Buffalo Lumber's - Extreme Scene

Extreme Makeover Day 1: Demo by Semi
Bringing Down the House

Day one started with a trip to the Extreme Makeover check-in booth located at a nearby mall. By the time I got there the lady said they could not take any more volunteers because they had run out of construction hats and blue shirts. I said "Our company contributed cedar siding to this EMHE project and I was told we could get in and take shots of the installation for our website". They looked at each other and then she said "OK - I will give you MY shirt but I want it back." With that she gave me the shirt off her back (it was 20 degrees out so she had on several layers in case I am painting the wrong picture). With many thanks off I went to see what this Extreme Scene was all about.

Guy chain sawing house - not something you see every day!

 

As I got out of the car and into the pandemonium that is an Extreme Makeover set I knew we were going to have some fun because I saw a guy chain sawing the house! What I did not see was a wrecking ball. I asked one of the construction guys standing there "Where is the wrecking ball? I want to get some shots." He just laughed and said "they are not using a wrecking ball on this one. They are going to pull it apart with semi trucks..."
 
"Huh?"
 
"Yeah, I have never seen it before either but they are going to hook one semi truck up to one side of the house and another to the other side and pull a 3rd truck through the middle." He said nonchalantly. As he said it my eyes were drawn to the huge metal cables sticking out of the window. Sure enough - the guys with chain saws were cutting the house in strategic places to assist in the pull down. You could see large cables running from the back of the house through a side window to come out in front of the house and attach to the trucks.

 

picture caption ...

 

 

"So basically they are going to draw and quarter this house" I said. "I have never seen that method of demolition before. THIS should be interesting". I started to walk over to get closer pictures and the guy said "Hey you need a hard hat to be on the site."
 
"Oh man, they did not tell me that at the booth, where do I get one?" I asked. "At the booth" he said smiling. After watching me anguish over walking all the way back over to the mall he said "Here, I have an extra one but I need it back" and he handed me the hard hat. Equipped with hard hat and Blue T-shirt I now had access to the entire build site.

Truck Convoy

At 9AM a convoy of 10 trucks showed up to kick off the day's festivities. They did two laps around the block and pulled up in front of the house, horns blaring - then parked in a line for the TV shoot.

 

 

Ty and Paige, the show hosts, arrived and everyone went crazy. While we were waiting for the demolition to begin I had made friends with the camera guys but the instant the stars showed up the ABC guys told me to get back behind the barricade with the rest of the spectators.

 

 

Then they put the stars of the show into the trucks to film their announcement of the demolition by semi-truck. It was a VERY COLD two hours spent taping and re-shooting over and over again.

 

 

After shooting the stars of the show in the trucks for the episode intro they moved the demolition trucks into position.

 

 

The 1st part of the home demolition by semi plan was to pull a truck right through the MIDDLE but FIRST they had to weaken the center of the house. What better way then bashing holes into the front with sledge hammers?

 

Guy fun at its maximum!

 

They brought a large tow truck pulling an old wrecked semi into the front of the house. The tow truck lowered the wrecker and moved out of the way. Next they brought cables through the large holes in the house and attached them to the wrecker truck's front axle and pulled its nose up snug against the front of the house.

Then they just slowly pulled the truck right through the middle of the house! The roof came tumbling down and everyone cheered.

On The News

Over the course of Demolotion Day I got to meet several camera men and local news people. At one point one of the news guys said "I have to run to my truck, can you watch the camera while I am gone?"
 
"How much does one of these bad boys cost?" I asked. "Eighty thousand dollars" he said flatly. WOW! I had expected a lot but not 80 grand.
 
"Sure. I'll keep an eye on it!"
 
"You're hired" he said.
 
"Joe - I want to be on TV" I joked as he hurried away.
 
When he got back it became apparent that the reason he went to the van was to get his cable feed for the microphone so he could do his live feed at noon. While he was setting up he told me to stand right out of range and he would call me in for guy on the street comment. COOL!
 
Buffalo goes Live!

 

Bringing Down the House

Now it was time for the main event, tractor trailer pulling down the house. I found out EMHE chose this method of demolition because the man of the house was a truck driver so it fit into the theme of the show. You can see the large cables running around the back of the house through a side window to come out in front of the house and attach to the truck.
 
