Day Eight

Rusty is coming apart! Today the rest of the interior panels from the main room were removed and work on the exterior panels began. The ceiling panels from the back part of the house were also removed. By the end of the day several panels from the back wall of the house were removed. The plan is to work from the back wall up to the front of the house. Most of the wall panels came off relatively easily. They are constructed similarly to the garage panels, with a metal sill running around the edge of the concrete base. This has bolts coming up through it and into the panels. The metal sill along the back edge was in better shape than the one below the garage wall panels, but it was still badly corroded.

One surprise today was a steel spacer in the ceiling that ran the width of the house. There may be more spacers farther up that will be found as the deconstruction progresses. The spacer uncovered today was a single 20-foot piece of metal that stretched from near the front door to the opposite wall of the house. It was probably put in for stability to stiffen the construction. Earlier General Houses models used steel I-beams, according to Connecticut College preservation specialist Doug Royalty, and shortly after Rusty was built General Houses changed their roof design, eliminating the need for metal spacer reinforcements. This discovery was a reminder that the house design built in 1933 was still somewhat experimental and General Houses had not finalized its construction system. Many early houses built by General Houses had differences in design as they gained more experience with prefab construction, making Rusty even more unique!