What home improvement work did you do today?

Yep, the main part (tall part is). Has the original staircase. Someone came along and added a ton of addition to it. They also finished about 95% of the original attic and lined it with cedar.

 

Stunning for sure & your home has a lot of history to it.
You are doing it right.

 

End of Day 1.

 

My first home was built in the 1800's and had add ons throughout it's early life well before we bought it.
Up in the attic on the North facing gable wall written in chalk, were the letters MEW we had no idea what or who,several years later I went to insulate the attic floors and while pulling up the boards I found a school report card from 1893 and it was Mary Elizabeth Wroe.
No street number because back then everyone knew everybody,and didn't do so hot in school she did poorly in math,good in stenography and good in German. Lol.
We put her report card in a two sided glass with thin pewter wire frame that clasped together and sat up right in a finger style base so it could be viewed on both sides,it kinda looks like an old school dinner menu special holder,any way we left it with the house when we sold it.

 

That's pretty awesome. I haven't really found anything here except for an old horseshoe buried in the yard. I was all excited about it and thinking it was some awesome find until I was talking to one of my neighbors who lives in his parents old house. He said when he was younger, they used to play horseshoes in our yard. I ended up giving it to him.

Someone did etch "Hi" in our staircase though.

 

Bought it in 96 for 114,900 mortgage was 743 a month,2006 sold it for 345,000 it was a dump when we got it.
I put a lot of sweat and tears into it.
The windows were 22"x60" and the moldings were beautiful and thick,that house had a lot of character.

 

That's really nice! Like I said, the original part of our house was built in the late 1890's. It was originally small, tall and square - through the years people added on to it. It's got lots and lots of personality but keeping up with it is getting a little tough.

 

The coat hanger almost done, just needs the polyurethane and the hooks (painted bronze already). My strategy is to mount to the wall with 2 major screws then cover the holes with the coat hooks (4 total to space out).

Wife said no gloss poly!!! Gtfo gloss is the best.



Gloss is so nice (how my table turned out last year):

 

You made table last year right?
Or am I losing it and you did that 1.5 years ago.
High gloss is killer looking on wood with a rich grain.

 

At least you can get a truck in yours. My truck will not fit in my garage.

 

Well, inspection came in and they passed the pole for reconnect. Only call out ended up being super appreciated. Not knowing nothing about nothing (first time wiring a panel) I wired the outlets for 240. Inspector saw it and told me how to correct it so I did.

No we wait for the power to be turned on and then I start working on plumbing in septic while I wait for the tractor to come back so I can get my floor material delivered...

Thinking I will go with crushed concrete.

 

congrats on the pass. Feels good knowing you did it to code on the first try. I had to get a water heater inspected (I know) and only thing I was missing was a sediment trap that was now code. Inspector congratulated me and said most DIYers dont get it right on their first go.

 

Thank you and no kidding! And thankfully, he inspected the panel and its final connections only. So the strapping and incorrect PVC adapters (all that was available in town) were not in the inspection criteria!

But excited to be done with permits and ready to start getting configured to hold the camper.

 

The roofers showed up today and nearly finished the damn roof. Crazy.

 

Nice job on selecting the right crew. I see some roofs take so long, while others show up with 8 plus guys and bang it out like they did yours.

 

I think there were 17 here today.

 

Roofing is the hottest job a contractor with the right crew can do today. Never in between jobs and 2-3 a week is a great income.

 

Now that's a motivated crew and it looks great!

 

It looks great. Really transforms the look.

 

Gang

 

bet at least one was of the undocumented kind...its ok, I can say that cuz Im Mexican

 

Yeah, I was kinda worried about a certain government agency stopping by for a photo shoot…

They were amazing - they did the finishing touches this morning and finished everything by 10 am and spent an hour or so cleaning up the yard and doing the magnet sweep (they did that after every day of work).

 

So many good things to hear in your process. And it looks fantastic.

Side bar, my plumber is a Mexican, and the only honest plumber in town IMO. Doesn't overcharge, shows up on time, and always shoots it strait without trying to upsell me shit I don't need. Also leaves the job site only after cleaning everything up.

 

Got some insulation in today, about 1000sqft. 1400 more to go, but mostly ceiling and it will slip right in. I've left the "tougher" cuts around the plumbing for tomorrow morning. Insulation inspection is Friday. Upstairs is all blown in high density cellulose. 1 inch foam behind the studs, 2 inches outside the concrete, will be a total of R-30 down here, and the floor is R-15 with 3 inches of foam under slab. For the floor area we will put down something, I am trying to figure out another light layer of insulation to decouple from the concrete further. Up for suggestions!

Tried my best to get it clean and tight, I am sure some out there could do it better!

 

Damn that is a lot of beautiful work... I still need to scrape the coin to get my attic redone.. they left a lot incomplete for some reason. Beautiful!

 

thank you!

 

Had a couple of Anderson casement windows installed, bought a greens mower for that low life, and burned off the yard.

 

love watching videos of that process and those mowers. Live in an area the correct grass types won't grow though so I can only envy from afar. Keep us updated on the process!