During the waiting for the TV shoot I got to meet other companies that contributed to Extreme Makeover and best of all - the owner of the company who had donated his trucks to pull the house down. I went over to the the owner and truck drivers as the semis were being prepared for the pull. They were scratching their heads. I said "what's up guys?"
 
"We don't think this is going to work."

 

 

Walter the driver and Dave the owner were talking about the fact that the truck's tires had been set up on the lawn and with no weight on the rear of the truck the tires would just spin in the soft ground.
 
Having seen the neighbor's lawn I was inclined to agree with them.

 

 

"They said they were going to cut the house up so much a pickup truck could pull it down." Dave said.
 
"The only way that house is coming down is if Walter gets a run at it and bangs it. He is not going to be able to slowly pull it down. He will have to coil that cable and get a run at it and BAM it down!" I said.
 
"I know" they both said in unison- "no one is asking us they just said be ready."

 

 

Sure enough Dave and Walter were right. The house was built in the mid 50's and the wood inside was solid - milled from older trees back when a 2x4 was an actual 2x4" measure not a 1.5 x 3.5". The EMHE crew was used to manufactured homes that come apart with a sneeze. This was a stick framed bad boy built back in the days of true wood and standards.
 
Walter pulled and banged and spun his tires but could NOT pull that house down!
 
The crew and TV guys came out and scratched their heads and brought out the chain saws again to cut the house in strategic places to asist in the pull down. Then they reran the cables through the 2 front walls and re-hooked them to the truck further out with the tires in the street.

 

 

Walter revs it up and BANG - nothing. BANG again and again and again!! He Huffs and he Puffs ...
 
BUT THE HOUSE IS STILL STANDING!!

 

 

House from 1950's - 1   Extreme Makover - 0

The ABC guys huddle up in the corner and dispatch a crew to re- arrange the cables yet again. Apparently they had decided to abandon the plan to take down all 4 walls at once. The cables are re-wrapped to take out just the front wall.
 
After a slight pause Walter gives it the gas and the front of the house blows out. The shell of the house was still standing with the front blown out.

 

The crew is dispatched to wrap the cables around the back walls now in the hopes that this house will finally come down. Walter then gave her one last go and he finally brought the house down.
 
A huge cheer erupted in the crowd that had been there since early in the morning. Still a part of me had to give it to that old house - she went down a fightin'.
 
We captured the final Demolition by Semi "money shot" on video.

 

By that time it was 2pm. I had been there since 7AM and I had to get going. They still had 1/3 of the house to bring down. On the way out I asked one of the construction guys what was next. "They were supposed to have this cleaned and start pouring the pads by noon today. This set us back about 6 hours."
 
Tomorrow they bring in the house panels with big cranes and everything.
 
Should be fun - CB

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Getting Serious - Going from Quote to Order

When you are ready to order, we need to get everything reconfirmed - even if nothing has changed. We have to reconfirm before we take your money. Confirm with you, the mill, the transit company.
 
We say 4 to 6 weeks from order to delivery and then try to beat it. When we take the money the time frame begins.
 
Terms and conditions of delivery are basically that you need to fit a semi into and out of the delivery area and provide unloading at the job site. You need to get the truck unloaded in 2 hours or less or they charge a sitting fee.
 
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Buffalo Lumber is a produce to order company. There is no return policy for milled wood, once you order it you own it. If there is a problem we take care of it.
 
The milling cycle is 2-3 weeks from order date. We use brokered shipping companies who find a truck going in your direction. This process can take some time (up to 3 weeks) which is why we say 4-6 weeks on every shipment. Most loads go within a week. There is always the outside chance it will take longer especially in remote or hard to reach areas. We can help you prepare for time issues relevant to your location.
 
We will contact you when the load gets booked and give you an estimated drop date. The driver will contact you 1 day in advance and give you an estimated arrival time. If he doesn't we make them wait for your convenience.
 
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1588 Murfreesboro Rd
Woodbury, TN 37190

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Each delivery is quoted individually after the products have been selected. We carry products from suppliers located all across the country. Each delivery will be calculated based on location of customer, location of product manufacturer and weight of total shipment.
 
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