Frustration turns into Productivity

For a couple weeks we've had one piece of bad news after another. Electrical inspection, Failed. HVAC inspection, Failed. Attempt to add the Plumber to our Building Permit, Failed. Attempt to get water & sewer service connected, Failed. And then we were informed that since our house sat empty for over a year, we owed the County $650 for... get this... to verify our house existed. I wish I was kidding. On Friday I got an email that they had driven to our house, looked around for thirty seconds (not kidding at all), confirmed it existed, and sent me a bill for $650. 

Believe it or not, that silly email and the invoice that accompanied it, turned my frown upside down. That email meant we could move forward with the Plumbing inspections. It meant we could move from "rough" to "final" stages on more than one area of the house.

And the good news continued to roll in. Our Electrical updates were completed, the HVAC inspection was approved that afternoon, the insulation R-factor was cleared by the County, and we finally got the correct list of things we are required to have inspections for. Hallelujah. 

So with all the good news rolling in, we had two jobs on this weekend's agenda: Close in the old attic vent in our now-vauted ceiling, and finally get some drywall hung. By five o'clock this evening, both tasks were complete. 

If all goes well with the Plumbing inspection tomorrow, this place is going to look entirely different in a couple weeks. Exciting stuff on the horizon.

A birthday wish has been granted

What kind of crazy person asks to drive nine hours and then be put to work as soon as he gets there? My Father-In-Law, that's who. That's right, the Missus' Dad took a few vacation days to come to NC from Ohio, accompanied by his wife. Unfortunately for him, I was busy working on my hardwood floor, so they were put to the itchy task of installing new fiberglass insulation. 

We took advantage of their truck to make a few Home Depot runs for lumber and drywall. If you're keeping track, we made the guy get itchy on his birthday AND used him for his truck. Isn't family grand?

We also had some great friends come help out over the weekend as well. We truly are blessed.

A new look to match the old

While not in our original budget or planning, the Missus and I decided to go with solid Oak hardwood floors in the kitchen. It was an easy decision after we tore out the six layers of other flooring, but it was still a pricey one and somewhat rash seeing as neither of us had ever laid that kind of flooring. 

Thankfully our friend Chris had some connections with the right tools and expertise. Friday night, February 24th, Chris and I showed up at the Beacon Fixer-Upper after having worked our own respective nine hour work days, and dug into the monumental task of laying Red Oak solid hardwood floors.

Here Chris gets ready to lay the first of many boards. Thankfully I remembered to grab my camera.

With the right tools it was productive time but definitely still a hard job. And with that first board nailed in place, we were off...

By 10:30pm, we had reached the halfway point. And we'd also reached our physical breaking point. We were done for the night.

The next day I returned early in the morning, this time by myself. I had a long day ahead of me.

I've never been more tired or more sore working on this house. But dang if that view isn't worth it.

Taking care of the ugly to get ready for the pretty

All those holes in the floor from the termite damage were convenient for running pipes and reinforcing floor joists, but eventually they needed to be filled in so the project could keep moving. 

And now for the pretty...

My shop has arrived

On February 22nd, I received the call I'd been waiting for since the very beginning of this journey. And if I was to be completely accurate, this was something I'd been waiting on for many years. "Your barn is loaded and on its way to your house." 

The barn, as he called it, or to others, a shed, was so much more than either of those things to me. Since my earliest childhood memories, my Dad had a small building in our back yard that was his wood shop. And while I've had a, "lean-to", a, "basement", heck, I've even had a, "shed", I've never had my own wood shop. Until now...

After three months of looking, shopping, visiting, and then doing it all over and over again, I finally picked out just the one I wanted. The call that came that morning was such a beautiful thing.

Once he got there the driver backed his trailer up to the spot I'd prepared and then he got to work.

His trailer has a set of wheels UNDER the back axle that raised up on hydraulics, allowing the trailer to slide sideways. It was truly one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

After blocks, wedging, and leveling, my wood shop was home. And I was happy.

Exactly as expected

No single image of the work on the Beacon Fixer-Upper gained more notoriety on Social Media than the one below. So of course it should also be here for posterity sake. (See what I did there?)

I give you... Plumber's Crack

All my pretty studs have holes in them

Almost as soon as I had my new stud walls in, they starting to get holes in them. But unlike the termite damage we had previously been dealing with, these holes were signs of progress. The Electrician, the HVAC guy, the Plumber, all came into the house with a flurry of activity. Before we knew it, they were starting to call in requests to the County for their, "Rough-In" inspections.