaded everything into the wheel barrow and dumped in into the dump trailer. From there I dumped it on the pile. All the lathe/ non-burnable to be buried and all the wood in a pile to burn.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 14, 2016, 01:19:52 PM »

At some point in mid to late may I had all the first and second floor gutted and all the pine floor boards pulled off the joists.

The plan was to remove the main beam going through the center of the house. When we purchased the house the main beam was in ok shape but there were a few issues. One of the metal posts holding it up was rotted off at the bottom and doing nothing. There was also a stone wall in the basement under part of the main beam. Upon inspection I found the stone wall wasn't load bearing, just a room divider. When I took the stone wall out I found a second, cedar post buried in the wall completely rotted. This post was under a splice in the main beam. In this portion of the house the floor was about 9" lower than flat. In addition this caused the main beam to twist. It was decided to remove and replace the beam instead of trying to repair and strengthen it.

One side of the floor joists were mortared into the walls of the house. The other side notched into the beam. We started by supporting all the joists on the beam side and then cutting them free of the beam. We removed the old beam separating at the splice and built a new beam from 2x 10 material. The beam ended up being 13" wide to span the gap between the cut off floor joists. New 2x10 floor joists were sistered along side the old joists so a new flat floor could be built. The old joists has about an 1" of sag in the center of them.

After the beam was built, joists were sistered and hung with new brackets we put 3/4" tongue and groove OSB down for the new sub-floor. Screwing and gluing each piece.

I was able to get a large enough crew of friends and family together to get most of this done in one long weekend.

Ready to start cutting off floor boards to take the old beam out:

New beam in and attaching floor joists.

Checking level before sistering new floor boards on second half.

As you may be able to see I have my left arm wrapped up here. The night before I rode on of the cut-off floor joists into the basement. I ended up going in for 5 stitches in my leg. Luckily no real damage was done and this was the worst of the injuries to occur during the whole remodel.

The new sub-floor layed down.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 14, 2016, 01:36:33 PM »

Next up was pulling all the floor joists for the second floor. Instead of trying to re-use the old beams and joists which were motared in we planed on build studded walls around the exterior and putting in I-joists. Removing the old joists was easy. They were just notched into the beams and they pulled right out of the walls.

Load of old floor joists. All the beams and floor joists were oak lumber. This stuff was hard. It was almost impossible to drive a nail straight into one of these. If you nailed a new board up to one and then had to pull it apart you would pull the nail of the head through the new lumber before pulling the shank out of the old joist.

All the old joists removed. Ready to start framing walls.

In this pick you can see the insulation we had put in the attic. We purchased the property in the spring. Before the first winter we demoed the upstairs removing all the walls and ceiling. (the upstairs was un-livable the way it was when we bought it.) We then hung some plastic and I purchased some fiberglass batts to insulate the attic with. There was basically no insulation up there when we bought it.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #6 on:** January 14, 2016, 02:09:15 PM »

Lovely old home. Know it will appreciate the love and care you are giving it. Look forward to more updates.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bear9350 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 14, 2016, 04:10:11 PM »

Quote from: TexasRedNeck on January 14, 2016, 02:09:15 PM

Lovely old home. Know it will appreciate the love and care you are giving it. Look forward to more updates.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It was definitely in need of a little TLC when we bought it. The first winter we lived in it was extremely cold. It was mid November and already cold. We were having problems with a drain in the basement occasionally backing up. Though we had fixed it earlier in the fall but then the week before I was supposed to head up north for deer season it backed up and wasn't going back down. (The WI deer season gun hunt is 9 days. Opens Sat morning and closes the following Sun evening. Always during the week of Thanksgiving.) I had determined the problem must be in the septic tank. This was an old tank with a ceramic 9" access pipe. I was also about to find out it was all of 12' deep. I headed up north for the weekend to go deer hunting with the intention of coming back home Sun evening to work on the septic instead of hunt all week like I had planned.

