Homestead Farmhouse Update: progress is happening, slowly and steadily. The last, new, exterior door has been installed after widening and improving the frame. I finished repairing the last section of flooring that was damaged by termites eons ago annnnnd I pushed the cart in front of the horse a bit by installing an accent wall made of repurposed tongue and groove wood from the original kitchen walls. Tomorrow, I’ll start reframing and installing the new windows on the front of the house. Lot’s of movement will be happening there, so stay tuned if you dare!
Homestead Farm House Update: Where to begin? Somedays, I feel like I’m burning more of this house than I’m saving. But I look at it and realize that I’m really not. Most of it is still intact in all of its glory. Renovating an approximately 100 year old farm house that’s had many, many, many years of neglect and deferred maintenance, does not come without its moments. This little house has made me bleed my own blood several times. It is very stubborn and somewhat cantankerous at times. When it bites me, I pull out a bigger hammer, sometimes a bigger saw to put its attitude back in check. I’m making progress, albeit slowly at times. This week has seen 5 new windows moved, framed, and installed. A new front door has been widened and installed, but only after repairing a good section of flooring, sill, and rim joist due to ancient termite damage. A window has been removed and plugged up too. Soooooo much work! But I WILL make this little farmhouse our beautiful and very strong, forever home. Keep. Pushing. Forward. Always. Dreams only come true if you work hard to make them your reality.
Homestead Main House update: Finally finished getting the exterior siding replaced around the kitchen. This siding was removed to make all of the repairs/ replacement of the lower sill and rim joists. Got Michelle’s new walk-in closet framed up, and repaired the flooring in it that had been cut for the old HVAC system. I also tackled a few ceiling joists that were extremely, and stubbornly bowed. The process of straighteng those was a bit janky (utilizing a 4×4 and a floor jack), but highly effective. Unfortunately, due to poor construction, there are several more that will need straightening and reinforcing, but we’ll get there, joist by joist! Progress is happening on this little old farm house!
Homestead Main House update: Well, now that the roof is done, I can now focus my attention on the doors and windows. Two of four windows that need to be relocated are done, and the new exterior kitchen door is installed. Small progress, but progress nonetheless! Just 10 more windows to go in preparation for the new exterior siding!
Homestead update: We’ve got our brand new roof! I spent part of the day Thursday cutting through the roof to place the new Waste Line vents, bathroom ventilation fan and range hood vents. Yesterday the old roofing was removed, and the new roof installed! Big progress! Next up? Start framing in the new windows and start getting the exterior stripped of the old aluminum siding. Exterior wrapped. Windows and new siding installed! Easy Peasy?
Homestead Update: Nothing too exciting today. Finished nailing and lag bolting the new floor joists and rim joists. Removed a window and framed in and opened the new exterior door, opened the wall area for the new walk in shower and did some other miscellaneous framing in preparation for framing some walls. Nothing exciting, but progress is, in fact, progress!
Homestead Update: Wayyyy more progress on the main house in the last week. Mud sills and rimm joists are all done in the kitchen, and the new beam and floor joists are installed! Brand new roof and brand new HVAC system are scheduled for the next few weeks! We’ll be continuing on over the next few weeks framing the new walls that we need and replacing/ relocating all of the windows and exterior doors! So stoked!!!
Week 9 started with painting, painting and more painting.
We painted cabinet doors, ceilings, walls.
We also got paint samples for the outside of the mobile home and my She-Shed.
Shane was very busy finishing up the bathroom. Shower was grouted and floor tile went down.
Then we had a rainy day, so we went to check out Campbell’s Covered Bridge.
We wrapped up the week getting grating quotes since everytime it rains, it was running in all the wrong directions, towards the house, the garage. We hired an awesome company that did amazing work and we ordered another bin to get rid of trash.
The best part….. our grating contractors used their equipment to load it which saved me a bunch of time.
They also cleaned out the overgrown garden area so I could get ready to start planting.
Meantime, I was learning to do subfloors.
Week 10: The grating was done and my garden area was ready.
