Long road to home.

[ENG18LT]

YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! THIS THREAD HAS CRACKED THE 15,000 VIEW MARK!

Thank you to all of you for taking such an interest in our slow/long road to happiness. It is overwhelming to think this thread has had so many views already. We aren't even getting to the good stuff yet.

I am humbled, thank you all.

Lee

 

[ENG18LT]

I finished up getting rid of the old cabin. Spent monday filling the second 20yd dumpster. i was going to set up the GoPro to get some "action" shots however, it was upper 20s, snowing, and a 20-25mph wind. I wasn't really in the mood to have my picture taken! :irked: I did manage to get some after pics for everyone in TBNland.







Once the weather gets better we are going to prep the site to move the camper there, away from the road. There are a couple concrete slabs from the old cabin that we are going to use, but I will need to set some 12" sonotubes for one of the front jacks and both rear jacks. I promise some action pictures when I do that.

 

[Obed]

I finished up getting rid of the old cabin. ...
Once the weather gets better we are going to prep the site to move the camper there, away from the road. There are a couple concrete slabs from the old cabin that we are going to use, but I will need to set some 12" sonotubes for one of the front jacks and both rear jacks. I promise some action pictures when I do that.

Lee,
Looking good. You might want to run a magnet over the site to pick up some loose nails before you park your camper their. When we built our house, I bought a magnet like the roofers use and religiously picked up nails around our house. Fortunately I didn't get any nails in any of the tractor, truck, or trailer tires.
Obed

 

[ENG18LT]

One of the more pending things that need to be done is to do a cheap bathroom remodel on the existing house. I am not sure if I mentioned this before or not but the plan is to demo the house after we get a new one built behind the pond. There is no fixing the house without tearing it down and starting over. Unfortunately if we tear it down then the "set back" line comes into play and screws up the existing location, thus the plan to build behind the pond. Until that happens we want to be able to utilize the house as a place to use a bathroom, much easier than having the camper pumped out every 5-6 days we are out here. The existing bathroom is in a section of the house that has settled 6-8" over time. This settling has been enough to cause the soil pipe to now run uphill slightly. As many know "poop don't roll uphill"! The plan is to strip out the shower and fixtures, put in a new floor system that is level and 6" higher then existing floor. This will give me enough room to pitch a new soil pipe downhill to the outlet. I also found that the soil pipe is not vented, gonna put in a cheater to fix that. Then I need to frame up a shower stall with walls that are plumb. These will get some plain white "seconds" tile and grout. New linoleum on the floor and sheetrock the ceiling and walls. Hope to keep it under $1k.







And more good news.... the oil furnace hadn't been serviced in years. The service man condemned the unit and felt so bad for me that he didn't even charge for service call. I am getting a new HEIL propane furnace from a friend at cost to replace the now dead oil furnace. That is project number two on the must do list for this year.

One of these days I may get back to prepping for the new house...... :jaded:

 

[dave1949]

I wonder if it would less money and work to buy a bottom-end single piece shower unit? Or, multi-piece if you couldn't get a single through the doors.

And rather than laying tile, you could use the "looks like tile" sheets that are common. That would be cheaper and a lot less work for something you will eventually dumpster.

 

[ENG18LT]

That was going to be my first choice. However there is a window in the way so I may ned to do a custom sized mortar pan. I will check it on tuesday when I go back out.

Good suggestion though.

 

[dave1949]

I've seen sheet products, like what is behind the stool and sink, used for shower walls too. It works, just doesn't have the service life of tile. If you seal, caulk the edges and seams so you don't get a mold farm going, I think it would be fine for your goals.

I can understand itching to get going on your new house.

 

[Obed]

Lee,
Ever consider an outhouse? For showering, you can bathe in the camper and just run the greywater waste through a water hose onto the ground. We had a camper on a piece of rural property with no septic. We did our business outdoors but showered in the camper as described above.

I'd just hate to spend any money or effort on a house you will demolish. Plus, you'll need to heat that house in the winter if you turn on the water.
Obed

 

[ENG18LT]

Obed,

The family wouldn't go for that. I look at it this way, I put in 1k now, and use of it spread out over the next five years comes out to 200 a year. That's still less then I have been paying to have the camper pumped every week each summer. But, most importantly, it will keep the girls happy. And we all know keeping the ladies happy is the key to a happy life.

 

[ENG18LT]

I've seen sheet products, like what is behind the stool and sink, used for shower walls too. It works, just doesn't have the service life of tile. If you seal, caulk the edges and seams so you don't get a mold farm going, I think it would be fine for your goals.

I can understand itching to get going on your new house.

