It has been a long and wonderful experience. In the end, we managed to salvage around 11,000 BF of high grade, old growth material, at about the same cost as a 1 day demolition.

It took a long time to research this home. It was a lot more difficult than we thought. It also turns out that people moved a lot. I thought a family would have lived in this house for generations, instead I discovered the original owners may not have lived there more than 3-5 years. With the help of the City of Seattle Microfilm Library, King County Archives, Puget Sound Archives, & the Seattle Public Library, we were able to piece together a history. Below is the earliest picture we could...

Our goal was to do all the work on site, then move it to another site where we would use it. We got a 20' container thinking that would be enough storage; it wasn't. Long term goals are to limit the transportation required to salvage the material. And to do as much work on site, in a process we call "livemilling." We also want to involve the neighborhood. Encourage people to ask what we are doing, how, and why. And make material available for them, too.

This is how the pile began. The first few roof members.

Here you can see the first floor beams and joists.

Now we use 4'x8' plywood for exterior wall sheathing. I love this 1x6 decking they used to use for sheathing. It will make great exterior or interior wall cladding.

Once the roof was done, we started the second floor. Notice the balloon framing. Some of these studs are 28' or longer.

We knew this material was of high quality, suggesting old growth trees, and we wondered where the wood came from. Having found stamped members, and after some research at the King County Archives, Seattle DCI, and the Seattle Public Library, we feel pretty confident that this wood came from a stand of trees in the area of present day Tukwila, specifically South Center Mall.

Most homes use regular joists and rafters, newer homes may have TJI's, trusses, or other kinds of composite products. On top of the joists are tongue and groove decking used as a subfloor (now we use plywood) and then the wood floor on top. In old homes we usually find linoleum or some other floor finish on top of the original wood. On the ceiling below, decking is found, another bountiful source of wood. Now we would simply put drywall.