House Flip

2007-12-30T20:02:00.001-08:00

Christmas :-)
After the system was re-pressurized( 175 psi !), the brad nailer worked AWESOME! :) :)
Before this I found some leaks (big surprise, the Harbor Freight stuff ). When I emptied the tank the first time I let the air a little too quick, it became an ice making machine :)The HF auto drain tee nut cracked?, and the regulator gauge leaked no matter how tight I cranked it. I eventually fixed all but one by using pipe dope instead of Teflon tapeFifty something joints sweated at this point ....Play-it-Again Sports had hockey pucks for $1.19 each. They make nice isolators to quite the compressor. AND BOY DOES IT NEED IT :(Centered to within 5 thousands (just for the hell of it :)Plumbed and wired...Auto drain feed "spliced" into the "receiver unloader line", which is just the pressure feedback loop to the regulator which cycles the compressor.(I think)The auto drain has a diaphragm that opens and closes each time the compressor cycles. It is controlled by the same pressure line that controls the tank pressure.
complete Original manual drain Adding an auto drain to the compressor. This way I don't need to lay on the floor and manually drain the tank every time I use it .I had to actually remove the compressor to get it under the garage door.

2007-12-19T18:40:00.001-08:00

It filled up quick, but there is actually more room than I thought there would be :-)

The End.

2007-12-18T19:12:00.001-08:00

The tractor really is going on the inside :-) ... and I'm not sure how well the pine doors, and trim, are going to hold up, but unless we see a 50 degree day, there is not much I can do. I could have painted the doors first, but I wanted to get them on before this last "storm".

The ramp was basically a slip-n-slide once it snowed, so I ripped some "treads" for the ramp.

2007-12-11T17:14:00.001-08:00

A month of weekends later...

The ramp is finished too, but the doors need to be hung. THEN I can fill it.

2007-11-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

Mmmmmmm... plastic. Soon the mower will be INSIDE the shed.

Well, it seemed like overkill, but everything I read said that vinyl siding does not stop water, so I added some housewrap to the list.

2007-11-24T13:55:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow.... PLASTIC

2007-11-22T17:57:00.000-08:00

Can't talk, turkey coma...

2007-11-18T16:54:00.001-08:00

Still not done, but I keep getting closer ... I was able to finish the ladders for the overhangs, and the gable framing(not shown) in no time, with the new nailer. The soffit finish work is done as well, but it was too dark to take pictures.
My elbow finally gave out...
Butane operated framing nailer: Ironically I need a "cordless" nailer because I need to finish the this shed to make room for the compressor in the garage :-O

2007-11-16T19:09:00.002-08:00

Well, between rain, snow, and my mistakes, I actually didn't get much done this week, but I should get more done this weekend. Oh... and I didn't beat the snow.

The most time consuming mistake that I made was trying to save on plywood by lowering it an inch and a half. This way I had exactly 2' and could use the other half on the other wall. The problem is that I had already cut the rafters to fit the 2x4 walls (without sheathing). So I had to cut small pockets in the sheathing for each rafter. DOH!!
Mistake number 1: Once I setup ridge beam support, originally set for an 8:12 pitch roof, I realized that made it way to big. So I had to cut them down for a 6:12 pitch roof.

2007-11-11T16:36:00.001-08:00

QUICK, BEFORE IT SNOWS! A SHED FOR MORE STUFF...

2007-04-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

APRIL 15th !!! @#^%$@#

2007-03-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

Another before and almost after. Still need some molding, paint, and a welder plug...

2007-03-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

Time for pegboard, cabinets, shelves, and LOTS of tool sorting. I still have tools I never unpacked because I was waiting until I had someplace put them :-)

Before and after:

2007-02-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

All of the drywall is up except for the entry door area where I need to box in the vent pipe first. I'll get to mudding this weekend. I had a bit of a delay because a postal worker had a delivery for me and left the garage door open! 30 mile anhour winds @ 10 degrees for about 5 hours. My cozy 60 deg. garage was 21 degrees when I got home, and it took 2 days to come back up to temp. Needless to say, the door remains locked now. By the way, the Uhaul blanket is covering some really cold, leaky, single pane windows that I intend on replacing, along with the garage door.