Dave,

I saw some panels at Home Depot today that they called FRP panels. Is that what you were thinking? It would certainly be alot quicker and cheaper.

 

[dave1949]

I saw some panels at Home Depot today that they called FRP panels. Is that what you were thinking? It would certainly be alot quicker and cheaper.

That's the stuff, Marlite by trade name.
FRP (Fiber-Reinforced Plastic) Wall Panels: Marlite FRP wall systems decorative sanitary surfaces.

It's cheesy, but your money would be better spent on the new house. Another idea would be one of those ring-shaped shower curtain bars that are suspended from the ceiling. As long as there is plenty of hot water ... you can stay out of hot water with the ladies. Ha!

 

[ENG18LT]

A little up date, after two days of work on the bathroom the floor is leveled, new toilet in and works, roughed in plumbing for sink and shower, also framed up shower walls plumb and square. A big thanks to my wife's cousin for coming over and lending a hand, not that he is on here. I plan on checking the closeout areas of HD and Lowes for a shower valve, may even see what Mr. Seconds has. So far well under budget! I am going to use that FRP panel Dave was talking about. Almost forgot, ran all new waste lines in the basement. That was a pain. The bottom of the floor joists is only 62" off the mud floor and naturally the heat ducts ran right under the shower pan. I managed to get it done with out hitting my head or scraping knuckles too many times. My wife's cousin ran new PEX for the supply lines. That is some nice stuff, may have to get a PEX tool! Anyway , here are the pictures. I know how we all need pictures.




Hope you all enjoy!

 

[mjncad]

You might check and see if Habitat for Humanity has an outlet store near you. A friend of mine told me he's made some good scores at their stores. He says that HD and Lowe's will donate old closeout stock they can't sell to HfH.

 

[ENG18LT]

I picked up a pressure balancing shower valve at HD the other day, less then $100. I picked up PEX to male thread 90's to hook it up with. Unfortunately I needed to get females, one more trip to HD. hope to work on it this weekend.

On a much better note, I have added one more project to the list of things to do this summer:



50x40x12 with a 20x40 second floor in center.

Let me know what you all think of it!

 

[dave1949]

I think I am just jealous. :laughing:

Other than that, I guess it depends on what you are going to use it for. Some would rather see taller than 10' doors, especially in the center bay.

 

[mjncad]

On a much better note, I have added one more project to the list of things to do this summer:

View attachment 314584

50x40x12 with a 20x40 second floor in center.

Let me know what you all think of it!

Nice, want to build me one too?

 

[ENG18LT]

Nice, want to build me one too?

Sure!

 

[ENG18LT]

I think I am just jealous. :laughing:

Other than that, I guess it depends on what you are going to use it for. Some would rather see taller than 10' doors, especially in the center bay.

Dave, thanks, I have wanted a barn for as long as I can remember.

The original conception was for a 50x40x16 with two 14' OHDs to accommodate parking the camper inside. However, after much mind numbing thought :scratchchin: I decided I wanted to do 12' walls and add a second floor wood shop. I think this monitor style is going to give me the most floor space for the budget. After all the camper was designed to remain outside, and has been for 5 years already. Even with the 12' walls the overall height is just over 27'! I am really looking forward to starting this project. Thanks again for checking in.

 

[dave1949]

Dave, thanks, I have wanted a barn for as long as I can remember.

The original conception was for a 50x40x16 with two 14' OHDs to accommodate parking the camper inside. However, after much mind numbing thought :scratchchin: I decided I wanted to do 12' walls and add a second floor wood shop. I think this monitor style is going to give me the most floor space for the budget. After all the camper was designed to remain outside, and has been for 5 years already. Even with the 12' walls the overall height is just over 27'! I am really looking forward to starting this project. Thanks again for checking in.

It's going to be nice!

I think your thought process is valid. A camper or full-size backhoe are the things I would consider for height beyond 10'. There are lots of other tall things of course, but as a trade-off to keeping the building height manageable and optimized for your intended use, it makes sense.

With 12' walls you can squeeze a taller ohd in by using the double track system, if you want to. You might end up with the ohd spring/shaft assembly sitting above the bottom of, but between the first and second, 2nd floor joists.

If you can leave enough room to service the shaft and springs, you can box that area in if you intend to insulate the floor of the second story shop. Or, you could also make access to the spring and shaft assembly from the second floor if you have some sort of trap door above them.

Looking forward to watching. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ENG18LT]

Dave,

I checked with the OHD company and was told even with the double track i still need 15" of clearance to accommodate the door and future opener. Plus the door would be an odd size, which of course means more money.