Monday morning I hook up to the trailer and drive into town to rent a mini excavator. The temps had plummeted over the weekend and highs were already in the single digits. This is extremely cold real fast for WI. The newer excavator with the enclosed heated cab was out so I got the older open cab. Lucky I did too because the newer one only had a 10 ft reach and I used every bit of that old excavators 12 ft reach to just scrape the top of my tank. Spent the rest of the day digging a big hole in my yard to unbury the tank and first part of the drain field pipe.
Loaded the excavator up the next morning and exchanged it for a jack hammer. It was time to make that 9" access hole a 2' access hole so I could replace it with a new standard sized one. After having the tank pumped out (again) I was able to determine the steel outlet pipe to my drain field had completely rotted and collapsed.
I spent most of Wed morning with a hammer and chisel pounding and beating out the old pipe so I could slide a new pvc pipe into its place. It is now Wed afternoon. The day before Thanksgiving. I expect my wife to be home at any moment. she thinks we are going to load the dog up as soon as she gets home and make the 2-1/2 drive north for Thanksgiving dinner as soon as she gets home. Instead I told her to go inside and change. We needed to clean all the rook and other debris out of the tank before we could close it up. I go into the garage and grab a couple 2 gallon buckets. I jump into the hole and start handing her bucket after bucket of dirt, rock, and composted waste from the bottom of the tank. She takes the buckets and dumps them in the hole by the drain pipe. A couple hours later we finish up, take a shower and head up north.
Thursday night my dad comes back with us. Early Friday we borrow the neighbors skid steer. Drop the new 2' ft concrete access in place. Mix up some quickcrete to seal it up and seal the new drain pipe in. Then use the skid steer to fill the hole back in. Then we both headed back up north so I could atleast try and get a couple days of hunting in.

EL TATE · « **Reply #8 on:** January 14, 2016, 06:21:46 PM »

THAT sounds like loads of fun. I won't clog up your thread with my own septic nightmare, but suffice it to say that I have been in your shoes, with less equipment and a lot more moisture. The stone walls are beautiful and the wood interior with the stone reminds me of Richard Proenneke and One Man's Wilderness. I look forward to the re-finished wood floors.

Atkinsmatt · « **Reply #9 on:** January 14, 2016, 06:56:30 PM »

Clog it up. See what you did there? Great project and a lot of hard work.

stlaser · « **Reply #10 on:** January 14, 2016, 07:05:08 PM »

Love the stone exterior, I've been involved in renovations of this depth myself. You definitely had a lot of work ahead of you at this point.....

KensAuto · « **Reply #11 on:** January 14, 2016, 09:05:02 PM »

Looks like a great place!! ....if the walls could talk....

Bear9350 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 14, 2016, 10:49:35 PM »

Quote from: KensAuto on January 14, 2016, 09:05:02 PM

Looks like a great place!! ....if the walls could talk....

Actually the previous owner, Violet has stopped in a couple times. Her husband passed away years ago and the only reason she sold was because she knew it needed work and she didn't want to do it herself. Last time she brought a pile of old pictures.

From the research we did Violet's husband's father purchased the home from the man who built it. She knows a good bit of history on the place since that point. I didn't see the pictures as I had a crew of guys helping me that weekend and I couldn't afford to take the time to visit with her. My wife did though and I guess there used to be an old stone barn on the property that would have drawfed the house. Unfortunately a lightening strike hit it and burned the barn down I'll n the 70s I believe.

My wife is currently in contact with her grand daughter who is working on scanning and sending us a bunch of pics as well as some other history.

I'm sure Violet will stop in at some point this spring again to check it out and we will get a chance to talk about the GH history of the place some more.

JR · « **Reply #13 on:** January 15, 2016, 12:58:32 AM »

Nice place and love the rebuild. All those pics will give it a wonderful feel.

Just enough land to do what you want without being a slave to upkeep.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 15, 2016, 09:36:26 AM »

This is a good story!

Bear9350 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 15, 2016, 10:17:09 AM »

With the new floor down and second floor removed it was time to studding out the exterior walls. These walls would be load bearing holding the second floor up. I-joists would span the walls to create the floor.

After the exterior walls were up we put the I-joists in place and then built the load bearing wall that would run down the center of the house.

We had to take one of the old beams out. These beams were set in the walls and had a rod running from the beam up to the top of the wall anchored into a beam there. This beam didn't seem to be doing anything anymore as it was floating in the walls and held up by the rods.

With the second floor in I built the stair way upstairs. This was one of the more challenging parts of the project. Laying the landings and treads out to come out correctly taking into account the flooring being used etc.. so it comes out correctly. For stairs to be to code there can only be a 3/8 difference in the rise of all the reads in a stairwell. I needed to deviate from the original plans here. With the way the stairs were layed out my rise was to great. I needed to add an additional stair in some place. I decided to add a stair between the two landings. This made the hall a little wider which was nice but ate into my office space a little.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 15, 2016, 10:25:53 AM »

Finally I decided it was time to re-do the addition. The construction of it wasn't done properly and I decided it would be easier to completely tear it off and re-build it instead of try and repair what was there. First thing I needed to move the electrical over that was hanging off the side of the house. In the future we plan on building a porch in front of the addition so it would need to move over. I rented a large hammer drill and coring bit from the hardware store and drilled a 3" hole through the 19" thick wall to pass the electric through. Then I called the electric company for a disconnect and moved everything over.