Then more rain and with all the new grating, everything was a muddy mess. Planting rye seed to grow some grass and help our new slopes for water drainage not just wash away, became a priority.
I prepped the soil, planted and covered the seeds with hay so the birds and guinea hens would not eat the seed to give it a chance to grow.
Next week I start on the vegetable garden and Shane will begin repairing the fencing.
I started painting the kitchen cabinets, which took several coats.
Kitchen cabinets.
Shane was busy in the bathroom getting the shiplap paneling up and the sink and countertop in. We also picked out the paint colors and the bathroom flooring.
Mobile home bathroom
The yard began to bloom with some beautiful signs of Spring.
Tree in our yard
Then the bathtub tile went up and a shower nook was created by my talented husband.
Bath tile before grout.
The big excitement of Week 8 was the arrival of our new garage! The same day we also had an HVAC company out installing the new unit into the mobile home.
The new garage
This gave us an opportunity to work in the yard and clear lots of overgrown, thorny areas. We found 3 burn piles and lots of trash that had not burned and bags of abandoned trash.
Clearing out over grown areas and trash
The week ended with more painting, Shane grouting the shower tile and a glass company coming out to replace broken window panes in the mobile home.
Week 4 began with a date day to explore Greenville and to pull permits for the new service panel.
Downtown Greenville
While my husband was busy working on the bathroom in the mobile home, I got busy doing demo in the pantry in the main house to get ready for the new location for the service panel.
So many layers of linoleum
And then my fun demo project took a turn.
I found severe damage and rot to the studs supporting the walls and had to go deliver the bad news to my husband.
He came down and took out the floor and the news was even worse.
How that corner of the house was standing, we have no idea. The bathtub in the adjoining room is falling through the floor. Studs were so rotted they were not touching the ground and support joists were crumbling in my husband’s hands.
We got busy cutting wood and my husband was able to save that corner of the house. He attached new studs to the old ones, replaced floor joists, added moisture barrier and replaced the subfloors.
Me learning to cut wood and the new studs.Moisture barrier and subfloors
The one highlight of the week is I did find some tongue and groove wood in the kitchen walls.
And the new service panel did make it’s way into it’s new location.
Week 2 we had some rainy days so we decided to get started on the Mobile Home.
I went through and pictures of where we were starting.
Living room and kitchenLaundry room, bathroom and 1 bedroomSecond bathroom and bedroom
Then we began demo. Removing carpets and wall panel’s to see how much damage was beneath.
It was more than we anticipated but it also made us even more determined to give this home some love and bring it back.
Holes, mold and missing floorsWater damage here, water damage there, water damage everywhere
After that, it was back to finish the garage tear down for the new concrete slab to come in for the new garage. This time it only took 1 pull with truck to bring it down after all our prep work we did before.
Finishing the garage take down
Next week, setting up an RV to live in, the concrete gets poured and a new electrical panel for the main house.
Hello all, here is an update on our 1st week renovating our property in South Carolina.
Our very 1st day, my husband got stuck in the mud pulling our work trailer onto the property with our tools in it. After an hour of trying to get out, we called a tow company and the driver was able to attach a chain and pull out the trailer and truck. He had to do it from the street to avoid getting stuck himself.
And we’re stuckFriendly neighborhood tow truck driver to the rescue
We were staying near by at an AirBnB on a farm so we were able to clean and check out the wiring! Oh what we found!
Lot’s of car wiring, muliple splices, hot wires with no ground. Some very creative and dangerous solutions.
There is a wire coming through the window frame to power an outlet in the kitchen.More wiring fun
Then we moved on to tearing down the carport. We have a new concrete slab being poured and a new garage coming so getting prepared was a priority.
It took 5 attempts to pull it down with the truck and a chain but we finally got it down.
Then we took it apart and saved the wood to be reused on other projects or for firewood in the fire pit. Unfortunately we could not save any of the metal roofing. It was thin and had large nails hammered in so there were large holes after we took it off.
BeforeAfter
To wrap up the week, we started taking down the garage. We cleared out the inside and took the walls down. Next will be the roof and studs.
Coffee Peace N' Homesteadin 