Gut a house and refurbish

i'll see what i can do. i wish we were as far along as you are.

 

Hell, man, I wish I would've had help, I did it all myself. Installed 6 double pane windows upstairs, did a complete gut and remodel of the master bathroom (which looks like the tits now), expanded the master bedroom closet, and painted and repaired the entire exterior, lots of W-O-R-K on the weekends and after work, looking forward to completing something I started at the beginning of the year. Just got to keep on keepin' on, and eventually we'll finish, right?

 

removed the oil drum today. cleared out the rest of the old furniture and junk. took down lots of wall paper and more moulding. took down some wainscoting in one room that was nailed and glued to the sheet rock. that shit fucked up the sheet rock so it will all come down. we'll remove all the sheet rock from the exterior walls anyway in order to insulate those walls. removed the pool cover. the water hauler will come by on Monday to top it off (down 18") and the shocking will commence soon. got alot done today, will return on Monday after day of rest, football and beverages tomorrow. i took some pics too.

 

left out about 8am as i had veterans day off from work. located the water line where it enters the basement and uncovered it for the footing guys. also located the line from the propane tank. finished uncovering the rest of the septic tank. this required an axe to chop the friggin leg-sized roots that had grown over the top of the fourth and final lid. that took a while and kicked my ass. next came the removal of the cracked lid, #3. it was broken and sagging down enough for us to be able to fish a copper tube around it and attach a come-a-long cable, then pull it through. after that we backed up the tractor with the draw bar affixed to the lifting arms and then commenced to lift the broken lid from the septic tank with the come-a-long......thats when the problems began. it would'nt budge for shit. on to plan B. we hooked a chain to the come-a-long cable and fished it around the lid and hooked it directly to the draw bar to let the hydraulics do the work. more problems. while lifting the cracked lide, we cracked another lid and pulled several cinder bolcks from inside the baffle wall of the septic tank loose and they fell into the tank. it appears that when we "fished" our copper tube around the lid, we managed to loop it through a cinder block on the baffle wall directly below the cracked lid, and hidden from our view. FUCK!!!!!!!! after all was said and done, i had to roll the broken lids out onto the ground by hand. we'll repair the damaged baffle wall and form up and pour a new lid complete with rebar fortification, lifting handle and sewer clean-out for easy access in the future. after lunch it was time to haul off some old junk and furniture left behind by the previous owner, 3 pick up truck loads worth. FUCK AGAIN! i did some more tinkering with moulding removal and other small chores before the need for beverages got the best of me and here i am.

forgot to mention that my water hauler guy came by and topped off the pool. he said the liner looked to be in good shape. its only about 2+ years old. with some heavy duty cleaning and shocking. it'll be good to go til next summer arrives.

 

Damn, V.I., you're gettin' it, aren't you! This weather kind of throws a wrench into scheduling, got to get started early, sun goes down, and it's gettin' cold. I've been working half days b/c I don't like to wake up on the weekends. Temp. is an issue with stain, paint, and exterior tile, got to get that done before it gets super cold.

 

the termite guy came by this morning. we got us some termites and some damage too. no huge deal. same shit. different day. imma take the afternoon off from "the project" today.

 

VI...

You need your own TV show. Also...how in hell do you get so much done in a day?

 

my father-in-law helps me when he can as they live next door to the house. he had a stroke about a year and a half ago and then had his prostate removed (cancer) this summer. he does what he can and he has decent carpentry skills/knowledge but his cancer treatment will soon begin and he may be kinda sick during that. we have an old jalopy tractor that helps with the HEAVY outside lifting too. my contractor will come in soon to build the addition and build back the existing interior to our specifications. i can handle the demo part and will handle some plumbing as my background was in the water/sewer business for much of my early tenure with the city. in my younger days i may have lost faith sooner but i think my tenacious edge has been worn down a bit and my (our) monetary rescources have increased enough to let things roll off my back a little easier. sometimes i wonder if i've lost my mind when i consider that we already had a nice home before, sold it, and decided to change gears in our life to tackle "this old house."

 

the exterminator installed the Sentricon termite system this morning. my wife and her dad took up the old carpet, padding, staples and perimeter strips. later my in-laws started removing the old kitchen cabinets and sink. i went down after work and loaded up the old carpet and padding into my truck and dismantled the shelving in the largest of the bedroom closets, as well as the crown moulding in that room. also loaded up some old moulding and shelving boards.