Here are a few pictures of the place...
Still no bed...90% empty inside... Running out of money for renovations....Completely did over the back sun porch into our laundry room....Tiled the floor..New hot water Heater..Installed a sink built a cabinet...Hook ups for the washer and dryer...
Bought the washer and dryer this week and going to haul them down to the new place on Friday after Turkey tomorrow
Bought a nice used sleeper sofa for $75 that was in excellent shape...My wife and I will have to sleep on that for a while...We have been using the old air mattress...Good for a night....Hell for an extended period of time
Wife wants a new Cement driveway and there was a patio in the back.. we scraped off leaves and saw the old cement pad...Talked with the 80 year old neighbor who told us about it... So the wife wants that re-capped with cement and a new patio in the back yard as well...I figured it out and I will need to pour about 14 years of Cement....So I am going to knuckle under and buy a new Cement Mixer...$325 at northen tool and equipment.... 14 yards is too much to mix in a wheelbarrow with a shovel....
6 months down the road the back stairs and deck need fixed up...I will likely just measure each stick of lumber and have it on hand to cut them out exactly as the existing ones are then tear down the old and erect the new...
But lots to do and I am almost out of money....Gonna be tight for Christmas.... :'(
But the house is mine...That is a start
More interior pics this time next week...Not getting internet down there until the start of the month...It is 250 miles between houses...So pics are not easy to post for me...
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/anything_baseball/album?.dir=157dre2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos
That is a nice looking home. I can see why you would be excited. And the lot would appear larger than todays standard postage stamp. Where is it located?
Really beautiful house - looks like you already finished the painting & plastering? The hardwood floor & staircase are beautiful, too! I like the brick on the outside & the windows - I can see how you didn't want to pass up a place like that! That was built when homes used to have all the nice features that only "custom" homes have now & then they are fake. Very charming! :)
Nice place, Peter. Thanks for posting the pictures.
That should give you something to work on in your spare time. :)
Sassy
Actually....Thw wife and I ran out of money....So we have not finished the paint and plaster....half of the house was painted the dull bland half tan half brown colour inside and we hate it...
The kitchen needs a lot of work yet....And we are going to replace these windows when there is enough money to do so...
So we have a lot to do....As money permits
But yes I hate all new houses...Built like crap...
I went into the attic and it is all solid wood groove and tongue boards to sheathe the roof... The house only has 6 fireplaces in it now...But it used to have 7....The moldings and all the doors are solid wood....Likewise the stairs the cupboards...
We had a horrible time trying to buy home insurance...They wanted us to pay for $400,000 worth of insurance on a home we bought for less than $60,000
Crap about replacement value...the cost of real wood and real brick...Real beadboard ceilings...
I hate the fact that the back sunporch is now the Laundry room...I wanted to make it is a small greenhouse...But this frees up a lot of space for the Kitchen getting the Fridge out of the Kitchen means there can be an Island...
I hauled off a few loads of used brick...So eventually the plan is to build one of those fences around the yard where you overlap the bricks 50% so there is half a bricks worth of space between the bricks so you can sort of see through the fence but not quite...We have Ivy Growing on the back of the house and on a couple of the Elm and Oak trees...So it should take over the brick fence too...
We have a little dog and my wife would throw me out if I ever let anything happen to that dog....I know I come in second to him...It is not even close.
There are just a bunch of things to do and once you start running low on funds you have to slow down...It sucks! I can do some landscaping and make the yard nice....And start getting ready for sanding the walls and painting...
As I save up for windows...
You might have noticed but the damned house has about 50 windows in it...So it is going to cost me $8-10,000 for new windows.... :'(
We installed the duct work for one of the central air units so the AC wall mount units can go....Add that to the list...Maybe next time the pics will show some of the wilderness trimmed and the wall mount ac units removed...
I had to talk my wife into this place....Because it is 20 miles from a big city where property is a premium...Everyone wants to live there...And Lake City is a Small Town with clean sidewalks and a quaint downtown.... the 20 mile drive from Florence South Carolina and Lake City is barren...So she was not crazy about it at first....I showed her the beating stick and she came around ::)
Our house is in a gorgeous area where most of the houses are brick 2 story with columns out front...Some are twice as large ands fancy as ours...Most are about as nice as ours...
Our lot is about half an acre which is a large lot for being in town... 213 x 100
So I have room for a tool shed or garage....Where the money for that would come from I will never know?
It is going to suck....My wife and I had a plan to sell in a year and fix up another house...As I work on this one I am getting attached....yes I can make some sweet money on the house...But it will be like removing part of my soul to part with it.
I know it needs a lot of work and I am making mistakes...But I am really proud of it....I catch myself looking at it all the time wondering how someone could let the place go into foreclosure...And how in the hell did this house stay for sale on the market for 4 months ....
