Here's the latest in a series of progress pictures. I ran out to the farm at lunch to see how things were going with both the demolition of the house (The Dumpster Blues) and the logging operation. First the house. Here's a montage I put together to show the varying states of change.
Slowly but surely, it's coming down.
Along with the dance of the dumpsters, some of the slowness can also be attributed to our contractor, Tracy, doing his best to preserve any old beams he sees in the structure and keeping an eye out for the other (non-clawfoot) cast iron bath tub (seen below).
HEY! Who left the toilet seat up...again?!!!
As for the logging operation, they continue to work on the clear-cut areas first. The lumber mill shut down yesterday and wasn't accepting any more of the smaller trees that they grind up for pulpwood, so they just created a pile.
The pulpwood operation will be back online tomorrow and they'll haul those out. In the meantime, the larger trees that they use for "chip and saw" are being hauled away, which is what is on the truck in the picture above.
A more panoramic view of the northwest corner of the farm with the goat barn in view
Everything seems to be humming along. There is still a lot of timber yet to be cut. With rain forecast over the next couple of days, they'll probably have to move to the higher and drier areas of the farm if they want to keep working.
We're still being slowed by the need for dumpsters to get emptied and returned. However, to keep us jumping, we got a call from our friendly, neighborhood Forester yesterday. Timber operations are starting. If you remember, or even if you don't, we posted an overhead map of the property that shows what areas we're clearing and other areas that we're thinning.
Red - Property lines
Blue - All trees cleared
Yellow - Thinning 40% of the trees
Though it wasn't our original intent to cut the trees, Neta's Uncle Donald had planted the trees (some himself, some he paid to have planted) and hoped to one day have a little nest egg from them. We agreed on a plan that was both palatable to us, as it pertains to the look of the property, and provided Donald with a nice payback for his investment.
Judging from what's been cut in less than a full day, it's really going to open things up, especially providing some better views of the ponds and making the overall farm look much bigger.
Neta took this photo from the top of the hill in the little pond. Looks like a golf course out there.
There used to be a "woods" across that bridge.
The machinery the logging crew uses.
Below we've added a couple of videos of the operation. It's an interesting operation to watch. The tree cutter has a spinning saw blade at the bottom front of the machine. It moves in, cuts the tree off at ground level and holds it with a claw on top, then it grabs another tree and cuts it, and another. It can cut and hold 3 or 4 trees at a time, before dropping them into a clear area.
The loader runs the tree through the machine to strip the limbs, then positions it for a saw to cut the unusable top part off (where it's either too skinny or forked), then finally it turns and loads it onto the truck or drops it in a pile depending on what they're loading at the time.
Meanwhile, Neta and I try to go out to the farm at least once a day now to see any changes that have happened. Yesterday Terrell went with us. He and I pulled up the anchors that were still in the ground from when the trailer was in front of the Cabin.
Pulling up anchors with the tractor
Terrell and Robert had cleaned up most of the stuff where the trailer had been sitting. He pulled one anchor out of the ground with his truck and I pulled out about half of them with the tractor on Monday. The only thing remaining were the rest of the anchors, some disconnected power cables and the power pole that the power company said wasn't theirs.
Robert found this pretty lady was under some debris where the trailer once stood.
Pulling the cabling off the power pole.
The video below is me using the tractor to pull down a disconnected power cable. The pole ended up partially coming down as the ground around it was soft.
We'll be interested to see what the next Google Earth view of the farm looks like.
One more thing, the logging company usually scatters the leftover debris, but we've asked them to create a pile, out in the open, for each area they cut. It will make it easier than us having to gather it up ourselves from all over. In a little over a year, we'll be able to burn those piles, each of which will be the size of a house. Everyone is invited, in Fall of 2017, to the biggest bonfire/S'Mores-making party since Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over the lantern.
Day 4. Just a quick status update. The dumpsters are full again. We knew this would happen. Our delays are based on the county's ability to drop off new ones and dump the old ones.
Can't get much done when all the dumpsters are full.
Tracy has taken down everything except for the original part of the house.
All of the "additions" are gone. Only the original structure still stands.
The backporch, kitchen, back bedroom and bathroom have been torn off.
Looking across where the back bedroom, bathroom and kitchen used to be.
We'd asked Tracy in the course of tearing things down, if he could set aside either of the cast iron bathtubs, we'd appreciate it. Looks like he came through for us. Better quality than a new one and refinishing it won't be terribly expensive.
Cast iron bathtub and some concrete pylons that were part of the foundation of the addition.
A couple semi-related notes: An escapee from the quail farm next door was seen sneaking around the bushes next to the house. I wasn't able to get a picture. Also our building loan is final and we signed the closing documents. It feels good to get all of that behind us.
Looks like we'll be on hold, from a construction perspective, until Monday. Check back at the beginning of the week for more updates.