First the porch came off. Then the roof to the addition. Because it was just a lean-to roof and not built that well the roof came of easy. We decided to just grab the sawzall and haul the walls away whole and dump them on the burn pile. We grabbed the chain saw then and cut the floor in half and then hauled that away in two pieces.

Down to the bear foundation we started building the new floor system for the addition.

It was a very confusing summer for the dog.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 15, 2016, 10:35:32 AM »

With some help we got all the addition removed and most of the new floor on in a weekend. The goal was for me to finish up the floor and get the new walls built after work during the next week as I was hoping to have help again the following weekend to install the new trusses.

I got the new walls up and was ready to install trusses the following weekend. We used the neighbors skid steer again and a jig lift and set the trusses in place. By the end of the second weekend all the trusses were up and secured.

We ordered attic trusses so that there would be room in the trusses. This is where the master bath will go. I ordered the trusses myself and after some discussions with there engineers they assured me I would be safe going with 24" centers. Even with there assurance I still wasn't comfortable with that to I decided to do them on the 19.2" centers. That would be the diamonds on your tape measures. I think I remember reading a discussion on that in one of the threads here. 12", 16" and 24" centers come out even on 4'. If you want something between 16" and 24" centers 19.2 or the diamonds come out even on 8'.

JR · « **Reply #18 on:** January 15, 2016, 10:54:50 AM »

My entire garage project used the I beams for the 2nd floor. All 16 centers with the same 3/4 tg glued and screwed. Roof was just 2x10 but on 16 centers again to a 6x16 versalam.

I used screws and lags for about everything but the sheeting, inspector was very happy. I have a stair and room project coming up for here.

Doing it yourself even with friends help is always fulfilling and you know it is done right, great work.

I noticed on the stairs you used ply on the steps, does it still feel solid?

Bear9350 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 15, 2016, 11:47:15 AM »

I used 3/4" plywood. They do feel very solid. They were all glued and screwed in place. I cut the stair stringers from LVL planks. My stairwell is only 36" wide and I do have 3 stringers so there is only about 15" of unsupported area under each tread.

I had a nail gun which was used for a lot of the stud work but we drove a lot of screws also. Those small battery powered impact drivers with 1/4" hex drive are awesome for driving screw.

JR · « **Reply #20 on:** January 15, 2016, 11:55:02 AM »

I did almost my entire 2nd floor using a drill (ryobi had smoke coming from it) until I found the impact worked so much better!

I have a man cave above the garage but planned ahead for another addition next to that. That is scheduled for this season, with a new kitchen below.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #21 on:** January 15, 2016, 11:58:39 AM »

Yeah, those impacts work real slick. I wouldn't have had a hope trying to drive construction screws into those old oak beams with a normal drill but the impact driver didn't have a problem. The only thing I found a drill worked better for was hanging drywall.

Nate · « **Reply #22 on:** January 15, 2016, 12:36:58 PM »

brian, just by the looks of things, I am taking a guess that you are now living in the southern part of WI somewhere around dodgeville area...? that looks like old Norwegian craftsmanship?

Nate · « **Reply #23 on:** January 15, 2016, 12:41:16 PM »

Quote from: Bear9350 on January 15, 2016, 11:58:39 AM

Yeah, those impacts work real slick. I wouldn't have had a hope trying to drive construction screws into those old oak beams with a normal drill but the impact driver didn't have a problem. The only thing I found a drill worked better for was hanging drywall.

get you a bar of regular bath soap and scrape the screw across it and it will go into that oak like a hot knife in warm butter.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #24 on:** January 15, 2016, 01:21:26 PM »

Quote from: nmeyer414 on January 15, 2016, 12:41:16 PM

Quote from: Bear9350 on January 15, 2016, 11:58:39 AM
Yeah, those impacts work real slick. I wouldn't have had a hope trying to drive construction screws into those old oak beams with a normal drill but the impact driver didn't have a problem. The only thing I found a drill worked better for was hanging drywall.

get you a bar of regular bath soap and scrape the screw across it and it will go into that oak like a hot knife in warm butter.

