Deconstruction: Final Day

Well, it isn't pretty, but what remains of the cottage is very little. C-CAP spent the last few days taking apart the roof and wall sections that were on the ground before carting most all of the materials off site using a U-Haul truck. The photo here shows the last, and smallest, load of materials. While there are two valuable beams in the truck, most of the wood in here is destined to be chipped once it is de-nailed. SUNY-ESF has offered to provide this service, allowing the wood to be re-used on the site of the "hoop" house that C-CAP is building in the southside neighborhood in order to provide fresh veggies to a population that has little access to healthy food.

The dumpster is filled with asphalt shingles, fiberglass insulation, plastic materials, and some wood (most painted) that couldn't be recycled or re-used. The material in the cellar isn't that deep, and is mainly torn wood scrap and the soft particleboard that was used before plywood came along. It will be covered with the stone blocks that surround the foundation, and the pile of soil and stone that is adjacent to the hole. Then we'll just need a giant magnet to find all those nails.....:)

Once C-CAP has time to store all the material, they'll have a final tally for us on the deconstruction waste stream.

This is the third U-Haul truck, with the previous two loads being near full. Imagine if all of that material needed a dumpster....

Foreground: an old cistern that was used to collect rainwater from a spout running off the roof until the late 1970's. Background: The remaining foundation that will be knocked in, and then covered with the adjacent soil pile.

It was a long day, of dull work, but Mike, Brad and Izzy are still able to give me a smile! 

More Deconstruction Photos

The first set of shots were taken on Friday, with the last few taken earlier today. It's evident the guys worked over the weekend! They experimented with different strategies for removing the roof, and settled on the technique of cutting sections out at a time. That way, they could lower the sections to the ground where it is safer to do the work. Similarly, some of the exterior wall framing was knocked off the foundation intact where it will be taken apart. The final layer to be removed is the flooring, which requires the guys to work more carefully as they have to pry the boards from each other so they don't split the dry wood. While some workers remove the remaining material from the foundation, there are others on the ground sorting the wood and other debris so that it can be carted off-site for re-use, refurbishing (in the case of the floor), and recycling. A very small percentage of the material will require disposal.

The remaining porch and structure Friday a.m.

Taking off a roof section

The remaining structure looking toward the road, Friday afternoon.

No treasure found, but there were a lot of fruit boxes stored at one time under the porch that became enclosed

The view from the south, with the last wall coming down.
 In foreground, exterior wall framing still needs to be pulled apart

Pulling out the pine floorboards.

Just some of the sorted wood!

360 Degree Exterior photos

I realized when looking over my posts, that I didn't actually publish the finished exterior photos. The site work will commence after the cottage is gone, so the current elevations look a bit funny. I've started in what will be the driveway, on the southeast side of the lot....

The existing cottage is to the left of this photo. A 2-car garage. East view.  Entry in middle.

Walking west, downslope. There will be a retaining wall at this corner.

South side. Lots of windows, with solar shades below, to maximize solar gain in winter, minimize it in summer. Third floor will use shades to control sun.

West side. Will have porch on middle floor to provide sun control to lower level. Porch will have trellis to control sun. Upper level will use shades. Our main view is to the west, as our lot is long in this direction. 

North side. few windows. Small rectangular ones will be under cabinet in kitchen to provide natural counter light. Entry room north windows at left.

North side of garage.

Street view of east side of garage. The upper portion is unfinished, but the window was added to provide balance.

Deconstruction of Existing Cottage Underway!

A good deal of the former porch, north siding, and all of the windows, doors, and flooring are gone

Last week, Paul Fowler (a.k.a the builder) entered into an agreement with the Concerned Citizens Action Program (C-CAP) based in Syracuse's Southside to undertake the deconstruction of the 700 square foot cottage that is on the site (see earlier post). The workers are members of C-CAPs Green Collar Job Training Program, and for many, this project is their chance to hone skills that they can use to begin a new career in the nascent deconstruction market.

Deconstruction is important, because it reduces the amount of waste that ends up in a landfill. According to the United States Green Building Council, construction and demolition waste account for about 40% of the total solid waste stream in this country. The process can be slow, and challenging, as removal of materials needs to be done carefully in order to minimize damage to items that can be reused. Sorting of materials for recycling takes time too. On this job, the focus is on saving as many of the 2x4" and 2x6" boards, pine flooring, cedar siding and windows and doors as possible. Once they are done, the bulldozer doing the final site work will knock the block foundation into the cellar to fill the hole that will become part of the driveway.

The upper level, as seen through the former back door. 

It is C-CAPs first solo project, having worked previously with the Ithaca-based not for profit Finger Lakes Re-Use in order to gain experience. Like many re-use groups, C-CAP is currently setting up a warehouse where they will store materials, either for use in additional job training, or for sale to the general public. They hope to use this project as a launch pad for securing deconstruction work from the City of Syracuse.

I really want to thank Paul for giving work to this group, as it would have been much easier for him to hire a bulldozer and get two dumpsters to fill. It also would have been done in a day, rather than many. It was definitely a leap of faith (like the reclaimed flooring!) and I appreciate his willingness to try new methods with our project. I also want to thank Erich Kruger, a deconstruction consultant, for providing guidance on the project.

He's not putting the nails in, he's straightening one to pull it out. A tedious job....

A "sawsall" is a critical tool for the workers, seen here cutting a brace on the porch roof