Promise Acre: Our Journey

[Ridgetop]

An old friend raised 5 children in a home undergoing demolition and construction since her first pregnancy. Her oldest at age 11 asked for a bedroom door for his birthday!

When the drywall went up on the walls she complained that she no longer had handy fire blocking on which to place items in the rooms. She is still convinced that there is a baby bottle somewhere behind her kitchen wall!

Her children are all grown, married and have their own children. I think they finished the house in time for the last ne to graduate from high school! They still live in the house.

 

[Baymule]

An old friend raised 5 children in a home undergoing demolition and construction since her first pregnancy. Her oldest at age 11 asked for a bedroom door for his birthday!

When the drywall went up on the walls she complained that she no longer had handy fire blocking on which to place items in the rooms. She is still convinced that there is a baby bottle somewhere behind her kitchen wall!

Her children are all grown, married and have their own children. I think they finished the house in time for the last ne to graduate from high school! They still live in the house.

THAT would drive me nuts. I could do it for awhile, with goals and a git 'er done whirlwind of activity, but not for YEARS!!!!

 

[thistlebloom]

THAT would drive me nuts. I could do it for awhile, with goals and a git 'er done whirlwind of activity, but not for YEARS!!!!

It's amazing what you can get used to...
Our first house was a major fixer, we replaced the siding, the windows, the roof, the plumbing, the electrical, moved walls around, etc. We lived in it through the process. Dh is in the construction trade, so working all day, then coming home and doing it again was not exactly a stress reliever, haha. Plus there was the monetary side. Make a dime, spend half on the house. It was a slow slog, and even slower when you live in it. You get used to camping indoors.
It turned into a cute little house, but after 20 years I still had my "temporary" kitchen cabinets, which were functional if not attractive.

 

[Ridgetop]

I know hat you mean - and it is feast or famine! DH w9uld work 24/7 mandatory overtime - $$$ to fix house! BUT no time to work on it. Then time to work on it and all the saved $$ spent on renos.

I learned to install and finish drywall, install water lines, do moldings and trim work, hang doors, install cabinets, install by-pass closet doors, barn doors, do ceramic tile work, lay vinyl floors - both sheet vinyl and individual tiles, lay laminate, change plugs, switches, light fixtures, draw u professional looking plans, etc. etc.

When building our barn, DH would come home from work, climb up on the room and cut in the plywood for the sub roof, and go to bed. I would take kids to school next morning, climb up on roof, nail down all plywood and work on other parts of house, install fencing, water lines, cages, for livestock, etc.

We did this on multiple houses for 40 years and are planning on doing this in Texas with the slight exception that we will hire people for the heavier work.

The benefit is that you learn a lot and know if the workers are not doing what you want, or not doing it correctly. Doing it yourself means that you usually get what you want, and with better craftmanship.

It is worth the effort. You will eventually have a great home and will know what is behind the walls. My favorite part was finding dead space that I could repurpose into storage when most workers would have just drywalled over it..

 

[thistlebloom]

Wow, I really admire your handiness and fortitude @Ridgetop !
I am not so skilled, or maybe I just lacked the push to learn. Dh did it all and I was the gopher and assistant. He could also be more casual about the urgency of getting it done.
However, one thing I learned well was to be very patient with the glacial progress, there was no point and nothing gained by impatience. My days were busy still, I homeschooled the boys through high school, did some side work to pay for my horses, and maintained inside and outside spaces, so not like I was sitting around eating Bon Bons and watching soaps, lol.

 

[Ridgetop]

Don't worry - took 40 years to learn all this. I was impatient and wanted the stuff done, DH was working mandatory12-14 hour days, 6/7 day weeks. Had to learn to do it or it would have killed him and me both - him with overwork, me with impatience and rising blood pressure. I didn't home school but had busy schedule with livestock, 4-H, etc. Our kids had to help do stuff - they were the go-fers. No fun time while we all worked. Tey didn't know any different so it worked for all of us.

Problem is now, I expect to still be able to do everything like I did 40 years ago. Not happening.

 

[thistlebloom]

My big sis is so much like you. There is nothing she can't do, or at least try. They bought a tumbledown Queen Anne cottage and rebuilt /restored it on a shoestring and did everything themselves out of necessity. She's also much much bossier than I am, and her husband is way better natured about being nagged than mine is. Before dh and I started going out she was after him, haha. He says he dodged a bullet
She got all the creative genes, I got the leftovers, but an extra dose of strong back. So I'm gifted at grunt labor. You should see me shovel!

 

[farmerjan]

I just plain out DO NOT ENJOY doing all the building type stuff. My mom was the one when I was a kid, my ex is/was a carpenter and a picky exacting fanatic so I seldom did anything he approved of.... I just do not like to hammer and saw stuff very much. I would much rather be the grunt/helper, and do the sh#t shoveling........ Not much good at looking at something and "seeing" the finished product. That is why I am taking so long here at some of the stuff.... and with the knees..... let someone else do it. Farming, gardening, even some cooking and such.... and the animals are my thing.... God bless every one of you that really enjoy it or have a flair for it. Maybe if I had had more encouragement and "guiding" teaching with my ex..... but that was LOOOOONG ago, and I moved on.

 

[promiseacres]

Richie says that Spring is coming!

Ranger


I am sure we'll figure it out, the house. DH tries to be patient but he's a bit ocd about things. But here's some photos for your enjoyment

 

[thistlebloom]

If Richie says it's spring I'll believe him! No hair coming off anyone here yet.
Ranger is such a cute little guy
And you will definitely get the house figured out. It's so much of a day to day thing, getting one job after another accomplished. You guys have already done an amazing amount of work and are making good progress.