Do it Yourself: Re: [DIY] floor joists

01 November 2011

Re: [DIY] floor joists

this house is 100+ we can't get an exact date as the courthouse with all the property information burned down in 1920. I've been told the wood is oak, also heart pine. I took the trim off a doorway and you can see the hand trimmed 2x4s. they also used those old square nails, I was told some of the ones I found were forged. it was a contractor that grew up in the area so maybe.

we see the original houses left to rot here too, this was the original house though LOL it was a very large farm at one time many many years ago. it fell into disrepair in the last 30 years. that was when they started to rent it out instead of the owner living in it and stopped taking care of it.

Never let your husband pick out a house by himself if he doesn't know anything about houses, construction, and problems to look for!!! I didn't see this house until after we closed on it. dear husband has been put on notice not to do that again LOL

suzie

----- Original Message -----

From: Jan Flood

To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, October 31, 2011 5:04 PM

Subject: Re: [DIY] floor joists

Not sure what type of wood you have Suzie but when we moved here and I wanted to remodel the old house at the farm the contractor didn't want to touch it. He said the 2" solid oak was murder to try and work with. The termite inspector had a similar feeling, there were termites and we sprayed, but he said we wouldn't live long enough for them to eat through that solid oak. The house was built in 1960, not really that old, they cut the timber from the property and had it milled at the sawmill up the road. As seems to be the habit back here the original house was further over in another pasture and had just fallen down over the years. We had lots of fun sorting through the rubble and used some of the wood to repair one of the barns. Same with an old wagon, had just sat out in the pasture till the wood fell apart, but all the metal parts were still there.

any suggestions for special drill bits for the ancient hard as a rock wood? or should regular ones work?

I just love this group!!

Ditto!!