Howdy neighbor

You guy remember that corner lot I bought a few years ago? Well looks like I have two new neighbors. This area is booming there are two new developments building in here right now.

nice Mo,

is there a house on your lot or a cabin in the future plans?

No house on it as you can see on the video. My plans were to build on it but my wife changed her mind... women. We ended buying up here in the forest instead. Not sure what I'm going to do with it just playing it by ear right now.

How's your lot and new home coming along AC. You probably had to put some projects on hold this time of year I would imagine.

cool, looks like a nice area you got there. They arent building anymore land so never hurts to hold on to some.


ya its been on hold a bit, cleared out the overgrown patio area which is already framed nicely with 4x4s but they never laid the stone. Soon ill start with some flagstone to fill in the framed area, then probably go out over the back area 20ft or so with a deck.

I did remodel the whole upstairs before moving in but havent done anything with the basement yet, have to stay on the PLEA insurance for a year before ripping out the oil furnace and tank... its free and protects you from any possible decon charges when the tank is removed, which can be up to 60k if theres oil in the soil


so next spring Im knocking down another wall and installing a supporting beam in the basement to open it up into one large rec room

I wish I had the skills to be able to knock down walls and remodel. The closest I got to that was knocking out some drywall in the enclosed patio and installing a window in the opening that was already there.

honestly doing good mudding after some drywall takes skill!

Ive been working with wood, doing carpentry my whole life.. we never hired contractors growing up which
I hated back then but appreciate now


I did have to call my uncle whos an engineer so he could calculate the size beam needed based on the span and approx weight.

Looking good man. The floors look nice. I have this cheap laminate at my house. It's always nice to have an engineer as a relative

I just bought a microwave and they are crazy expensive now. The built in I had started shooting out flames. I looked at the replacement and it was over a grand and no it's not the one in the pic. That was one that I had for years that was supposed to be temporary and that quit working too.

Here's the window I put in. I don't know why but the last owner decided he was going to enclose the whole patio and electric heat with the hopes of an appraiser counting it as livable space

My wife freaked out when she came home saw a big hole in wall. To make matters worse the opening was so big that the window was a special order and I had to wait 6 weeks for a new window.

I put up the a screen to keep the bugs out but then it started raining like crazy luckily no rain came inside.

I have two more windows to go. I think Ill surprise her again with another hole in the wall

I grew up in an old rural school house (haunted actually) where we had to do all the construction work as well. I never liked it, except for building barns and running fence (we raised horses), but those skills do come in handy.

The place is looking great!!

I agree with AC, it is always good to own some land...I am jealous.

All I have is the 1/2 acre that my house sits on, a square foot in Texas, and a piece of a rocky island in Scotland.

Oh, and I have a star named after me...I could probably visit that someday.

A square foot? Is that a burial plot?

Mo wrote:A square foot? Is that a burial plot?

There was a guy in Texas years ago that partitioned his land into 1 foot increments as a way for out of staters to get cheaper college tuition by providing an in-state address. I bought one as a lark and the State shut it down soon after and made the guy refund the money. I refused it and held onto my deed for 1 square foot of land.

I plan to place a "No Trespassing" sign on it the next time I am out there. Either that or put a fence around it and call it a ranch.

:laugh:It's too early to make me LOL like that

That is laminate Mo, but a nice quality.. I have always had dogs so real wood is out of the question, scratches way too easily. When I was installed this stuff I dropped the hammer on it about a dozen times from a few feet up and it doesnt make a mark. Took one sample piece and had to really carve it up with a blade to make scuffs

I considered bamboo but its way too expensive and also scratches easily.


I actually like enclosed patios or decks a lot,      at some point after I do the deck on the backside of the house Im probably going to glass enclose about half of it.  


theres a company online that sells some pretty sweet framing kits for making a florida room

The laminate I have easily scratches, The dog drops his bone hard enough and it make a mark.

I enclosed patios too but this one didn't have windows