Didn't think of that. I remember doing that as a kid. They were building a new park playground and my parents along with a bunch of others were helping build it. They had a bunch of kids pushing screws through soap. I was probably 6 or something at the time.

I might have to take a screw and try it. This stuff if incredibly hard even compared to todays oak.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #25 on:** January 15, 2016, 01:26:30 PM »

Quote from: nmeyer414 on January 15, 2016, 12:36:58 PM

brian, just by the looks of things, I am taking a guess that you are now living in the southern part of WI somewhere around dodgeville area...? that looks like old Norwegian craftsmanship?

A little north east of there. If I asked the mrs. she would be able to tell me what ethnicity the original builders were. Norwegian does sound correct though.

JR · « **Reply #26 on:** January 15, 2016, 01:48:50 PM »

Quote from: nmeyer414 on January 15, 2016, 12:41:16 PM

get you a bar of regular bath soap and scrape the screw across it and it will go into that oak like a hot knife in warm butter.

Found that out fast using the drill. Had 1 guy helping me by setting the screws with a hammer after soaping them.

stlaser · « **Reply #27 on:** January 15, 2016, 01:56:06 PM »

I'm guessing by the timeline those oak beams are native timber and that is right they are nothing like todays younger trees.......

Bear9350 · « **Reply #28 on:** January 15, 2016, 02:18:57 PM »

Quote from: stlaser on January 15, 2016, 01:56:06 PM

I'm guessing by the timeline those oak beams are native timber and that is right they are nothing like todays younger trees.......

That is correct. Those old beams and floor joists were true old growth timber.

Nate · « **Reply #29 on:** January 15, 2016, 02:55:48 PM »

a request.

please stack and save the wood that you have ripped out of the house. preferably in a shed or barn or something like that out of the direct elements. you can get PREMIUM $$$ for that wood.

here are a few links to what places are asking for specialty wood like that in todays market, and that is not taking into account true old growth rough cut timbers.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=special+order+wood+stores

http://www.woodworkerssource.com/shop/category/Oak_Red.html

http://toolmonger.com/2008/03/19/whats-old-wood-worth/

Bear9350 · « **Reply #30 on:** January 15, 2016, 03:12:42 PM »

Quote from: nmeyer414 on January 15, 2016, 02:55:48 PM

a request.

please stack and save the wood that you have ripped out of the house. preferably in a shed or barn or something like that out of the direct elements. you can get PREMIUM $$$ for that wood.

here are a few links to what places are asking for specialty wood like that in todays market, and that is not taking into account true old growth rough cut timbers.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=special+order+wood+stores

http://www.woodworkerssource.com/shop/category/Oak_Red.html

http://toolmonger.com/2008/03/19/whats-old-wood-worth/

I have it stacked as nice as I could covered outside right now. They were the only thing that did not go on the one of many burn piles. I'm actually heading a specialty hardwood warehouse either tomorrow or early next week. I purchased about 75 bd ft of hard maple from them to build some countertops. I glued the last counter top up last night and now will be bringing them all back to run them through there 36" wide drum sander.

This place has all types of domestic hardwoods and brings in a bunch of exotic stuff too. I wonder if they would be interested in purchasing it or might now somebody who is. Never would have thought to ask them about it if you wouldn't have brought it up.

Nate · « **Reply #31 on:** January 15, 2016, 03:49:33 PM »

I will bet they will buy it. look at what they are selling similar stuff for, -5% for their markup and that would be a good place to start negotiations with?

stlaser · « **Reply #32 on:** January 15, 2016, 03:59:38 PM »

Legitimate places are going to mark it up 50% bare min......

JR · « **Reply #33 on:** January 15, 2016, 04:42:11 PM »

Quote from: stlaser on January 15, 2016, 03:59:38 PM

Legitimate places are going to mark it up 50% bare min......

I agree.

Dawg25385 · « **Reply #34 on:** January 15, 2016, 04:45:05 PM »

Old wood is huge right now, especially of legitimate size of structural quality.

Ever seen Barnwood Builders?

Nate · « **Reply #35 on:** January 15, 2016, 04:55:04 PM »

Quote from: stlaser on January 15, 2016, 03:59:38 PM

Legitimate places are going to mark it up 50% bare min......

didn't think it was that darned much? but it would not surprise me one bit!

Bear9350 · « **Reply #36 on:** January 15, 2016, 05:20:00 PM »

I know they are charging about $5 a bd ft for new white oak which is what I think I have. Mostly in true 2x8 sizes ranging from about 8 to 14 feet long I think. I have no idea what the going rate for the old lumber would be though.
I also have about 40 total feet of 8"x8" beams.

