Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[Baymule]

You are better right now. You and your husband are doing a great job. You just can’t do it all at one time. The wall, roof and floor is a serious setback, but y’all are already on it and it will all be made right. You and your husband are resilient and are overcoming what is getting slung at you. Hang in there.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Took these pictures a few days ago and forgot to post. This is Toffee feeding her kits. It was really cute watching them dive under and hold themselves in place with their legs. Sorry they are blurry, I didn't want to open the door as I thought she would move if I did.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Well, we had a very long weekend. Weather was good, almost too warm. I should have been wearing a hat today and didn't think about it until I started getting a headache.

Friday night my brother came over and helped hubby on the floor, tearing more stuff out and put in a few more 2x4s.

Saturday hubby's dad and grandpa came over and tore out more, including what hubby had already installed. They had decided to completely fix the joists so they ran the entire span of the room. That's right, they built the room using an eight foot span and THEN ADDED AN ADDITIONAL TWO FOOT SPAN! Connected of course with a HINGE. The support beam underneath was not placed where these two sections met, oh no, it was placed towards the end of the eight foot span, almost a foot away from supporting the smaller section, which of course was helping support the LOAD BEARING WALL. The damage to the bottom plate of the load bearing wall was extensive, it was almost completely eaten out by termites/dry rot. No wonder the wall had sunk an inch or two. It was literally being held in place by the aluminum siding.

They came back over today and finished ripping out the rest of the floor in that room, in order to fix the rest of the joists. The joists now span the entire length, although they didn't use 10' boards, they used 8', and they are installing a new support beam under the section that is sistered together. The new joists feel very solid and sturdy, there's no give or creaking as with the floor prior to the renovation. Soon hubby will be able to sheet the floor with osb and we can finally start installing the new flooring.

I worked in the garden while the guys worked on the floor. I was able to pot up most of the fig cuttings I started a few weeks ago. Several looked like they started growing and then stopped, not sure what I did wrong. I don't think any of the mulberries made it, I'm a little frustrated as they had looked good and then suddenly dead looking.

 

[Baymule]

Nothing like having to redo a mess done by idiots. My son bought a house with a back room addition that seems to be put on using bandaids. He has to tear the whole thing down. To put it back, he’ll have to hire a crew to tie in at the roof ridge line and extend the roof. The existing roof add on is fairly flat, only 6 1/2’ tall at the outer edge and it leaks.

You just can’t fix stupid.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Nothing like having to redo a mess done by idiots. My son bought a house with a back room addition that seems to be put on using bandaids. He has to tear the whole thing down. To put it back, he’ll have to hire a crew to tie in at the roof ridge line and extend the roof. The existing roof add on is fairly flat, only 6 1/2’ tall at the outer edge and it leaks.

You just can’t fix stupid.

It really sucks having to deal with stupid, incorrect repairs. On a positive note, at least I know now what to look for, if we were to have to buy another house. Not planning to move, but I know more now about what various damage and bad building looks like.

I'm a little frustrated that some of this damage wasn't called out in the home inspection. It should have been visible from under the house. Makes me wonder if we could have gotten some of it repaired or at least the price dropped if we had known what to look for, or we might have kept looking. Oh well, a bit late now.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I need to weigh bunnies tonight. We were supposed to butcher this weekend but house project was more important. Pretty sure the rest of the first batch are big enough now. Need less bunnies to feed, they are eating a lot! I really want to keep a bunny from Raspberry, either the black or blue, but need to see if they are boys or girls. I might have to get a new buck, not looking forward to that.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Planning to get rid of Toffee, also considering getting rid of Cinnamon. Toffee has bitten me in the past, and has had small litters. Cinnamon was my first Rex doe, but her litters have been getting smaller. She's also not very friendly, more skittish. Her kits are in the second group, so if I butcher her at same time, that frees up a cage. Her fur is very ragged from being a mom though.

Coffee hasn't done well recently; her first litter was great, but tried to breed her twice since and got nothing then dead babies. Will give her another try. I think I'll try breeding her this week.

 

[Bruce]

That's right, they built the room using an eight foot span and THEN ADDED AN ADDITIONAL TWO FOOT SPAN! Connected of course with a HINGE.

All I can say is

Do you suppose the section was hinged so they could hide the bodies easily?

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

All I can say is

Do you suppose the section was hinged so they could hide the bodies easily?

Well, it had the subfloor attached above it, and then the carpet, so it wasn't like a secret trap door or anything. Father in law's guess is the section was transported unassembled and then assembled on site. So maybe it needed to be smaller to fit inside the other section? No clue, just shaking my head over their poor choices and wondering how we didn't fall through the floor already. That is the area we were stacking the new flooring boxes, 3-4 high, and those suckers are heavy!

 

[Baymule]

It really sucks having to deal with stupid, incorrect repairs. On a positive note, at least I know now what to look for, if we were to have to buy another house. Not planning to move, but I know more now about what various damage and bad building looks like.

I'm a little frustrated that some of this damage wasn't called out in the home inspection. It should have been visible from under the house. Makes me wonder if we could have gotten some of it repaired or at least the price dropped if we had known what to look for, or we might have kept looking. Oh well, a bit late now.

Some things in life just suck and you can't back up and do it over. You just have to plow through and keep moving forward. I think you are handling this very well, it's a pain in the backside, but you aren't letting it shut you down.