My wife and I have hit all the antique sales in the area and when people ask us where to deliver the furniture we tell them and a few contractors and one of the guys that runs the auction were like..."We wanted to buy that house...Too expensive"
I guess some people with money expect amazing deals....I have been floating around like I won the lottery ever since I first saw the place....
Glenn
I know we have not been friends long...But Christmas is coming up and I would really appreciate it if you sent me a can of spare time...I am running low around here ;)
Benevolance, if he can find any, Glenn is gonna have to give his spare time to me for Christmas! ;)
desdawg,
Sorry I forgot to answer your question
Lake City South Carolina...Zip code is 29560
Small town...Population around 10,000... if you count the Urban Cluster.
Hometown to one of the astronauts who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster...There is a monument to him 2 blocks from my house at the Public Library
The Industry there is mainly a huge Meat packing plant for all the IGA grocery stores in that part of SC/NC...and Coleman has a huge manufacturing plant there... The land is flat with lots of topsoil....A lot of farms outside of town...Cotton, Tobacco and Corn..The train runs North South parrallel to the coast connecting Wilmington, Florence, Charleston....So freight and rail are important too... I can hear the train at night a little bit... not horrible...It runs through the town about 8-10 times a day...
My wife and I gambled a bit Seeing that Florence is Exploding in growth...And so are all the coastal Communities in SC....There is a 4 lane bypass that runs through lake city to Myrtle beach...It is only 4 lanes part way and they are currently expanding it all the way...Which will increase the speed limit and cut the time to the water down to about 45-50 minutes.... So my wife and I thought that this would result in a lot of people not being able to afford land at the beach buying a close drive to the beach...And as beach communities fill up and the price skyrockets there will be a predictable residual effect on all properties surrounding the beach communities.
If we are dead wrong we wind up with a great home that we absolutely love...So it is not all lost...If we are right we can cash in and try to buy a place in Northern Maine or Oregon someday for our retirement.... She likes Maine and I like Oregon...
I am ready to retire now...But unfortunately I was born good looking instead of rich....So my wife and I will likely have to buy renovate and sell several homes like this to get towards our long term goals
Your good looks and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee, Peter. (Maybe someplace it will).
Spare time Peter - I'd send you some but I think it is on the endangered species list.
speaking of my looks...Have you been corresponding with my wife? ;D Hard to buy a decent cup of coffee anywhere... That starbucks crap is just that...Crap...and some of their junk motto expresse latte with sprinkles...like 5 bucks a cup...
mmmmm I think not...
I have a guy from New york coming for a load of parts so I will have another couple thousand to put into the house in the next week or so.... But when you have 20 things to get to...It evaporates quickly
I could scrounge up some extra time if there was enough money to go around for the house
If I could buy a house like that for $60K I would think I died and went to heaven. Around here that might get you a bare acre of ground. And all of those fireplaces. I am a fireplace nut. You did very well by my estimation. Keep up the good work.
I love those old places with character, back when more people took pride in what they built and aesthetics were the norm not an upgrade.
Sounds like a great little town too!
Judy
Judy
We like the small town...It has not quite caught on...So either we are ahead of the curve or we missed it all together... 20 miles down the road in florence all of the historic downtown is getting new brick facades...They are installing retro looking iron poles with lamps on them to light the historic section of the downtown...
We are thinking that as the beach exodus spreads inland they will fix up the small town we live in just like that...
My wife is not happy that we do not have a super walmart...Only a smaller regular wal mart... It is going to cost a little more but I have already bought a bunch of stuff from the mom and pop hardware store up the road and I like it...
I have always hated the soul less corporations like Wal Mart
desdawg
Well my wife did spend a lot of time looking...I think we just got lucky...And we knew what to look for.
Where do you live? $60,000 for an acre seems pretty silly to me... But then again half a million barely buys you a livable house anywhere near NYC or LA
In the lower part of SC there are all kinds of houses like the one we bought ...We looked at a few more that were nicer for under $80,000....But this was all we could afford.
This is why we came up with the plan to fix up and re-sell several...We noticed that there are all kinds of bank foreclosures on 80+ year old homes that need some TLC...
It seems being a Troggie as Glenn put it helps us....As the average person around the age of 30 cannot install a window or replace a toilet...
well not that they could not do it...Only they have never done anything like that and would just call a contractor...
So when they look at a home and have the estimate done to get it upto their "joneses" standards...It would cost 60,000
There was a report on our house from a contractor and they wanted $40,000 to install new windows, central heating and air...And to redo all the hardwood floors fix a few cracks in the plaster sand and paint the walls.
Fourty thousand dollars for that little bit of work...
I am not a great carpenter! :o..if 4 qualified skilled labourers came into my home they could have it done in about a week to ten days...The carpenter to do the windows...The paint guy to refinish the floors and sand/paint the walls..and a ac heating guy to do the central heating and air
If you said the cost of materials was $20,000 that would be 20,000 in labour...divide by 4 people...equals $5,000 divide by 10 days...Equals $500 a day
It gets pretty expensive and ridiculous when you break it down...