Rough calculation I have over 600 bd ft.

Hmm.... I might have the funds to finish the master bath a little sooner then expected after all.

stlaser · « **Reply #37 on:** January 15, 2016, 05:30:00 PM »

I honestly don't know that much about this wood but for arguments sake if you're "in business" you need an average of 100% markup to stay in the black. That's just general business, now granted a lot of the time you will settle for less than 100% but again it's an average so some will be much higher than that.

JR · « **Reply #38 on:** January 15, 2016, 05:38:41 PM »

When I was in retail (5 years ago part time), markup was around 30%, big items much less. Mom and Pop hobby shop.

You make $$ on the little stuff that moves a lot. You sell the big items so they get all the little stuff.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #39 on:** January 15, 2016, 06:19:18 PM »

In my limited experience it can vary a lot. For some of the companies I've worked I've seen this vary from 30% to more than 1000%. Also similar to what JR stated the big ticket item isn't marked up nearly as much as the available options, attachments, upgrades or what ever it might be depending on the product. Of course that is all for finished goods. This lumber would be more like a raw material I think. I really have no idea what they could be worth at this point.

KensAuto · « **Reply #40 on:** January 15, 2016, 09:55:41 PM »

If it were me, I would take that old wood and build some cool stuff out of it.
Here's what antique white oak looks like refinished:
http://www.appalachianwoods.com/lumber/reclaimed_oak_lumber.htm

This place has some pricing on antique pine flooring:

http://www.vintagewoods.com/price_list.html

This site appears to cater to the rich and famous:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/255803809/8x8-barn-beams-oak-wood-rough-cut-and?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_a-home_and_living-furniture-other&utm_custom1=49e44fbd-0d0d-4e7a-8bf3-c0291be5b418&gclid=CNmO2YWprcoCFVaTfgodniwFrw

Flyin6 · « **Reply #41 on:** January 16, 2016, 10:10:03 AM »

^^^All I can say is WOW!

JR · « **Reply #42 on:** January 16, 2016, 01:49:15 PM »

I think I would keep enough for a couple projects like an entry or coffee table at least. With all the history and along with the pictures it would be a nice backdrop.

Dawg25385 · « **Reply #43 on:** January 16, 2016, 08:05:33 PM »

Those joists would make a heck of a country dining table. Plane them down and joint them together. My wife would be so jealous

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Bear9350 · « **Reply #44 on:** January 18, 2016, 10:37:04 AM »

Went back through and added the pics that I missed last week. Most of the people in the pics are my and my father. My dad and brother helped a lot with the construction. My father-in-law came down a few times also.

Bear9350 · « **Reply #45 on:** January 18, 2016, 10:43:12 AM »

Quote from: Dawg25385 on January 16, 2016, 08:05:33 PM

Those joists would make a heck of a country dining table. Plane them down and joint them together. My wife would be so jealous

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They would. The wife isn't to big on oak grain though. Maybe with a darker stain or something she would like it. A nice big heavy table would look great though. Maybe with a bench. I know there is more than enough out there. The only problem would be processing it. It all has nails in it so nobody is going to want to run it through their equipment.

I asked the hardwood warehouse didn't want anything to do with it for that reason. Said they would never touch it with their equipment. Told me my best bet would be selling it on craigslist.

Dawg25385 · « **Reply #46 on:** January 18, 2016, 04:14:45 PM »

Ahh that makes sense. Yeah nails and planers don't play well together :)

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stlaser · « **Reply #47 on:** January 18, 2016, 04:38:08 PM »

Too bad you can't find a local guy who makes custom rough sawn harvest tables. Give him the timber and let him build and sell them then split the profits......

rpar86 · « **Reply #48 on:** January 23, 2016, 04:11:07 AM »

You can get a handheld metal detector wand and pull all the nails. Yes it's a pain, but you could then sell it at a premium since it is de-nailed :)

Bear9350 · « **Reply #49 on:** January 25, 2016, 10:16:01 AM »

Quote from: rpar86 on January 23, 2016, 04:11:07 AM

You can get a handheld metal detector wand and pull all the nails. Yes it's a pain, but you could then sell it at a premium since it is de-nailed :)

The FIL has a couple of them. He does some metal detecting. I could probably get the majority of them out this way. Remember these nails are over 150 yrs old. It does not take much for them to break off.