More Work on the Homestead

I wrote this article two weeks ago and got busy/distracted and never got around to posting it. So, here it is now.

When my friend M and I were up at Moody Girl Farm a couple weeks ago, we got a lot accomplished.

Monday afternoon M was able to get running water to the tub.  All of the water lines in the house are PVC piping, some just 1/2 inch, and the kitchen pipes (shown below) were busted. 

The day I closed on the property M hooked up the commode to the water line we previously found so it would work.  Getting water to the tub next meant being able to take some kind of a bath.  As it turned out, the rubber washers inside the tub fixtures were pretty dried out and the faucet dripped pretty badly at first, plus when I switched it to 'shower' mode, it leaked from the connection.  After using the faucet to fill up a bucket a bunch of times to help flush the commode, the faucet dripped much less.  I guess the washer absorbed enough moisture to work again.  The hot water heater isn't hooked up so I've decided to get rid of it and put a new one in later on.  I don't think it's been used for 5-6 years, so who knows what's been growing inside it!  It's safer to start off with a new one.

This means that showers would be cold water only, something I am not inclined to do.  Instead, I've been heating a pan full of water on the hot plate and adding it to the cold water in a 5-gallon bucket and using that to wash off.  Of course the tub drains out into the yard right now (see below).  I'm not sure if it ever was connected to the sewer line.  The commode is the only thing that drains to the sewer line at this time.  (Here's another view of the junk that has since been removed.)

Tuesday morning M got started on the electrical - he installed a new electric service loop and ran wires to the kitchen and bedroom, each having their own 15 amp breaker.  The electricity was already 'on' when I bought the house, most of the overhead light fixtures worked, but very few of the outlets did.  Electrical service here is different than in San Antonio.  In S.A. we have City Public Service who provides everything.  At Moody Girl Farm, because it's in a small town, the power lines belong to one company, and you pay for electricity to another.  I have no idea what name the electric service was in before I bought the property.  Once M had the service loop installed, I called one of the providers and set up an account.  For a $6 fee, they expedited my service request and the electrician was there by 4:30 to read the meter.  I found out the electrician lives about 4 blocks away and I was his last stop for the day!

I was so much in love with the kitchen when I first saw the property, but every time I came up to see it, my love for the kitchen diminished.  The roof/ceiling slopes down to about 7 feet along the back wall which is where the kitchen cabinets are.  This is a 'before' photo, I've since cleared off the counters, but I didn't get an 'after' photo.  The wall cabinets are barely 12 inches off the counter because the ceiling is so low.  I love the dual drain board double sink, but it has several worn places and I have no idea how much it would cost to refinish it.  I think a brand new sink would be better anyway, health-wise.  I may be able to use the lower cabinets; I'd want to put a new countertop on it though, with the new sink.

I pulled up some of the carpet in the living room and pried up one of the floor boards to see under the house.  It sags 3-4 inches in the middle section and I wanted to see what caused it to do that.  I was afraid the wooden posts (foundation) had rotted, but what I found was that the large stones the beams actually sit on have shifted.  I imagine over time the dirt/ground under them has eroded and now some of the stones are 3-4 inches below the beams.  That's good news actually.  It means the leveling process shouldn't be too difficult since they're not having to replace rotted wood.

UPDATE:  I have gotten two quotes over the last couple weeks for leveling the house including raising the whole thing an additional 12 inches.  The front half of the house is barely 15 inches off the ground and really hard to work under.  Fortunately, the little bit of plumbing I've had done has all been around the periphery and only to the bathroom.  There's no plumbing to the kitchen.  I am now seriously considering removing the back half of the house which would include the current kitchen.  This section is maybe 5-6 inches off the ground and will be the most difficult to raise and level.  After opening up some of the floor I saw that the 2x4 2x6 floor joists for this back section were toe-nailed to the main house.  They've held up so far, but I've been concerned about how that part of the house could be raised without the joists pulling loose.  Plus, it has seven-foot ceilings that I would eventually want raised to eight feet.  If I remove it, I can rebuild it later and do it right.  In the meantime, I can still visit/live in the front half.
(before the sheds were removed)

That's it for now. I'm planning another trip to Moody Girl Farm next week, maybe an overnighter if my kitty is doing better.  I'll have more photos and comments after that.