Not sure whether today is day 2 or day 3. It depends on your perspective, I guess. What would have been day 2 brought us no progress. Our builder, Tracy, is waiting on the county to replace the three big dumpsters that are full to the brim.
Can't do much when the trash cans are all full
Carport, living and family room are gone. But hey...it's that open concept kitchen we've always wanted!
This is what the south normally looks like in tornado season, right?
We tried to salvage the wood stove, but it was badly rusted inside.
Neta and I drove out Thursday evening, knowing there'd been no progress all day, but when we got there, Tracy and his son were pulling more of the house down.
The front porch is gone.
Tracy was on the verge of filling up three more dumpsters, It will probably take another 3 or 4 once these are filled. He's also doing a good job of pulling out old timbers for us to use somewhere in the new house. There are a few in the attic that he hasn't gotten to yet, along with the two cast iron (not clawfoot) tubs that he's going to try to salvage for us.
Since we were over there, we figured we'd spend some time walking around. We ended up walking around the big pond when suddenly Neta let out a small yell. She'd almost gotten swooped by this guy.
It must have a nest nearby as didn't fly far from us.
He crossed the pond, where Neta tried to flush him back towards me, but he was not intimidated and stayed around long enough for us to get some good pictures.
Neta trying to sneak a picture of the heron.
He's keeping an eye on us.
There's rain in the forecast for the next 3 or 4 days, so I doubt much will get done until next week.
It actually began on Monday, after work. Neta, Robert and I went over to the farm to help Terrell pack up the last of the things in the house. He'd already started moving in earlier in the morning. We grabbed some remaining furniture and other items and put them in the POD, we put some other items in the barn and anything that Terrell had left he brought with him. He's all moved in and enjoying the comforts of home. Truth be told, I'm sure he's looking forward to getting Neta's cooking on a regular basis.
Today was the start of demolition. Please enjoy one last look at the original house.
Originally established - 1892
Tracy, our builder, told us that he'd be here to demo the house this afternoon. He arrived with some heavy equipment and got to work.
The first part to go was the carport.
Once the carport was down completely, he used the smaller machine to grab pieces and put them into the dumpster.
Neta's Uncle Donald watching. He was born in that house.
Terrell surveying the operation. He's spent over the last 20 years in that house.
Side of the house where the carport once stood.
With the carport mostly cleaned up, it was time to start on the back part of the house.
Starting to take down the back of the house. Neta's cousin, Brian, is looking on.
Donald taking a picture of the demolition.
The even demo'd the sofa!
Looking through the front door into the living/family room.
That was pretty much where we left things. Tracy was still going to work on the demo, but Neta and I had to get back to work. We'll stop by tomorrow and see how much more he did. He told us that he wouldn't finish until tomorrow, as he had 3 huge dumpsters that were almost full and will need them emptied and returned.
We hope to have another entry for Day 2 tomorrow...with video! And so it begins...
There is a saying... "Life is what happens when you're making other plans."
The latest news is that our appraisal for both houses is finally complete. The appraiser had some difficulty finding comparables to the cabin. There apparently aren't many, if any, 640 square foot, 1 bedroom houses with a full kitchen and bath on 1 acre of land. The main house was no problem. With the appraisal complete the bank told us closing would be soon and gave us the go ahead to tell the builder (Tracy Marsh) to get started.
You're about to get a serious makeover!
As you may remember, our plan is to get the Cabin started first so we can finish cleaning out the main house and, so Neta's Dad doesn't have to move until the cabin is ready. The builder said he would get started on the Cabin the week of March 21. We're only a week away!
We'd told our landlord a couple of months back that we would like to extend our rental contract on a month-to-month basis after it ends as our build will probably take us a few months beyond. He said he had no problem and could work with us. Our landlord lives in NC and has a company administer the property for him. To be official we emailed both him and the rental company our intention to extend beyond the end of our contract. We received a reply from the landlord the next morning. This is where "life happens".
He recently had an opportunity fall into his lap to work at Georgia Southern University here in Statesboro (his alma mater, as he grew up here...in this house). While it's not official yet - no paperwork signed - it would start in the middle of the summer and he would move back here...to this area...to this house.
Nothing has been decided. He told us that a lot of factors are involved including his wife wrapping up her job in NC along with figuring out what to do with their house in NC. The situation is pretty fluid for him...and for us now.
So...the (possible) worst case scenario is that we'll have to move out at the end of our rental contract before our house is done and find a new place for a short stay. Regardless of how things turn out, to cover ourselves, we decided to shift our plans into overdrive. We called Tracy and asked him if he could start on both houses simultaneously. He said he could. So demo will start on the main house in a week. Neta's dad, Terrell, is moving in with us for the couple of months it will take to renovate the Cabin. Not exactly what any of us had in mind. Surprise!!!
We'll make the adjustments and get it all figured out. I'm sure once this is all over it will only make us appreciate the new house and farm even more. We'll look back in years to come and remember all of the adventures that we'll have gone through to make all of this happen.
