Cleanup proceeded today on the Parental retirement home and storage shed. This is the front of the little building my Mother insists she wants to live in. I got most of the left overs, scrap, ladders, etc. out and piled on the front porch today.
Here's my first wheelbarrow load of tools, nails, etc. going back to my workshop. It's amazing how much stuff get's used for a project like this.
Here's the back corner where Mom sat and supervised the entire ordeal reading her Nook and talking on her phone and then getting up to sweep up my sawdust and wood shavings every 10 minutes or so. When it warms up enough the corner to the right of the right-most chair will actually be pulled out so that a doorway can be installed and the little bathroom and kitchenette addition added on. Personally I think it would be fine to dig the stuff while the ground is frozen but hey what do I know? She's the one who is going to have to drag herself over to the house to use the facilities until the addition is done.
Back half of the South wall. Yes she had em install a power outlet every four feet which meant not one sheet of paneling went up that did not have to have the outlet measured and cut out. Thanks Mom!!! The side walls are 38 foot long so, well, you get the idea. She said she wanted plenty of outlets so not to overload anything, when I mentioned that each wall was on it's own circuit breaker so technically all the outlets along that wall were still one line she just looked at me.
I don't think she really understands electricity but she loved the little dancing elf I brought over on day one to keep me company while I was working. I guess she is going to keep the dancing elf.
Front corner. I actually need to put up a bit of thinner trim between the two windows yet because what she had me using was too wide so technically I am not totally done yet. I had to piece all the leftovers from that rock-looking paneling for this wall. Oh well she likes it.
As soon as I had a section of wall finished she was right there with some sort of wall hanging or knick knack to put up. Here is her coat rack and a hat rack with a horse on it.
So there ya have it. A tiny one room shed that as my wife puts it "Looks like a 1970's era trailer" of course I counted up all of the expenditure on the place last night and she spent a whopping $9700.00 to get into and finish the little building off. That included leveling the pad, buying the gravel (some of it I already had) along with all the materials. Labor of course was free other than the electrician who she didn't need to hire as I could have wired the place too but she has liked that guy for decades and couldn't resist hiring him. Twenty years ago she used to go on and on about how good looking he was.
The entire 38'x14' building is totally covered inside with R-11 insulation and I must say stays quite warm even in this last brutal cold snap we had using just a little space heater. Of course my Mother likes it about 20 degrees warmer than I do so she had to go buy herself a bigger space heater as well. What she is going to do if the power goes out is still kinda up in the air at the moment though.
What I am excited about now is that I can finally get back to work on the things I need to get done before Spring arrives. Once the ground begins to thaw I have a lot of fencing to do but I was really hoping to get the old one bottom plow I have in the barn reading to go this Winter.
I also need to get back out and cut some more firewood. As usual.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!
It looks good, it will be easy to heat and cool compared to older and larger buildings. That porch will be nice to sit on in the summer. Good job.
ReplyDeleteSf - I was in there finishing the trim during the worst of the wind and cold snap and I was amazed at what a difference the edging made. I could feel little drafts coming through that disappeared when I put the quarter round down and the edging around the window frames.
DeleteYa she can't wait to sit on the porch and watch her animals.
Nice work! You're a good son. Hopefully someday if I am no longer able or willing to live on my own in the middle of nowhere, one of my kids will build me a tiny house near them.
ReplyDeleteNS - Well I have all her critters here as well and she really wants to be with them and watch em all the time. I will be amazed if she gets all she wants crammed into that space though. We offered her a house in town that we own but she wasn't having any of that.
DeleteMy kids know it would be easier to drag me out to the back forty and shoot me than to try and park me in a town someplace. LOL
DeleteYA she wasn't having nothing to do with the town thing either :)
DeleteIt's a cute little house! I wouldn't have gone with the paneling, though. Drywall and a nice neutral paint color.
