Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Construction.

Well, we are moved-in and attempting to get organized. The hardest part about this transition is not having less space or less belongings; it's figuring out what to do with all the stuff we've acquired over the years. What to keep, what to sell, what to store, what to give-away, and what to toss.  I have hauled at least five loads to the landfill in the past couple of months. I don't even know what is missing. I need to haul at least that much more, but now the process is more tedious, as the pile of storage boxes starts to dwindle.

The camper has all the furniture and beds we need already, so we didn't have to keep much. We gave away a sectional couch, two dressers, a night stand, two mattress sets, a desk, and a kitchen table/chairs.  I stored the baby crib, our bed frame, an antique dresser, and a small table. All of those things were more sentimental than anything, and we may need them again someday if we ever go back to a "sticks 'n bricks" home.

The property where we live now has a large barn, with an empty  now half-full barn loft. It currently is holding all our spare clothes, kitchen utensils, dishes, bicycles, and the aforementioned furniture. I have loaded, hauled and lifted into the barn loft almost every thing we own by myself, except having help a couple of times.

Moving books...many many books.  photo IMG_1325_zpsefdbe0e0.jpg

The load-in:  photo IMG_1317_zpsa1bcc63d.jpg The load-in process consisted of backing the truck to the barn wall under the loft, and using a step-ladder in the truck bed to reach the barn loft. Lifting and heaving each item up to be stored above.

The loft:  photo IMG_1318_zps6389002d.jpg Before we could do much moving, I had to build a new fence as I said before, and create a driveway. Nothing very exciting here, just a lot of work. I drove 40 metal fence posts by-hand, through rocks and roots and whatever else was in the way. I also had to widen the driveway entrance by about six-feet, to accommodate the long RV rig.  photo IMG_0931_zps90b3326f.jpg  photo IMG_0930_zps6b2f0579.jpg

Clearing brush from the land, and the tree limbs from the driveway:  photo IMG_0942_zps625da028.jpg  photo IMG_0986_zps80fb5f80.jpg  photo IMG_0982_zps207a27a7.jpg

Side-note: I bought a 1999 Dodge Ram 3500 Diesel as a tow-vehicle for the 5th Wheel.  photo IMG_1055_zpsd7025833.jpg It's a quad-cab, manual transmission, 4x4, flatbed. Setup and ready to work. It will handle any job, and will be very handy in this project and in the future. Then... One tragic morning, it lost oil pressure while warming-up and ruined the motor. It's currently in the shop getting a replacement motor. That's an entirely different blog post. Because of that setback, I'm working the '01 Silverado exceptionally hard:  photo IMG_1284_zpsfad95f09.jpg  photo IMG_1285_zps64aed37d.jpg On the scales at the rock quarry, the whole thing weighed over 16,000 pounds. That's quite a bit for the 5.3 V8 with 200k miles to be hauling around. But, it keeps on cranking.


MOVING ON... One of the biggest issues with living full-time in an RV and in one place was having some type of permanent structure to house a washer and dryer, as well as store some commonly accessed items. We decided on a pre-made outbuilding. After looking at Lowes, Home Depot, and Craigslist, I bought one locally from an Amish family.  photo IMG_1240_zps32e10f5f.jpg Girod Mini Barns on Blue River Road. Very nice family and he does great work. His prices are cheaper than anywhere, and I would trust his construction over anything that's manufactured for a big-box store. Moving the shed was a chore. Of course this was an Amish job, so everything was manual. I learned how to work that day. I borrowed a tandem-axle trailer, and Rueben Girod and myself jacked the building up by hand, loaded it, and moved it to the new site. Rueben came along and it was just as much work getting it unloaded and set. It took us the better part of the day. We also had to deal with low-hanging branches along the driveway. Rueben climbed up on the building and rode atop the building with my chainsaw, cutting limbs as we crawled along the 1/2 mile gravel driveway.  photo IMG_1272_zps857c2713.jpg  photo IMG_1277_zpsdfdf0fa7.jpg

Once the building was set, it was time to build animal pens. We have dogs and chickens currently. Also, the building was going to house my main electrical service. I installed a 100 amp panel, and ran new wiring in conduit to the REMC pole. Jackson County REMC came and inspected my install, approved it and connected to their meter.
Lots of manual labor in this whole endeavor. I haven't been to the gym in weeks; haven't needed to: Digging the trench to bury the electrical service conduit.


Finally! Power:  photo IMG_1306_zpscc59007a.jpg For most of my construction, I found a source for rough-cut oak boards at a local sawmill. At $1.00 per board, its an unbeatable deal. I have used it for all my fencing and the interior of the shed.  photo IMG_1288_zps5ea8ccc5.jpg

Building animal pens:  photo IMG_1287_zpsf2d3e7d6.jpg Younger brother Aaron was happy to dig fencepost holes and use the pneumatic nail gun.  photo IMG_1295_zpse6c3226c.jpg  photo IMG_1297_zpsaad5ed43.jpg Beginning of the chicken coop:  photo IMG_1308_zpsd4376a76.jpg  photo IMG_1344_zps641cc89d.jpg  photo IMG_1345_zpsdc162a41.jpg Stay-tuned. More photos and details coming soon.

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