I think that the opportunity for us to steal this house was partly created by the huge amount that it costs to get anything done when you just call the first guy in the Yellow Pages and you start paying $60-70 an hour to get something done...
So many people who buy a old car or a house touch nothing...They do not even do the simple things like remove the chrome on a car before they send it to the body shop....Or rip out the old drywall before they get a house re-wired...
I suspect that when a lot of young couples went to look at the house we bought they saw it did not have central AC...Which is a must when you live in the south....Hot and 90% humidity unbreatheable!..And then they saw that it needed regular TLC that any house 80 years old would need....And never having done so much as paint a deck or hook up a washing machine they kept looking.
My real estate lady was a P.B.F.H. Psycho Bitch From Hell....When we called her to look at this house she told us that it was probably not what we were looking for on the phone :o After I specifically told her I wanted to look at it several times repeatedly she agreed to show us the house.
When she got there she had a list of other houses she had listed that were half the size one story ranch style homes built after 1950...Most were brick...But they were on small lots in places out in the middle of nowhere...I took her list she had prepared and threw it in the trash right in front of her.... I Told her I already knew what house I was interested in.
We told her as soon as we saw it we wanted to put an offer on it....She still kept trying to talk about other houses that were 30-40,000 more
I am not sure how other real estate agents are...But ours was money hungry and did not see a $50,000 house worth selling....Not enough commission for her I guess? :-/
Bank Repos are harder too I have learned It is a hassle to put an offer down you have to prove you have all the money upfront before you are allowed to make an offer...So you cannot find a house and then shop for a mortgage as with other houses..
Stuff like this is why I am confident that we could go out and get another great deal if we had to....This house is special to us and we feel like we won the lottery.... I told my wife that no way we sell this place until we find a place that we like even more...
Maybe we will both get lucky and do really well with our jobs and we can afford to keep this place and save up a little to go and buy the next place without having to sell this one... That would make me very happy
Peter, why do you have to replace the windows? Are they just single paned? I just looked over the pictures again, the windows are really pretty. The interior looks nice in the pictures, also - looks like it has been painted (actually, I liked the beige & white - but I like muted background paint so that I can accent it with the furniture, etc) & the hardwood floor looks in good shape - so does the banister on the stairs. Post some more pictures of some of the other fireplaces. I agree with Desdawg - you got a great deal, even though it might need a lot of work - you couldn't touch that around here for less that $300,000-500,000 with the large lot.
And small towns are nice! I hate driving into the big town of Fresno (a lot of people don't think it is big enough). I rarely go into Walmart or Target just because there are always such big crowds - although I do go to Costco... I've always liked living in the country or a small town - couldn't imagine living somewhere like LA or San Francisco. It takes so long to drive anywhere that although you live close by stuff, you don't go because it is too much hassle.
It's great that you & your wife are willing & able to do the remodeling - like you said, not a whole lot of young couples like you are willing or even have the slightest idea of what to do when it comes to remodeling - so you are way ahead of the game!
Nice looking house. I know the area. I went to public school in Hartsville. Saw some of the first Nascar races (ever) at Darlington.
Use to love to drive to Myrtle Beach. But now ... You're right, seems like the overgrown coastal blight is now swallowing up everything. Wonder if Brookgreen Garden still exists?
Darn I-95 and I-20!!!
Sassy
When you sell a house there are selling features and things that are huge detractors... Here in the south not having Central Heat and Air is a huge Red Flag
Wooden Windows is also a Red Flag....People want Energy efficient Dual paned argon filled Vinyl Windows
Yes the Wooden Windows are single paned and they are hurting the house in terms of insulation factor...The cooling bill in summertime and heating bill in the wintertime is more because of them.
For the record I like them too....There are 2 windows that need a little work...But I would easily fix them...Scrape and paint the windows in the house and they would all look pretty decent.
The hardwood floors are in awesome shape not scraped or gouged at all...My wife and I have had a fire in 2 of the fireplaces and they work well also...
And yes I like the small town lifestyle too...Walk into the Barbershop and know the owners name and vice Versa. Makes you feel like you are part of the community
JRR
Where is it that you live now? How long ago has it been since you lived near Darlington...
My wife would give up this house to live in Darlington...She loves the Historic District....The houses there are breathtaking
Benevolanve
Atlanta and maybe now soon in middle Tenn. Half a century. (Ouch! Can I be that old!).
I would think there are still many "opportunities" around Darlington, but am just guessing.