ReplyDeleteLamb - I was thinking drywall but OBS board is cheaper. She really likes that fake wood and rock look though and when she found the paneling that came in about 3 bucks cheaper per sheet than the OBS board she was all over it. Personally I can see going the cheaper route but the floor is what really cost overall coming it at about 350 bucks. I would have just painted the floor a heavy neutral gray myself :)
DeleteA rocket mass heater is on my agenda this spring to replace my old wood stove. A small one would work great in that space, and be cheap to build. http://midwestpermaculture.com/2013/04/rocket-stove-workshop/#more-11220 -one example
ReplyDeleteI offered to put an extra wood stove I have in the barn out there for her but she said she didn't want the hassle. When SHTF though she won't have a choice and I can always install the spare in there with little trouble although it might not be the prettiest.
DeleteRocket heaters are nice to have though. I might try one if it was just for me.
Nice. Did you have the shed already or buy and finish??
ReplyDeleteRob - No she ordered that shed. I was at first lead t believe it came in sections I would have to put together but then they showed up with the thing ona trailer and moved it into position with a mule remote lift thing. Pretty neat to watch. She had to custom order it if she wanted the model that could take the addition because it doesn't come with windows all the way back.
DeleteI have seen them here in MN two places sell them. I thought it would be cheaper to buy 2 or 3 and link them together. Cheaper them a house or mobile home @ a BOL. You could take a page out of Disney Landscaping and hide them from view.
DeleteRob - I got pretty intimate with this building and honestly it ain't worth what she paid for it. I could have banged one together for easily half the price just buying the materials myself. Prolly more like a third of the price. They wouldn't stand up well to being in ground contact either. I think a metal container would actually be more bang for the buck honestly.
Deleteman - you never stop buddy - time to get you back to windsor ;-)))
ReplyDeleteFor that kind of money, she could have bought something new & saved you the time and trouble. But what do I know? At least my mother-in-law won't ever want to move to Alaska.
ReplyDeleteRP - Well 9K of that was the building. She made out like a bandit and only sunk about 700 into the finishing materials. As I said above to Rob the building could have been built for easily half that price I think.
DeleteCute little shed. You did a nice job in putting it together. Now she needs some chickens to hang out on the porch :-)
ReplyDeletehobo - Well she put her little shed in the spot I wanted to put the chicken coop in so it's only fair she gets a chicken coop attachment I think :)
DeleteThe place looks nice, very comfy.
ReplyDeleteMax - She really likes it although I think she finally figured out her quilting machine isn't going to fit.
DeleteThanks so much for the pics! I freaking love it ! when you can come build me one???? lol You get Son of the Year award!
ReplyDeletegoing along with what Hobo said, I think you need to build a small chicken coop next to it for her.
But, you are right 9700 ? ouch! That is why Senior did not buy a precontructed chicken coop..they want to darn much for them.
JuGM - Ya those prices on those buildings is outrageous. I could have built it easily for a third of that price I think. She only spent about 700 on the insides but that building just bare was 9K.
DeleteSince it is in the chicken coop location it seems only fair to make a chicken coop attachment on it :)
I love it! I say all the time I could do that. Unfortunately here in PA we can't live in places like that...otherwise I would have put my mother in law out back long ago!!
ReplyDeleteLW - Well truthfully she is taking up more room than just that little building too. I have already had to make space for her in the storage section of the barn too. Luckily we have no building restrictions here yet other than for septic, which is a real pain but another story.
DeleteThe wife was talking about having her MIL in the backyard tonight too :)
TB - I do have a bit of the jack of all trades syndrome but as usual master none really. I am usually just passable.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job on the project. Now I think mom deserves a Great Pyrenees to stay and keep her company inside!
ReplyDeleteSd - She already has two dogs that are coming with her. A little Jack Dempsey and a big Mutt that is really old and barely moves. More animals to add to the funny farm.
DeletePP,
ReplyDeleteGreat looking place for your Mom. If your Mom wants the fake rock and wood let her have it :PPPP
Sandy - LOL she was over there this evening lamenting the fact that she is going to have to sell off a few things.
DeleteIn commercial installations you count each receptacle as 180 va (1.5 amps). In residential applications you do not.
ReplyDeleteThe assumption is that in commercial applications each receptacle has a purpose. In residential applications you can but 2 receptacles along a wall or twenty, but you are still only going to have one tv to plug in. If you run 20 amp circuiting with 12 ga wire (versus the typical 15 amp 14 ga) you will rarely, if ever, have problems overloading circuits in the living spaces.