Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Status Update

The Honey-Do List just keeps going!
I bit off quite a lot with this new house.
 
While I'm having a great time knocking out projects, I've done very little with the boat building project.
 
To date, we:
- Removed three layers of wallpaper in the kitchen. Refloated the walls followed by 3 coats of paint
- Painted all the rooms of the house excluding the bathrooms and hallway.
- Tore down unused fencing and animal shelters.
- Hauled off eleven loads of junk (everything from unwanted decorations to rotting wood and unused fencing)
- Picked up the float hull sections from my Dad's house in Louisiana
- Visited family in Illinois over Thanksgiving
- Picked up a small tractor to take care of work around the house (Dug up a few stumps and loaded a few trailers)
- Trimmed the Hedges and cleaned out the flower beds
- Gutted a small shed in order to rebuild it for my wife
- Burned some leaves and ended up (very likely) killing two trees in the process.
        (I'm really sick about that one... the leaves went up like a Tinderbox and I wasn't prepared)
 
All while holding down a Full-Time job and taking care of all the other things a Husband and Father is expected to do.
 
:)

 
I'm not complaining though.
It's been an absolute blast!!
We couldn't be happier since moving to Texas.
The weather, the food, the "things to do" is just amazing!!
The people we've met have been kind and friendly.
My neighbor Steve is THE BEST!
He's a Vietnam Vet (Door Gunner) and old-school Hot Rod builder with 35+ years of bodywork experience.
Some of his cars have been on "Gas Monkey Garage" while others have been in magazines.
He's a wealth of information and a wonderful person to hang out with.
 
 
As for the boat, I have all three hull pieces in the shop.
I'll be rebuilding the strong back as soon as the shop gets extended a bit to accomodate the length needed.
That work is planned for Spring 2018.
Once the building is lengthened, I'll need to work on cleanup and insulation before installing an HVAC system.
The shop has is on it's own 200Amp meter, so no problems to be had with electrical demands.
 
Boat work will have to compete with Home Projects though...
To date, we plan to:
- Rebuild the "She-Shed" for my wife to have a place of her own.
- Paint the Kitchen Cabinets
        (This required the purchase of an HVLP Turbine paint system which will come in handy later on when painting the boat...  :D)
- Remodel both bathrooms. One of which will be extensive.
- Move the Laudry room into the converted garage:
        - Relocate the plumbing
        - Relocate the Main Power Panel
        - Remove the drywall
        - Install windows
        - New Flooring
        - Remove some walls while building others
 
The BIG job though will be the upstairs...
Currently, the house "looks" like a two-story house, but is actually a one-level "Ranch" style home.
The attic is completely empty and will make for a perfect place to build out another bedroom (or two), a game room, bathroom and kitchenette.
 
Since Texas Summers are rumored to be VERY HOT, the work will be have to be done in "phases".
Starting with marking, measuring and planning.
Followed by a temporary staircase cut into the attic, temporary flooring, roof insulation, plumbing, floor strengthening, HVAC ducting, knee-wall layout and electrical circuits.
I plan to remove the one MAIN HVAC and replace it with three smaller units.
Two for the first story
One for the upstairs
 
This is just what I can think of at the moment...
It's enough to keep me busy for the next three years.
 

Some pics to recap some highlights...

:)

Stripping wallpaper

Stripping Wallpaper

Three Layers!

It was nice to have my parents over to help!

Cutting in the Bedroom


Unfortunately, the shop still pretty much looks like this... a shambles




One of many loads to the dump. I probably shouldn't admit how much I love this!

:)

On the way back home with the floats.


Taking a break!





I told my wife this just "showed up" one day.
She didn't believe me...

Digging and Pulling stumps


The  3 Point-Hitch Top Link mounting bracket was broken.
Steve and I fabricated a saddle to fix it.



A short trip to Illinois to visit family over Thanksgiving

And back home to Texas to clean out the flowerbeds.
Texas Brown Tarantula



Digging another stump in the front yard.
The rock you see there is called "Caliche".
A natural cement formed  via leaching and evaporation






I love the dirt here. Not much clay content so it spreads so easily (after you rake over and pick out the rocks)