We looked at some breath taking homes for sale in Darlington that were 70-80,000 but they were nicer than the home we just bought in a nicer community...We just barely missed one that was 5,000 square feet with a 28x28 garage with an apartment above the garage...3/4 of an acre of land smack in the middle of the historic district...It was amazing...$80,000 bought it too....My wife cried when we saw it and called to discover it had been sold the day before
So yes we are thinking that we can find a niche there and work on our retirement goals fixing up houses.... ;)
Hey Peter, I live in AZ. Prices are high but nothing like Glenn and Sassys CA. I guess prices are getting high everywhere so the current market correction may not be a bad thing in the long run. But some people are going to get hurt while it corrects. They overspent and the lenders approved them for overspending by financing them with adjustable rates, interest only or some other off the wall mortgage plan. Now the payments are ratcheting up but the paychecks are not. Home prices are going down interest rates went up and a lot of people are screwed.They can't refinance, they couldn't afford what they bought and a lot of them won't pull through it. So, to make a long story short you did really well. Just remember Rome wasn't built in a day and you can take all of the time you need to improve your home and still live in comfort while you are doing it. You did it right!
Desdawg
I have made more than my share of mistakes in life to date...And Yet somehow I feel that I am not immune from them yet....So this is a learn as I go thing.
I am holding back from getting deep in debt...I want no part of zero equity in a home and be forced to re-negotiate a mortgage and the rates hike up and not be able to make payments....As you just talked about.
The bubble will not even have to burst for many people to be in trouble. A lot of people bought with no money and 90% of theor assets weere debts instead of assets...
A slight cooling of the market and any kind of increase in interest rates and they are in trouble. People were buying second and third houses based on projected growth rates from the past few years when we experienced unprecedented increases in property values and houses.
If you planned smart and left yourself lots of options and wiggle room a rate increase or a slow down would not kill you... If all your eggs are in one basket and you are mortgaged to the hilt...It is time for a few sleepless nights and tough decisions.
Looking at Wal Mart Enron and Tech stocks....You cannot have record breaking profit every quarter forever...Sooner or later you run out of room...Then there is a massive sell off and people start scurrying trying to recover their investments
I am not smart enough, bold enough or rich enough to play at any of that sort of thing... I am happy doing this one house at a time...
My wife and I talked about it and if We can do one a year for three years on top of what we both make in salary...We should make an additional 50K a year for the next three years....Because we will be living in the house it is tax free money for the most part because the IRA allows you a capital gains exemption.
The way we figure it is this would allow us to put $150,000 in the bank for our retirement now...So it could grow or be used for other things over the course of the next 20 years before we are both retired.
Neither of us are rich or paid well...But She makes $30k and I make a little more than that about $50k....
It is cheap to live in SC and we have always been able to save several hundred a month....The houses are our chance to get ahead and take control of our retirement
benevolance, my hat is off to you. Keep up the good work!
Desdawg
Keep yer hat on....Shade is a good thing...Ask me how I feel about the house when I get done.
For a while it is going to be one of those things that no matter how much you do it is not enough...
kind of like in Star Trek where the Borg Cube absorbs energy without taking damage....That is my house... I will work all day on it without noticing any real difference.
At least we are fully moved in Have everything hooked up but the internet...So it is all good...
I need to try to buy myself a Bobcat or an old farm tractor with a front end loader on it... Landscaping cement and brick work will be much easier with a machine....
As I said before I would much rather be born Rich instead of good looking ::)
I know you are supposed to enjoy success when it is hard earned...That saying came from someone not smart enough to invent something trivial and almost useless that netted them millions
I would gladly settle for being the lucky SOB who invented pez dispensors.... This house thing is cool and all...But it is going to take a good deal of time before my wife and I get to the point where we will feel like we are rolling downhill...
Still a decent incline for the time being.
:-/
Desdawg,
You need to start tipping yer hat to Glenn...And a few others here... I picked his brain a lot about property and making a move to build/buy...He and others shared their stories with me and it helped me a lot make the decision with my wife as to what might work for us.
In no way am I in any way responsible for any kind of great idea...I am an imposter of sorts...I borrow everyone's ideas sift through them find what I can make work for me and try to avoid the mistakes everyone else has made.
And I am still convinced that I am doing this backwards....Not smart enough to get this working for me...Instead of me working for it... I would like to be able to have a couple people working for me renovating houses as I have had people work for me in the past working on Cars...
But I am not experienced enough in the time required to do jobs and their costs...So I feel like I would be throwing money away due to risk...Maybe in a few years???
For me the best advice I got was directly from Glenn when he told me about buying the underground headquarters.... It was like bells were going off in my head...It all just made sense?
Guys like Peg who have a liftime of experience building.. or John who created this site... They are the ones we all need to be appreciative of... I am a hack in many ways stumbling along until I get what I need to do something else.
I look at the awesome pictures of people building their log cabins from Scratch and it gives me goosebumps...Or Jimmy's progression as he learned how to build a house..I am just a product of the example of others
I was reading the off topics the other day and this is as good a place to talk about it as any....The traffic and members to this site are way up...
Well considering what someone could learn to change their lives here it is no wonder that people come back once they find this place.
Finance, housing, food, medicine (politics)....There is a plethora of info here that will change someone's life for the better.
If you cannot learn a years worth of info in a couple hours on this site you are not paying attention.
Thanks, Peter, but I too share what little I know as I borrow it from others. :)
QuoteThanks, Peter, but I too share what little I know as I borrow it from others. :)
Dido here as well , very little of what I do ,was figgered out by me . I might have refined it some , but total invention / ideas , nah just tweaked old ideas , systems , refinements , rehashed re formated .
I dunno guys...This site was a pretty amazing place long before I found it...You guys did a great job of making it a valueable resource.
The point about increased membership and traffic are valid...I guess the type of people that gravitate to this place are all renessaince men(and women) we make our own trail and we are hands on....
The applications that this type of thought and information sharing are endless... Even if I was never going to build or renovate another dwelling ever again I would still come here for information about finances, government, quality of life etc...
Maybe we should hire on one of those web based promoters that will enter thesite into yahoo and google and John can start charging new members a fee to belong...And all of his hard work will finally get him rich?
John said he preferred keeping the site free and living in ashes and sackcloth. :-/
One of the things I like to is to keep things moving here. If there is nothing new of interest, people will stop looking and our members will have a much harder time finding support.
Progress on projects - how to's etc. keep 'em coming back for more.
Interesting thread and interesting house Benevolance!
Our power has been out and we are snowed in.
(https://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/jraabe/snow.jpg)
You have a handsome house there and a place that would command perhaps a $700 to $800k price tag if it were on Whidbey Island, WA. At least ten times what you have paid.
With the prices of almost everything else being somewhat equalized between areas of the U.S. (with a maximum of perhaps 30% - 50% differences on the costs of food, fuel, consumer goods, etc.) how can house prices vary as much as 1000% between locations? I truly don't understand why the law of supply and demand doesn't equalize housing and land prices more than it does. Yet, these BIG differences stay in place for decades and longer. West coast land is expensive - everywhere - CA, OR, WA. Land in the South, especially inland from the coastal areas, is so much more reasonable. You would think water would flow downhill from the west coast to the SE until the prices where more in balance. That doesn't happen.
If I could stand the humidity I would probably be smart to head towards the SE. That said, too many days like today could make an air conditioner look like something I might be able to live with.
Yes snow but we got power , you sure you payed last months bill John ;D
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Nov27snow1.jpg?t=1164665796%20)
Lil blue sky in the next one ;)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Nov27snow4.jpg?t=1164665838%20)
(https://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/Nov27snow5.jpg?t=1164665891%20)
And Glenn is good at keepin the ball moving , sometimes I just don't know what to say , and sometimes think folks get sick of me yackin at um all the time . '
Keep it free John , the site , it's mo betta that way ;)
Ya see it [highlight]doesn't[/highlight] always gotta be a about $$$$
;) :)
Edited to add the doesn't , see thats how I get in trouble one lil word left out and a whole new meaning ::) Stinkin nitwit, me that is , not you Peter ;D Well..... ops .. betta shut up :o ;) ;D
Please keep your snow north of my place.
If you made your own electricity, John, you wouldn't be out right now-- or you would at least be able to figure out why - then you'd have to fix it.
I haven't done as well at keeping things moving lately, as HP gave my computer a lobotomy when the 4 month old hard drive failed. Just getting stuff re-loaded - unrecoverable stuff off the second drive- had to clean it up with a special program then re-format- don't know why the second drive was affected. Lost some of the last few months pictures too. That's computers for ya.
I think house pricing in the West is high because you can't go farther West. All you can do is run up and down the shore of the ocean like a bunch of ants at the edge of a puddle of syrup.
Well ten years ago land in the south east was much cheaper...It has exploded of late...
Seriously...Ten years ago $30,000 would buy you a nice home on ten acres in South Carolina if you stayed out of the Beach communities and the larger cities...
It was the same way in Eastern Tennessee as well....Now mountain homes are retarded in Price... land is something crazy like 20-30k per acre :o
It is getting hard to get a deal...Stuff like Ebay the internet in General and the baby boomers all leaving Michigan and New York for the the South eastern Climate have allowed land values here to sky rocket
Hey Glenn John must be where there is elec. or he's set up for total wireless operation with his cell phone , or he's out at a spot with wireless and power. I guess there's lots of options , maybe a generator?
So thats why you been slackin lately , puter issues :oGotta hate that . Our Dell got power spiked in our last power outage last week , wind storm ! Dell took care of it a a couple of days not bad as we are way out at the end of that no where puddle . Well almost ;) the end of the lump ;D
Life in the PNW , tune into Monday night football they should have some good snow shots , IF they sent a camera crew out today , out of the metro area , Seattle vs. Greenbay , should be nice and cold just like GB likes it , the new expense field is a open one . Might even see a snow flake or two durning the game. I know you don't like football but others here might, sometimes they show a ferry shot of Whidbey , John could wave , I'm father north than he is ;)
QuoteJ
One of the things I like to is to keep things moving here. [highlight] If there is nothing new of interest, people will stop looking [/highlight]and our members will have a much harder time finding support.
[highlight]Progress on projects - how to's etc. keep 'em coming back for more[/highlight].
The rest of you lerkers take note , Glenn and I and a few other Amanda , Peter , Sassy , can't carry all the water ;D
How about a lil interaction , :o Post early post often , it's really ok in this formate ;)
I grew up in the snow country of northern Montana, Havre to be exact. It was the coldest spot in the nation many times. I don't miss it or the snow. I be an Arizona boy now. Then there is July.................LOL.
Peter I am alway happy to see people who don't fall into the herd mentality. You think outside of the box and you will be successful because of it. You have the initiative to come here and gather information. You had the initiative to jump in and make something happen. You are not sitting on the couch like 95% of the people in the world, you are doing something. So take a little credit, huh?
My hat is off to you. Keep up the good work.
Hey, I got the generator hooked up and running. 8-) Had to get a 12v battery out of the truck - The Gen has an electric key start and a pull rope but there was no spark without the battery in the loop. Once connected it started up with a twist of the key! :o
The power is clean enough to run the computer and monitor... no PEG - nothing tricky like cell powered wireless out here. No cell service at all out here in rural Langley. I only take my cell phone when going off island.
The power was going on and off all day today - usually it would go off while I was composing a message for this forum. :-/ (all that brilliance gone forever!) The snow is now about 12 to 18" deep with lots of trees down along the road and driveway. The forecast is for 1-4" more tonight and subfreezing temps for at least a day or two yet. It has been more than a decade since we've had a storm like this out here.
I think I better post this and then edit again to add more. If the power goes out then at least the rough post will be on-line.
[highlight]About this forum...[/highlight]
Nobody need worry about this forum going paid membership. This will always be free and will also be open to all types of building projects. For most people a stud framed house will be the most practical way to build and some of those folks will learn how to build by using my plans. That pays the freight on the site rental and forum costs. I like it when folks mention a link to one of the plans (as Glenn often does) but this forum doesn't need to be limited to that. Yeah, like I could do that even if I wanted! :-?
For those who want more personal support, I also have the Planhelp (http://www.planhelp.com/public/main.cfm) site where lots of design and planning tools can be downloaded. That is a subscription site... ($9.95/mo) But, it will not be replacing this free site. It is an adjunct site to support folks revising plans or designing for themselves.
This forum will be free and open to discussions of all types of buildings as long as people like those PEG mentioned are willing to help others with ideas, opinions and suggestions. When and if that stops, the forum will die a natural death and we will all have to go back to our normal lives.
Until that time this forum is a [highlight]living organism [/highlight] reaching out to fill the heads of unsuspecting victims with ideas of buildings they may someday be compelled to actually build. ;) :-/
Good explanation of how people get sucked in to building their own home from this forum, John -- and outstanding mechanical abilities too.
How about adding a UPS (un-interruptible power supply) for your computer so we don't miss out on any of that wealth of knowledge? It would give you time to get your post finished and maybe enough to crank up the generator. :)
Good suggestion. I have one now with a dead battery. I guess that makes it a very interruptible UPS. ;)
Time to upgrade that and also get some good heavy extension cords. This generator is NOISY!! I'm going to remodel the old dog house and turn it into a foam board lined generator shed.
NW Washington is very beautiful - but I don't think I'd like to go back there to live... :-/ But sure am glad John & PEG are up there! Beautiful picture of your home, John. Couldn't see much of your place, PEG.
Those pictures remind me of the 12 years I lived near Bellingham, WA... I liked the snow - in fact, I lived on a little road near a lake & woods - the 1st part of the road was very steep - when it snowed or we had an ice-storm, everyone was parked down at the bottom of the road - I had my little VW Bug with studded tires - I could go right up that hill without any problem! :) Peter - you are right about the VW - back then it got great mileage compared to other cars & because the engine was in the back, I could climb those hills when no one else could unless they had 4WD.
I never liked the ice storms & the driving wind - I don't think my house was insulated very good & all the houses seemed to have base board heating - never understood that... the heat would go under the drapes & curtains & not into the rooms. The only thing I liked about them was that I could regulate each room separately. The power went out on a regular basis - had a fireplace but it seemed to draw all the warmth out of the room. The "silver thaws" always made the trees especially pretty but treacherous to drive in. I've lived in other states with snow (Massachusetts & Ohio) but that was long ago... Think I'll just stay where I'm at & visit those places :) - we get our little bit of snow - as long as I don't have to go anywhere (like hurry to work) I love it.
Thanks again, John, for the forum - it's the 1st thing I look at when I get on the internet besides my email. Have to see what the "family" is up to - look at their progress... it's quite entertaining!
Thanks Kathy:
This place wouldn't be the same without our Sassy Momma! :D
Didn't know you were up in the Bellingham area at one time. The pictures of that area during this storm look like something out the Fargo (North Dakota) movie. Blowing and drifting snow - wind at 35 mph and the wind chill down to -15º!
Your move there to the sunny CA area was not a bad one!
QuoteGood suggestion. I have one now with a dead battery. I guess that makes it a very interruptible UPS. ;)
Time to upgrade that and also get some good heavy extension cords. This generator is NOISY!! [highlight]I'm going to remodel the old dog house and turn it into a foam board lined generator shed.[/highlight]
Ah a remodeler dream :)! Or Recyling /unlimited use of materials , good stewart ship! :) Or Etc etc ..... :-?
Or Don't burn the house down by screwin the pooch with the exhaust :o ;D
QuoteGood suggestion. I have one now with a dead battery. I guess that makes it a very interruptible UPS. ;)
Time to upgrade that and also get some good heavy extension cords. This generator is NOISY!! I'm going to remodel the old dog house and turn it into a foam board lined generator shed.
Be sure to allow plenty of air circulation - or outside air for the engine - they choke on exhaust and need air to cool. Ask me how I know. A lot of the noise may be the muffler - you may be able to add a bigger or different muffler. Piping the exhaust out via a flex pipe may help too.
Be sure to always observe all pertinent codes and be sure to pull permits before beginning construction. --- Just Kidding John --- you know me. :-/
QuoteAsk me how I know. .[/highlight]
OK , how do you know ? ;D
Note that I amended my above post while you were posting, PEG.
Couldn't stand the suspense, huh, PEG. OK -- here's how.
I had a loud generator when I first stayed in the motor home during the first phase of construction of the underground complex.
I though it would be a good idea to dig a hole for it and set it down in the hole to quiet it down. About a 3' x 4' x 2 1/2 foot deep hole. It ran a few minutes until it started choking up as it became surrounded by it's own exhaust.
We have also had problems with welders overheating under camper shells in pickups and work truck boxes that didn't have enough circulation.
QuoteThose pictures remind me of the 12 years I lived near Bellingham, WA... I liked the snow - in fact, I lived on a little road near a lake & woods -
By Lk Padden ?
Like John said , B-ham , San Juans , Whatcom county are all getting hammered , called my USN buddy Mike this AM , 17" of snow , drifts due to winds out of the Frazier River in BC , 17 deg. at 9 AM. Power in and out due to limbs / wind / snow load etc . They get real winter up that way. We just dapple in winter every few / 5 or 6 / 10 years or so. 1990 /91 was a dusey ::) Floods , on the mainland , 90 MPH winds after the rain / flooding , along with a two week deep freeze , a real one sub freezing weather / ponds frozen , that wind blew over old growth Fir trees up rooting the fozen root balls . Power was out in my town for 4 or 5 days , some places where out for 3 weeks :o
So anyone thinkin this is pradise lost / found better think twice :o High tax's , /property values just jumped this year another 50 % for some 100% . Come to think of it why I'm I here :o ;D
One way to really quiet down the exhaust of a generator is to put a resonator on the exhaust then pipe it to the muffler...It makes a tremendous difference.
And if you want to box in the generator just pipe in an air duct for the engine so that it has a fresh uninterrupted flow of air.
If the resonator/muffler combo does not satisfy you...You can follow the rules for automotive exhaust noise reduction...Bends in pipe reduce noise coming out of the pipe...And the more tailpipe you have after the muffler the quieter the exhaust....So you could pipe a few feet of pipe onto the back of the muffler and turn it down away from the house to throw the noise away from where you might hear it.
Have no fears about now allowing enough air into the engine through the box...The engine will act like a vaccum or a wind tunnel and dryer flexible steel looking duct work will allow plenty of air for the engine to run on....It will draw plenty of air into the doghouse....
I lived close to Wiser Lake - in between Bellingham & Lynden, off the Guide Meridian. It was a great place for my boys - we had the lake at one end of the road, woods at the other & big meadows behind the houses - so I could take them for walks & explore the area... I even water skied on the little lake a few times in the spring & out in the bay by Blaine & that was in February!!! I must have been crazy :o - but having grown up around lakes & a pool, I was desperate to ski & a friend had a boat, so of course I wasn't going to miss out on that! No wetsuit, just my top & jeans! It took me hours to warm up again... :-/
I also lived on H St Road - between Blaine & the Guide - about 6 miles north of Lynden - I could walk across the border into Canada through the woods & meadows & little creek. Right before I moved from there, the landlords leased the land out behind the house to a gravel & rock company so all you could hear was them digging & the rocks pounding & see a huge crater out back. I was glad to move (although I'm living in a hole now & there's lots of digging & rocks! :D ) In fact Glenn moved a bunch of huge boulders the other day to build up my rock wall where I planted some roses last year. Don't see too many roses, tho, cuz the deer eat the tops off of em... >:( , oh well...
Anyway, do you know that area, PEG? Lynden is a nice little town. A few years ago, Glenn & I flew up there - we flew right over the edge of Mount St Helens into the crater - that was pretty exciting!
