Two
out of three little
pigs agree: The apparent solidity of
most
homes is an illusion. No big bad wolf needed. All it takes is 4 or 5
dudes with some handtools (circular and reciprocating saws, some pry bars,
a
variety
of
hammers
from
16
oz.
to
16
lb.,
socket
and
plumbing wrenches, and endnips) and the seemingly solid bastion of
family security is reduced to rubble in days--and that's only if
you do it
with an eye towards salvage and recycling. Two guys could have
done it
in an hour--one to bash with an excavator, the other
to hose the dust down. We
were more careful. It's the demolition phase of a remodel with
the
finished basement remaining
intact. These old houses are harder
to
take apart. The interior walls had a skeleton of lath over which
plaster
was slathered, making for lots of lateral stability and a very solid
skin.
It's dusty when it comes down but the wood is clean--fit for
recycling,
perhaps into exciting engineered
wood
products or just pulped
to
become next month's unwanted yellow pages. Either
way, it's kind of difficult separating out the tangle, but
still pretty satisfying to have a hand in all phases
of a project, even the hard and dirty bits: