Wisconsin Farmhouse Remodel

Started by Windpower, September 14, 2012, 09:00:52 AM

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Redoverfarm

Hopefully you can get it dried in before the serious weather arrives.  Seems that our colder weather arrived sooner this year than usual.  But that is always the way when you have things to get done that are weather dependent.   ;D

Windpower


The weather is starting to change .... 

Today here in N IL it is a beautiful    60 degrees and sun

According to weaher underground we should see a couple of days like this in WI over the next week or so

*fingers crossed*
Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.


Windpower


Trusses going up










45 Foot long  TJI's to deck the second floor were delivered -- they will go from the garage to the other end of the original house



This 'orange monster' really speeds up the job -- the double trusses for the second floor door to the house were extremely heavy but the machine made quick work of it








More pics later

they are trying to get the deck done and the ice and water seal down before the bad weather predicted for next week hits.......

Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Windpower










The flatness of the truss/OSB roof is remarkable




Almost sealed in
Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Redoverfarm

Looking good.  I would imagine depending on the weather whether you breach the old structure this year to tie the two together.


Windpower

Long range weather from weather underground (which has a pretty good record so far) says next week is wintery/ snowy thene the following week back to the 40's

Mike says he can get the old farmhouse roof off and the second story decked then  covered with plastic and tarps for the winter.

*fingers crossed* 
Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Windpower

We went up saturday to check things out

It is supposed to hit ten degrees tonight so we wanted to get the canned stuff into the basement where it won't freeze

got a good fire going saturday night then went to a motel

here is the latest progress -- Dried in, windows set 










REC ran the new underground electric service (the black loop in this pic)





Then Sunday morning 3 inches of wet slippery snow --- we were not able to make it up the hill -- the plow truck didn't either

so we went home -- hoping for the best -- at least we have the structure ready fo winter -- made it with one day to spare

On the way home we saw this pair of bald eagles waiting for the storm to stop

Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Windpower

Well that was frustrating and a waste of gas and time

Weather report said 30 percent chance of light snow --- wrong, we had near white out in places and black ice on the main highway two cars off the road and one poor soul with a
jack-knifed 40 foot disk trying to go up a hill

Was to meet up with the insulation removal contractor

could not make it up the hill -- the plow truck had not gone through yet and it was very slick -- I would not have tried it with 4WD -- there is a 60 foot drop of on one side of the road

I  called and we resheduled the inspection to next year

Oh well .......
Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Windpower

Went up and back today  (340 miles)

Moved all the perishables into the basement -- lowest temp in the basement so far 43 degrees

everything is battened down ----- good thing too, storm coming --- 15 inches of white and 40 MPH wind

8 degree tomorrow     - 20 degree wind chill

it is almost like winter  :)










Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.


Sassy

Great progress in spite of the weather - that's gonna look really nice - lots of extra room, for sure!

Love the pic of the bald eagles!
http://glennkathystroglodytecabin.blogspot.com/

You will know the truth & the truth will set you free

Windpower


Thanks Sassy

The eagles looked almost cartoonish sitting there -- we were really glad the camera was in the car....

Last night they got 14 inches of snow and 45 mph winds, tonight they are predicting 1 degree

we didn't get it dried in a moment too soon
Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Windpower


Went up to meet with the insulation removal contractor

A little snow ~ 12"  - plus drifts the snow shoes came in handy



I have to admit it was a pretty day, if a bit cold



Did some snow plowing with the tractor




Met with the contractor and drove home --- they will get a quote to me


oh and check out this hornets nest in the attic over 2 feet wide

Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Tickhill

WOW, hadn't seen knob-n-tube service in years. Enjoying the updates.
"You will find the key to success under the alarm Glock"  Ben Franklin
Forget it Ben, just remember, the check comes at the first of the month and it's not your fault, your a victim.

Pray while there is still time

Redoverfarm

Windpower looks like you timed that about right (winter or early spring) .  Those hornets would have been nasty to deal with in the summer. ;D 


Windpower



Yeah, the knob and tube is a bit scary

I am not sure if it is powered or not but it is definitely going away

I saw the hornets going into the facia over the summer and used probably 5 cans of bug and wasp killer on the entrance -- it did not seem to slow them down.

From what I have read the nests die off over winter --- still not sure if I want to try dragging it out myself or not.....
Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Redoverfarm

Quote from: Windpower on January 05, 2013, 02:16:43 PM

I saw the hornets going into the facia over the summer and used probably 5 cans of bug and wasp killer on the entrance -- it did not seem to slow them down.

From what I have read the nests die off over winter --- still not sure if I want to try dragging it out myself or not.....

I would say that you would be OK.  Even if they are alive I am sure they would be a little sluggish and you can out run them.   ;)

Windpower


Not sure if I could out run them or not these days ...... ;D
Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Windpower

Finally got the weather and insulation contractors together

It was muddy but not so cold

overall took about 6 hours to get it all vacuumed out and bagged

they did a very good job and did not make a mess

They ran the hose out a window. (yeah it really was that foggy)



The vacuum truck and trailer





Off topic -- it seems there was a post about grain bin houses some where here

this is a few miles from the farm -- even has a grain bin garage

Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Windpower

Finally May 6 there is a stretch of predicted 3 days in a row of sun-- so off comes the roof








and the 'flat roof' old kitchen area on the right in the above pic



this is what we had left

Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Windpower


after talking it through we decided there was only going to be 45 feet of out side walls left -- a mix of 2x4 oak studs that were rock hard and none of the window areas matched up --- and none of them were any too straight either

took all the walls down and put up new 2x6 walls that could be insulated and made straight. Overall it ended costing about another $1000 in materials and saved at least 2 days of reframing the old walls

And we now have nice straight well insulated walls for those cold WI winters

True to their word the walls were up in a day

viola !!






the next day they had the second floor decked -- this is the cutout for the stairs up



and the rains came again -- note the tarp ---- we pulled about 300 square feet of maple hardwood flooring (much milled from trees on the farm I understand)  to be reused later (my back may never be the same)



and since it was wet and rainy we lit the debris pile

Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.


PorkChopsMmm

Do you plan to backfeed the grid or are you going to go offgrid? I ask because I see the power pull and the run from the power co.

We are offgrid but if running power wasn't so expensive I would have a feed just to charge my battery bank on dark days instead of relying on a generator.

Great build -- thank you for documenting!

Windpower


Thanks PCM

initially we are going on grid

BUT

when we get the 7.5 KiloWatt solar panels running the grid is going away

I think we should be self sufficient -- at least that is the plan
Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Windpower

Lilacs are out

View from the future master bath south



waiting for windows and roof trusses



view from future master BR window looking east





view from north bedroom dormer window

Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.

Redoverfarm

Probably a wise decision on the old part.  I am sure that you now have it framed more to your liking than what was there.  So basicly you now have a completely new house.  That in itself is worth the extra money knowing that there will not be any problems mating up to the old and the new lay out.  Thanks for posting.

Windpower

Thanks, Red

the old waqll would have been near impossible to insulate well

that and the sill plate were off level by almost 4 inches from one room to the next in places

the carpenters estimated that the extra materials were going to offset almost completely by saved labor (I am doing this time plus material)

It is great working with these guys --- the actual tear down was done in less than a day total --- their SkyTrax machine is amazing too

trusses should be there  late next week or early the following -- then they will probably rent a crane -- they are going to be some big trusses (they came in at about 7 K total but will save at least a week of labor according to Mike -- a good deal
Often, our ignorance is not as great as our reluctance to act on what we know.