I guess I'm trashing this thread :-/ - but Peter, you did tell us to keep on posting... ;) you'll have to post more pictures to bring this back on topic!
Ya I know that area I trimmed out a house on Wiser Lk rd. years ago , while I was on leave in the navy . I took ten days
or so leave and worked about 8 or 9 , 12 hour days . Made a , seemed like , lot of money , dbl dippin so to speak. You turned left off of the Guide while heading N on the G/M , to get to that place . Right by Lynden , as you know . Ya still can't cut your grass in Lynden on Sunday, stinkin Dutch maffia I tells ya ::)
Local weather sez -7deg. in B-ham with wind chill right now :o Hey Peter tell those nobs ta cut off that cold air flow will ya ;D We'd rather have some #1 old growth Fir from that Frazier river valley :)
Yes we are driftin here eh Peter ;)
Wow - I remember Blaine -- I tried to smuggle Canadian beer and 151 rum across the border there when I was 17, eh. :-/
ah 151 rum...they had that way back when you were 17 Glenn?
I remember drinking Lambs Navy Rum when I was younger...Oh man I got sick...
We played a drinking game with Dice called Threeman....It was April on my birthday and cold couple feet of snow on the ground...
Half the quart straight chasing it with beer I passed out...Woke up naked in the snowbank outside...It was below freezing.... I got sick on myself and they just stripped me down and threw me out in the snowbank figured the snow would melt on my body and clean up the puke....
talk about shrinkage :o...I slept in the snowbank for about 6-7 hours and was able to hand and knee it inside the house...
And yes there is nothing quite like the Douglas Fir and Canadian Red Cedar from the Frazier river Valley in BC
I grew up in the east and Douglas Fir was worth it's weight in Gold way back in Nova Scotia...We had pretty decent Red and Black Spruce which make great lumber as well....Lots of Hemlock back there too...
As for hi-jacking a thread...No worries...I have been known to rant, ramble and side track other people's threads...It is all good... best part of this place is you never know where a thread is going to go...Everyone chips in with their experiences and that leads to more questions pictures and examples...
No more pics of the house sassy until the week-end...I am back at the shop working for the week to make money 4 hours from the wife at our first home...I will see her and the new house on the week-end...We should have internet there this week-end...
So yes more pictures will be coming... they will be slow as I will be working away through the week until christmas likely.. back to work on the place on the week-ends.
That's what I call living dangerously. A quarter inch of frostbite in your wizened state could have destroyed any hopes you had of expanding the family tree.
Last time I got that way my friends pulled the tent off the top of me and made me look at the sun in the morning. I had spent the night crawling to the creek and talking to ralph. Every time I went there I had to remember a landmark so I wouldn't crawl through the last pile. Stopped that type of behavior shortly thereafter.
Six hours naked in a Canadian snowbank - I'm trying not to picture that. :-/
Make lots of money so you can post more home improvement pictures.
Glenn
Trust me it was not my finest moment...I was so drunk I did not remember much and I woke up all confused and frozen...Stumbling around in the snow bank my hands and feet all numb...
I came into the house got to the bathroom put the shower on as hot as I could stand it and stayed there for half an hour....Other than the headache that is beyond description and a nasty case of the shakes I felt okay.... I think I had puked enough by then for ten drunken idiots
That sort of thing has only happened to me a few times...Hopefully never again if you know what I mean....
Geeze, what a bunch of stories...
I don't think we want to go back to those years! I know I wouldn't last long in a snowbank no matter how much anti-freeze I had in my bloodstream.
Time for another picture. This was taken about 7 am. The old camper with the cleared hood is the truck I stole the battery from to get the generator going last night. It has another battery for starting the engine.
The weather is now bright and clear but very cold. No wind but lots of trees broken and laying down on the job. I've called the business district of Langley town (a mile away) and they still don't have power. Some areas near me are still in the dark.
(https://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/jraabe/truck.jpg)
For people who don't get much snow often, you guys sure are hogging it, John and PEG.
Probably .gov playing with HAARP a bit -- seeing if they can twist the jet stream a bit. We were supposed to get the big winter this year -- maybe they'll push it down here and bury us later too. :-?
Link to info on my above comment.
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~sai/wxwar.html
http://www.angelfire.com/al3/libertieswatch2000/WeatherModification.html
http://surfingthetao.blogspot.com/2006/05/weather-modification.html
Please send a little of that snow to Hotlanta. We have been sunny and 70+ for a few days now. Hard to get in the Holiday spirit ... maybe its better to drink it.
We've sort of got the S-word in our forecast for Thursday night or Friday morning.
A friend in South Arkansas (I think the Big City is Russton LA) has it for tomorrow night or Thursday.
Atlanta might be enough in North Georgia to get a bit too. At least some rain and colder by Friday.
Amanda
You are a kill joy...I am wanting to start chipping the old cement driveway and getting it ready to recap with 4 inches of concrete...I hate working outside all day in the rain :(