Customer Reviews

Unbuilding: Salvaging the Architectural Treasures of Unwanted Houses

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Taunton Press with their great sense of style and photography combined with knowledgeable authors, who have taken the time to document the deconstruction and salvage process, make this book a must in the bookcases of contractors, architects, designers and any building owner considering salvaging or using salvaged building materials.

I've always liked the idea of salvaging architectural details from building being torn down. Now here's a book that goes way beyond merely saving a fireplace mantel or some columns. Here's what it covers:

Chapter 1 Unbuilding Opportunities
Redevelopment
Rural Property
Military Bases
Urban Renewal
Remodeling and Renovation
Building Auctions
Habitat for Humanity ReStores
What to Unbuild

Chapter 2 Deciding on Unbuilding and Salvage
Your Level of Involvement
Making Sure the Building Is Sound
Permits and Code Requirements
Making a Visual Survey
Case Study: Survey of a Deconstruction Candidate

Chapter 3 The Materials You Find
Develop a Plan for the Material You Remove
Assessing What's Reusable
Selling Your Stuff

Chapter 4 Getting Started
Organizing the Site
Tools for Unbuilding

Chapter 5 Safety and Environmental Health
Make Safety a Priority
Safety Equipment: The Last Line of Defense
Working at Height
First Aid and Medical Services
Fire Prevention and Protection
Lead-Based Paint Hazards
Asbestos Hazards

Chapter 6 Site Preparation and Soft-Stripping
House and Site Characteristics
Preparing the Site
Soft-Stripping
Loading Items from Soft-Stripping
Cleaning Up

Chapter 7 Whole-House Deconstruction
Maintaining the Building's Integrity
Roof Tearoff
Removing Interior Wall Finishes
Removing Electrical, Plumbing, and Ductwork
Removing Roof Sheathing
Removing Rafters
Getting the Material to the Ground
Taking down Trusses
Removing a Dormer
Removing Ceiling Joists
Removing Siding
Removing Walls
Removing Subfloors
Denailing
Stacking and Loading
Project Closeout

We live in an age of recycling. It's not only environmentally sound, but economically profitable. This applies just as much to reusable and salvageable building materials from structures scheduled for demolishing, as it does to ordinary newspapers and soda cans. Now U.S. Forest Products Laboratory research engineer Bob Falk has teamed up with Brad Guy (Director of Operations at The Hammer Center at the Penn State School of Architecture) to publish "Unbuilding: Salvaging the Architectural Treasures Of Unwanted Houses" an instruction guide to salvaging materials that can be reused and recycled from homes and other buildings by literally and carefully dismantling the original structures piece by piece. These materials can include ornate hardware, period lighting fixtures, windows, doors, mantels, hardwood flooring, and anything else that continues to have esthetic and commercial value. Often these are 'yesteryear' items that cannot be matched by anything available to day and have great financial worth in and of themselves. The authors draw upon their many years of expertise and experience in advising about new tools, deconstruction processes, and alternatives to conventional demolition tactics. "Unbuilding" is strongly recommended to the considered attention of building contractors, demolition experts, and environmentally conscious salvagers, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in recycling building materials for their value, utility and esthetics.

Unbuilding is a philosophical "feel good" guide to the virtues of reclaimed building material. Unfortunately, I was looking for a practical book giving step by step instructions on removing fine architectural details from old buildings. While this book discusses how to remove big scale parts such as walls and beams it lacks specific information on how to safely salvage complex items such as wooden fireplace mantels, stone mantels, ornamental plaster, terra cotta, stained glass windows, etc. There are numerous photographs but they are not very interesting and all the action seems to take place on one average Victorian home being dismantled. This book may be of some use to people gathering raw material on a large scale, but is useless for fine architectural salvage.

This is a good resource for ideas. It reminded me more of one of the books you would find on the rack of a home center instead of a text book like it was marketed.

Lots of pictures and lots of text. Helpful.

BUT.

1. While some specific tools are mentioned, I think it would have been stronger to mention tools that withstood hard use, or proved especially good. For instance, brands or models of power tools (just asking for THEIR experience), and, for instance, have any fall-protection devices proved less problematic or restricting than others?

2. It MAY be outside the scope of the book, but I wish they would have taken even 2 pages to dispense words of wisdom about processing the lumber gained. No, not any short treatise on milling. I mean, simple stuff about any metal detectors they have found that work well, or putting dirty material through e.g. TimeSaver wide-belt belt sanders, as well as wisdom about cleaning material before passing it through a planer: pulling nails, which is described at some length, is easy, when compared to keeping planer knives sharp on used wood!