Corner: After
Corner: Before
Last Corner to be finished. I''ll be putting walls around the vent and running plumbing for a sink first.

This has been my daily commute for the last week. The apartment in Parish has 10 feet!

2007-02-05T11:07:00.000-08:00

The garage/shop is starting to come together. When I started the garage it was 29 degrees in the garage. Last night, it was in the teens outside and 60 inside :-)

Before and almost after...I started by putting up some ceiling joists ( since there were none)
Added some baffels...
Removed a door, and added lots of outlets ( 120 and 240 )...Took the previous owner's fridge to the dump ;-)

Created an ugly R6, or so, garage door for 25 bucks.
Added some padding...bought a gun and rented a drywall lift...

And voila, well almost. A couple more eveneings of rockin and muddin and I should be in good shape.
Once again, I can't really get a good wide angle shot, but it's bigger than it looks (18' x 22'), now that it is getting organized.

2006-08-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well, the first thing to do is work on the garage, since I need a place to work, and possibly live, when I demo the rest of the house. The wiring needs a major upgrade, so I am installing a 100 amp subpanel in the garage to power my tools and lights. The existing wiring is dangerous at best. Then I will insulate the garage for winter. However there is no ceiling and the garage was added on to the existing house. You can see that they never bothered to take off the siding. So, first the siding has to come off, then a ceiling has to go up, then insulation and sheetrock...

Now that's some nice wiring. They had power running from the basement to the garage, then they ran power to the lights in the basement... from the garage?. Good thing I had a tester!

Lovely 4x4 construction ...

Once the siding was removed I had a view into the attic above the bathroom. Just what I thought, old wood, spider webs, and beer cans...
The first load of "house" to go to the dump :-)
Out with the old and in with the new... ceiling joists.

Flip That House, well maybe...

2006-05-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

OK. since I just don't have enough to do... I bought this small cape in Cicero. It's much bigger than it looks.. WRONG! This one looks way smaller on the inside and it looks tiny from the outside. It's also really ugly inside, however, lots of demolition and a small ( or big) addition could do wonders. I think I'll save this one until winter...

Summary:

1. Roof is only 4 weeks old, but it will probably be ripped up to add shed and gable dormers, and see what he covered up.
2. Foundation wall is a combination of old limestone and new cinder block... and it is sinking.
3. Floors, and therefore walls, lean to the center and back of the house by almost 10 inches in certain areas.
3. ZERO insulation anywhere.
4. I think there are 6 outlets total in the house. ( un-grounded)
5. The one, and only, bathroom looks like an outhouse nailed to the outside of the house.
6. The paved driveway looks like gravel at one end becuase it is in such bad shape.
7. The house is completely built from used lumber, probably the wood from the barn that was here originally. The walls are 4x4's, the floor joist are logs in some areas, with bark!
8. The sheetrock used is the first ever made. It looks like it was made in the kithcen with a rolling pin.

On a good note:

The garage is large, the property is 100'x300' in an area that everyone wants to live and houses this size (in much better shape) are selling for 100k.

Click on any of these images for a larger view...

Here are some panoramas I stiched together to get a feel for the house and the lot
The street to the right has some new homes in a much higher price range ( see bottom pic), so I don't think I need to worry about doing too much rehab and becoming the biggest house on the block. By the way, it is the smallest now :-)It will be a shame to remove all of this fine wood paneling, and the siding being used for the walls in the living room, but it has to go!Ahhh yes, the master bedroom. The walls and ceiling are painted 1/4" masonite . And the purple curtains cover windows ytou can't see out of because of all of the moisture IN them.
This is the street that borders one side of the property $-)

A quick photoshop ( very quick ). No critique of style, design, or quality!