1899 Farmhouse Beadboard Walls and Ceilings Throughout

[OldVawterPlace]

Folk Victorian farmhouse built in 1899 has very old drywall over original beadboard walls (horizontal) and ceilings throughout the house. My plan is to open up the walls for wiring, plumbing and insulation.

However, I’d love to have any tips to get the tongue and groove removal started on each wall. I could use the saw to trim one row of bead and then hopefully be able to push finishing nails through the boards to remove them. Other tips or tricks that experienced folks can offer? There are a couple of walls that may have drywall again so I’m not worried about some damage but most of the walls and ceilings are in great shape and I’d love to keep the original material. Thanks for any help you can offer. Photos of past work would be a bonus!

Rob with his old house and feral cats that conveyed.

[Gothichome]

Rob, removing old very dry tongue and grove is doable with patience. Do not try to pull the boards with the toe nails (most probably square) in place, all you will accomplish is ruining the tongue. Instead hammer the nails through before attempting to remove the boards. For those nails that are bent and will not hammer through score that little bit close to the nail deeply with an olfa blade or some thing similar. This will allow the inevitable crack to break were you want it to crack instead of taking a large swath of tongue. If you have an oscillating saw just cut the tongue at the nail. Actually if you have an oscillating saw you could just cut the nails under the tongue.

[1918ColonialRevival]

To add to what Gothichome said, don't remove any more than absolutely necessary to tackle the plumbing and electrical work. Does the room have baseboards? If so, I would be tempted to run the wiring behind the baseboards and put the outlets in the baseboards (very common practice during the first three or four decades of the 20th Century).

Before going overboard with insulation, have you spent time inside during the winter while it was being heated? The reason I ask is because modern insulation has been over-sold as an absolute necessity. My exterior walls are filled with stones that look a lot like railroad ballast. Here in MD, the winters can get cold, but I haven't had any issues with the house being too cold. My heating bills aren't through the roof, either. The idea of a house being a hermetically sealed shell didn't come about until the so-called energy crisis in the 1970s.

Have you removed all of the wallboard that was put over the tongue and groove? Is most of it in good shape?

EDIT: Saw your other thread with the pictures. If it were me, I'd pull the baseboards in each room and run the wiring behind them. You'll still have to carefully open up a section or two as Gothichome described to run your upstairs plumbing and electrical, but I'd try to keep it as confined to one vertical area as I could. You should be able to lift a couple of floor boards to route the wires upstairs.

[OldVawterPlace]

Thanks for the tips. I've talked to several past residents of the house. They all talk about how much they loved it..then they quickly add that the house is really cold in the winter. I'll take your advice, though, and be conservative in the dismantle work. I'll update when I have something to report. Thanks!