So at some point when we cut down the fence the "house", as I'll call it, will be more in view and under the watchful eyes of the neighbors and officials from the Town. I don't want to sound important, or paranoid, but when things happen, or don't down here, people notice and talk. Add to it coming from the outside, and you're bound to be a topic of discussion at the water cooler.
When I first found this dream palace I had our realtor go and give it a look. I thought I was dead in the water, as far as Theresa's support, when she sent some pics and said, to some effect, that this place looks like where a serial killer might live and bury the bodies in the yard. Oh, my poor little tiny house.
Even when our friend down here came and took a look he advised that there could be some rot and termite damage going on. If you look above you can see why. The rain just pours off the roof and finds its way around the bottom of the house. The T1-11 siding, which I can say is pretty substantial in build and weight, needs to be ripped off and replaced, or cut and pieced in. I am going for the replace.
Above you can see a quick concept drawing I did and shared with the Town. All I'm doing is removing the T1-11 and replacing it with Hardie trim and board and batten. When the zoning official stopped by he just asked that I keep him informed and make sure I pull permits for anything new that I'm doing. There's a house, directly in front of me, but over the tracks, that has been undergoing some kind of Hardie transformation as well. In the window I do see a sign, but I'm not sure if that's a permit or an eviction notice. But that's a house house, a little different than what I have going on.
And that's where getting the house ready for siding, before it is in full view, came to be. I had to do some assessing of the sill plate and studs that, no doubt, had seen better days. So out came the tools that I thankfully brought with me and went to work.
Well, yep the termites were here. Just some old damage working its way from the sill plate up. That plate is pressure treated, thank God, but some of the studs, well, let's just say needed some love. So I cut them out and pieced in new wood. I screwed it all in and it's solid as a rock.
I worked from left to right removing and replacing as needed with the goal as getting it wrapped before any "visitors" stopped by. In the end it looks cleaner, and more presentable, and will be a relatively easy to re-side.
Working with Hardie products is great, there's nothing going to chew on it, but it is expensive. The 4 x8 sheets run about $65 a piece and the trim boards are about $1.50 a foot, and I have some feet to cover. I just wish Lowe's would kick in some money for the free advertising that goes with using their house wrap. I did do a tour of the new construction area going on at Sun City to see if I could dumpster dive but there was nothing to be found, so new, or someone's extra posted on FBM, it will be.
I then jumped back to the fence to sand down the boards that are off color after being hidden from the elements. I just feathered them in a bit hoping the color will change on it's own and I won't have to touch them up with stain or sealer. One thing I notice above is that I am looking more like a horse as I get older. If I'm nearing the 200-pound mark on the scales then my legs together weigh 25 pounds, my head about 10, and from my waist to my neck the rest of the 165 pounds. I would be a perfect candidate to get cow tipped like we used to do when we were kids. Running and knocking cows over, or trying to, as they slept upright. That's what we did in Millstone when it was farm country.
I had a good roll going on and jumped into completing the two front panels. Basically there were two half sheets on plywood barely held on by some rusty screws. They were wobbly and unsightly. I thought it would be nice to change my neighbors view and give the Town a sneak-peek as to what would be coming.
Above is a shot that I took after Theresa and I had completed one side. It's so much easier working with another set of hands around. Just holding things level while they get screwed in
takes half the amount of time with a buddy on the other end. So the left side took me longer but by days end I had them matching.
Today we'll install the batten strips which will really make the entrance look better. I don't know if I'm mental, or just wishful, but I think this place will quickly go up in value with each step of refurbishment that gets completed. That T1-11 siding that sits up at the peak? It's staying, but I am going to trim it out with Hardie trim and put the battens over where some of the grooves are, and then it will all get painted off white, I think.
And when my day was done and I headed home I passed that used car lot. I've been waiting for a call to come and do the deal for that 2010 Silverado, the one with a blown tranny. Well, to my surprise it was out front and ready for the market.
I grabbed Theresa and we headed over and talked to the salesman and took it for a ride. They dropped in a refurbished transmission with 140,000 miles on it. It has 208,000 engine and body miles. It's a good truck, but, it is a little concerning to me. It has a backstory, that maybe the guy shouldn't have told us, but he's straight up. He said he didn't mind telling us, because this one, and the other pickups will be gone in a week or so, especially if they have four wheel drive. At $11,500 I'm not taking that risk, for $8,000 I would.
This morning Theresa and I will take a side trip to Beaufort to check on that stupidly beautiful 2011 Silverado. It's a 2500HD with a Duramax diesel engine and Allison transmission. There would be no getting stuck in puddles like I did with the Suburban. It's been for sale for a month and I have been back on forth with the seller. Since it's still around is it meant to be?
Even though I fell in love with this one, virtually, there's a few things that I'm concerned about. One, it's a lot of truck, two, how noisy is it, and three, is the price of diesel these days, which right now is $6.29 a gallon. When I had my last diesel it was running $5 a gallon, so it ain't cheap to fill her up. But that won't last forever, I sure hope not.
It has had one owner who babied it. The 256,000 miles, not too concerning as it's a diesel and could go well over 400,000 miles. And since it's a southern truck there is no rust. I can take the lotta truck concern, but rattling my elderly neighbors out of their bunks each morning is a good-neighbor thought I have in the back of my brain.
Since the truck has been waiting for me the current price is down to $13,900. That's a cash money price. If I had it I would just plop it down and buy it and worry about moving the Suburban later. But that's like buying a new house while you still own the one while it's for sale. It's even more of a pickle if you need the proceeds from one to buy the other. So....
While I was hoping to trade her in on a new ride, selling her privately may bring in a better take at the till. I listed her this morning on Marketplace for $8,000, which would be great to put down on the new truck. The balance I'll have to figure out as a used car loan on a 2011 truck isn't an option. My goal is to have this all done before we head back to Jersey in October. Fingers crossed.
If this doesn't work out then I guess I can just stop by the Chevy dealership and pick a new one out. How much could they be? Well a 2026 Silverado with the Duramax engine....
.... only $69,989, with $13,027 in savings. If I put down $10,000 and financed $60,000 for 84 months, that's seven years, the payment would be $825 a month, if I were get the $3.8 % financing. I would be 65 years old when I would make the last payment, yeah, that's not an option. I paid $87,000 for The Fly Barn, and that value is only going to go up.
I'm going to remember this post. Because in seven years I am going to see what the above truck would worth in 2033, and what the place in Ridgeland is worth, that's if I'm still kicking and still writing this blog. Hell, it's been 17 years and 3,618 posts, I wonder how long I, and this blog, will be around.