Thursday, July 24, 2008

No more campers

Jeff came and got his camping trailer on Saturday and Al came and got his pop-up on Tuesday. I don't have a stove anymore, but I have a gas grill, a microwave and a small refrigerator. Life will be somewhat normal again when I get a big fridge, a stove, a washer and a dryer, not necessarily in that order. I could be running into a fridge for free from a person who works with me.

Well, I've been living in my bedroom for two weeks now. It is definitely different. It's cool in my bedroom, but as soon as you step out to go to another part of the house for any reason, it's extremely hot, as you would expect for summer in Alabama. At least there is no direct sunlight, which presents another problem...lighting. Last weekend I completed the living room circuit so I have a light available as soon as I step in the front door. Before that, the bedroom and bathroom were the only lights. Within the next few days, I'll complete one of the kitchen circuits, which will allow me to plug in a washer (when I find one I can afford) and give me another light as well.

The next major item to be completed is the roof. As stated in a previous post, a bit of water manages to get inside. The schedule, which it tentative, says that I should be finished with the roof by Saturday, August 9th. I'm not as schedule driven now that I've given the camper back, but certainly by the end of August I should have the main roof done. The stairwell roof and the decorative pitch on the front of the house should be completed sometime in September. We'll see how it goes. I usually dread the items I perceive as much work, but when I get started, they usually aren't nearly as difficult as I thought they would be. Time will tell!

Monday, July 14, 2008

I'm in!

Friday afternoon I took 1/2 vacation day to finish up the insulation and install the door in the bedroom in preparation for move-in on Saturday. I finished up about dusk and went to bed early. Saturday I went into town to my storage unit and brought selected pieces back, most importantly, the bed! I slept inside the house for the first time on Saturday night. I've met the most important part of the deadline, getting out of the camping trailer. The owner will be picking it up this coming Saturday. All I have to do now is give it a good cleaning and were good! Next goal will be to get the roofing on. I'm shooting for August 15!






Friday, July 11, 2008

Move-in day!

Tomorrow I will be moving into the bedroom of my house. Tonight the insulation will be finished and the bedroom door will be installed. The window air conditioner is already in place and working well. God willing, I plan to sleep in the house on Saturday night. I've got a bunch of work left to do before the house is finished but hopefully not at the pace I've been working for the last 4 weeks.

I've found that if I actually create a task list of items and a planned completion date that I actually get more done. It forces me to plan in advance what I'm going to do and when. Before I did this, I spent quite a bit of time surveying the progress and pondering what I was going to do next. Most often this was done at the time I was supposed to be working. Scheduling what I need to do and when is very tedious, but it pays off. Of course, I don't know how well this will work if there isn't a driving force behind sticking to the schedule.

The next major item, which includes a bunch of smaller preparatory items, is the roof. I've got 30# felt on most of the roof and it's a bit worse for the wear. It keeps about 97% of the water out! I'm planning to install rolled roofing because of it's low cost and quick installation. The plan is to have it done by the end of the 3rd week in August. The driving force to completing on or ahead of schedule has much to do with the 3% of water that gets in!

I'm going to be looking for a good used washer and dryer so I don't have to waste so much time at the laundromat. I'm keeping an eye out for a used refrigerator and stove as well. I'll take some pics tomorrow after some items are in place and post them soon.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Much progress over vacation!

Back to work today, I sure am glad! People joke when they say they are glad to be back to work where they can rest a bit! Wes and I worked our proverbial "rear ends" off last week during my vacation. We made tons of progress. Dug trenches with a backhoe for the power line and septic tank main line, finished the water supply and waste water plumbing, and finished the shower and toilet installation. My power is hooked up and the breaker box is wired, I have hot water, a utility sink, a toilet and a shower, all in working condition. The telephone line is buried, but I still have to bring it into the house. Before moving in to 1/2 of the house, I have to insulate my bedroom walls and ceiling and buy a small window air conditioner. I think I'll be ready to put a matress in this Saturday and possibly sleep inside the house!


Shower!

Utility sink. I washed 3 pairs of jeans there last night!

Toilet. Works great!

Breaker box with all breakers wired and installed.

Final connection to septic tank!