[savoche]

Concrete homes are best.

Just as with shoes, then. Cement shoes and an Chicago overcoat will keep you safe.

[savoche]

Now you're talking!

Incessantly

[gaweidert]

you never knew

I dropped a string from the attic to the box sill in the basement and had one location installed in under thirty minutes

same house thirty feet away I hit two fire stops on one floor and another on the next

I never trusted a ruler in old houses...walls on top of walls, pocket doors...just general chaos

the one thing I did learn was to always have a sharp prybar to pull away moldings and long, very fine bits to drill holes for telltales
it really cut down on holes in the middle of someone's floor or piano legs...don't ask...it is a story of Rupert proportions, though one I didn't do, just witnessed

I worked on a house whose first level was insulated with brick
a friend had a job on a ranch where the man of the house said...son, that drill ain't near long enough!...a soddie sided outside, plastered inside

the point is, you absolutely never knew for sure what you would find in older homes until you found it

Near Rochester is a place called "The Genesee Country Village and Museum". Old houses from all over the region were moved there. One of the houses is a two story log home. It was on a piece of land that was taken to build an expressway south from Rochester, NY. Nobody knew it was a log home as it had clapboard on the outside and plaster walls on the inside. When the demolition crew stated to take the house down they found log home inside it. Thankfully they stopped and called the museum to see if they wanted it. So it was disassembled and carted to it current site. Even the last family that had lived in the house did not know it was a log house.





Some years ago a local house caught fire. When the firefighters arrived on the scene they started to pull off the plaster lath to get at the fire. They discovered that the house had been insulated with straw. House was a total loss.

[WPRESTO]

the point is, you absolutely never knew for sure what you would find in older homes until you found it

Something I've seen in older homes more than once = crumpled newspaper in the walls for insulation. That is scary!

[ccc_]

Near Rochester is a place called "The Genesee Country Village and Museum". Old houses from all over the region were moved there. One of the houses is a two story log home. It was on a piece of land that was taken to build an expressway south from Rochester, NY. Nobody knew it was a log home as it had clapboard on the outside and plaster walls on the inside. When the demolition crew stated to take the house down they found log home inside it. Thankfully they stopped and called the museum to see if they wanted it. So it was disassembled and carted to it current site. Even the last family that had lived in the house did not know it was a log house.





Some years ago a local house caught fire. When the firefighters arrived on the scene they started to pull off the plaster lath to get at the fire. They discovered that the house had been insulated with straw. House was a total loss.

I've seen that as well

there is a rumor that a house north of here was insulated with hair...supposedly mostly horse hair, which does make an excellent plaster adjunct

---------- Post added 09-20-17 at 03:26 PM ----------

Something I've seen in older homes more than once = crumpled newspaper in the walls for insulation. That is scary!

seen that too

people blow cellulose...treated?

[robtcorl]

Quick check in from a cabin in Estes Park, CO.
Many posts to read later, but a glance through shows me some dandy Rupert stories are in our future, and that's a good thing!!

Daughter and Son-I-L have Racer type wifi via dish, Mrs Bob's cheap Chromebook worked ok, not so my mid grade Acer.
One pano cell shot, if it comes through, from the deck of their house overlooking Bijou Basin Ranch, CO.
To steal a line from Rupert, Love you guys!

[gaweidert]

Something I've seen in older homes more than once = crumpled newspaper in the walls for insulation. That is scary!

Then there was the couple in Berwick, PA that found that a previous owner of the house had ran a movie theater and used cardboard movie posters from the 1930's to help insulate the attic. By the time the auction was over the owners netted $503,000. Two posters alone accounted for $245,000 of that total. All total, there were 33 posters that were auctioned off.


Link for those that are interested.

Newly Discovered Trove of Rare Movie Posters Fetches $503,000 at Auction | Hollywood Reporter

[savoche]

crumpled newspaper in the walls for insulation.

Yeah, we found that and expanded polystyrene (the flammable kind that gives off noxious fumes) in the walls when we refurbished our tiny summer house this summer. Makes you think what could have happened...

[ccc_]

Then there was the couple in Berwick, PA that found that a previous owner of the house had ran a movie theater and used cardboard movie posters from the 1930's to help insulate the attic. By the time the auction was over the owners netted $503,000. Two posters alone accounted for $245,000 of that total. All total, there were 33 posters that were auctioned off.


Link for those that are interested.

Newly Discovered Trove of Rare Movie Posters Fetches $503,000 at Auction | Hollywood Reporter

a coworker trying fish a wall snagged something... a model 12 Winchester...talked to the customer, found a false wall in a closet, paid her 50usd and later sold it for just shy of a 1000usd (1970, fifty bucks was almost half of a weeks wages)

another guy working in a crawlspace found a 38-40 peacemaker...the house was heading for demolition...he "salvaged" the piece...I don't know the end of the story

speaking of crawlspaces...a druggie on our crew got cornered by rats
I assume due to his heightened sense of perception he freaked and pulled out a browning .25 and began to slaughter rodents
the customer was somewhat peeved and complained
a policy letter followed stating absolutely no firearms on the job

he later gained fame for killing his boat with a matched pair of browning hi-powers while trying to kill a snapper in the river
saved the pistols...lost the boat, three cases of beer and a couple of future fishing companions

[RoxnDox]

Beer, boats, and bullets rarely end well when mixed... But then, it does keep the supply of Rupert-esque tales going!

Rob your kids have a mighty fine view up there!

[savoche]

Beer. Boats. Bullets.

Pick any two.

[gaweidert]

Can anyone explain to me why we have a department of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms? They just don't seem to mix well together.

[ccc_]

Can anyone explain to me why we have a department of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms? They just don't seem to mix well together.

it seems they originally pursued unpaid taxes

which is what moonshiners are really doing
but it has morphed into something much different as they became embroiled in things that go boom

our neighbor was a field agent and until the late sixties talked to dad mostly about smuggled smokes and booze
after that it seemed more about defaced weapons and explosives

[Racer X 69]

Beer. Boats. Bullets.

Pick any two.

No way.

I want all three.

And then some.

[RoxnDox]

Beer, Boats, Boomsticks, Bullets, Bikini-Babes...

--- Bada-Bing Bada-Boom (paging Milla Jovovitch to costuming!