Requiem for a House

[Seahawk]

Long story short, we've had a rental house that came with the farm. Nice place, a "Rambler" in Maryland speak. Think double-wide on a foundation.

The last five years have been hard on the house, basement flooding, foundation problems, etc. We finally decided enough was enough...what to do?

First, go visit the Amish, friends of mine, and have them take everything of value out of the house....everything.



Outside shot, after they striped and recycled the aluminum siding. Next, the entire inside of the house was stripped...everything. The Habitat folks came and took every electric appliance, lamps, etc.



Every cabinet, counter top, sink, door, copper, a/c duct, bookcase...gone.

More to follow.

[Seahawk]

I decided the Volunteer Fire Department needed a shot at the place next. They loved the idea. The first evolution was smoke training, cutting the roof, doing their thing.



Great guys.




They'll be back in a few weeks to burn the place down, get really valuable training. But what to do in between?

More to follow.

[Seahawk]

Empty house, soon to be torched...what to do?

Paintball!!! My son and his friends spend over six hours having a scream defending the house, attacking the house and generally enjoying being kids. I watched and refereed. What a hoot.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

Outside shot, after they striped and recycled the aluminum siding. Next, the entire inside of the house was stripped...everything. The Habitat folks came and took every electric appliance, lamps, etc.



Every cabinet, counter top, sink, door, copper, a/c duct, bookcase...gone.

More to follow.

Looks like they took some drywall too. Never know when a jagged piece of drywall will come in handy.

[RWebb]

you look like you've got some good plywood there too

one of my neighbors took down an old brick wall like that and made a brick patio...

[Seahawk]

They staged out of my workshop...rainy day, but they stuck with it. Looks like we'll do one more session next Friday. Any paintball Pelicans interested?

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by RWebb

you look like you've got some good plywood there too

one of my neighbors took down an old brick wall like that and made a brick patio...

All the brick already has a home...young Amish man is building a new home. He gets it gratis

[porsche4life]

Wish I was nearby.... Looks like some awesome paintballing...

[azasadny]

Great uses for a house about to be torn down! My son and I like paintball, but we haven't played in about 2 years due to schedule conflicts and lack of facilities in our area. Letting the FD train with the house was an excellent idea and I'm sure they appreciated it. Giving the reusable stuff to the folks who need it and can use it most is recycling at its best!!

[A930Rocket]

Time for a house party! Beer and sledge hammers...

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Looks like they took some drywall too. Never know when a jagged piece of drywall will come in handy.

Good eye!

There was a sliding, "pocket" door there. Not anymore.

Windows, gone to a new house.

Ants on a crumb.

As for the plywood, the fire department asked that I leave the exterior, and as much as of the interior, in place for training. I'll take pictures

The former renters did leave that money easy chair. Its nice, fellas.

[azasadny]

Paul,
Whenever I see a piece of upholstered furniture out at the curb, I remember what a furniture salesman told me once "you never see leather furniture out at the curb". I never have... vinyl, sure, but not leather.

[pete3799]

You should have rented it out to some crack heads then when their meth lab burns up the fire dept. gets to practice,house is gone, insurance check in your pocket. Done.

[RWebb]

better not trample mom's flowers!

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Looks like they took some drywall too. Never know when a jagged piece of drywall will come in handy.

I imagine they took the drywall out to get to the copper wiring.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by pete3799

You should have rented it out to some crack heads then when their meth lab burns up the fire dept. gets to practice,house is gone, insurance check in your pocket. Done.

Best idea yet.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Paul,

COOL!!! Good use of your property. Random acts of kindness will come back to you and the folks at Habitat will definitely appreciate the parts!

Good call on the fire department! They will remember you!

[Seahawk]

Update.

Yesterday was burn, baby, burn day. They showed up at 0745 and started their drills.

Very professional.

Hooked up the pumper rig and sucked water out of our tobacco pond.



Staged a whole bunch of other stuff...





And got started with the burn!

[Seahawk]

[Seahawk]

Again, I was really impressed with how professional the training was, and how well ran. They spent 3 hours doing room burns, attic fires, etc. before they let the house burn to the ground.

I learned a lot about fires! When they left the place was perfectly clean...not a water bottles or piece of litter anywhere. Great group.