Halfapint Got Some Land

[Halfapint]

Very cool.

If you are really interested in doing it, check mustangrebuilder on YouTube. He has great information.

[Moab]

Very cool.

If you are really interested in doing it, check mustangrebuilder on YouTube. He has great information.

Thank you. I will. 

[Halfapint]

Really getting close to finishing the upper floor remodel. The cabinets are painted and cured. The cabinet doors (42 or more if them) were painted by the wife and her mom, but they weren't careful and put damp paint on plastic and the carpet which means 90% of them have to be sanded and repainted. The cabinets had old style hinges so I bought some soft close hidden hinges. So each cabinet is going to have to have 2 pockets drilled and screw holes drilled out.

The entire upstairs has been washed, mudded, and sanded. Waiting on our friend to come in and texture. I went a little anal and made sure everything was perfect. Used a light to shine across the surface to see any bumps or anything.

I reinforced the normal doors. Adding more wood and bracing and some hollow steel parts inside the lock holes in the frame for more protection.


Haven't done much outside because been busy in the remodel. I did clear out one of the "mounds" in the front yard to reclaim the are behind the garage and but in front of the house. It had 2 large mounds with trees/shrubs. The mound I removed had a bunch of junk trees so I just cut them down and dug everything out. The other one has a large rhoadie, and a BEAUTIFUL Japanese maple I want to save but it's going to be difficult the maples is massive. Hoping I can get it out and transplant it up the hill so it can continue to grow down.

Hoping to have everything textured in the next week, then we can rip out the carpet and start working on the floors. The living room, dining room, kitchen, and breakfast nook will be first to get flooring. Then the bedrooms. But we have some tile that's going
To be hard to get out first.

[Halfapint]

Sorry for infrequent updates live has life. We moved into the house in February, almost 5 1/2 years in the 5the wheel. The kid turned 3 in the house and has been LOOOVING the extra space. We have some finishing touches like literally all the trim needs to be made and the cabinet doors need to be finished.

So naturally we are going full steam ahead with everything BUT those projects. I'm clearing more land to make a patio area. I'm expanding the upper garden area to build 2 more huge HugelKultur mounds. I've planted over 100 asparagus crowns, hundreds of sun chokes, and other plants like funding, ginger, and other things that are kind of plant and forget.

The biggest win so far for us is I found a good deal on a sawmill so I picked it up. It looks to be a Riwa 31g sawmill which despite the name can for 34" logs? I got it set up in the drive way currently to mill some logs into the base of what will eventually build the new rails. Being that this is a Chinese sawmill and flat packing is the name is the game you have to really eff around to her everything lines up. And along with that I have no instructions and am figuring entering out as I go. Called a local steel supplier and asked about 2 4x4x20' angle iron. That's basically what the track is but they cut it down to 2" on the top and left it 4" wide. It's under $250 for the 2 pieces. So I think I'm gonna go up to 30' then I can effectively cut 25' long beams. I have massive trees so making a few long beams for shelters and stuff can be be beneficial. The thing so far cuts like a damn dream.

The positive wasn't first real test it was a 30" log cut down to 18"x13"x6' those are going to be the new base so I don't have crappy 2x4's holding the railing up. I uploaded a vid to YouTube, I only do shorts, because it's easier.


http://youtube.com/shorts/41PhukyAQ9E?si=H6IW5GEc7kQ_783b

[Halfapint]

Update:

My mom passed away last Monday, so I'll be coming into some money. First the majority is going to get invested. We have almost no debt, just the 5th wheel we purchased that we still owe. That's getting paid off.

We are then buying a mini ex so we can start clearing land a bit more efficiently. I think after that we are going to insulate the house walls, take out all the old attic insulation, look to see if we can close the soffit vents and do some attic work. We are in fire country and one of the quickest ways to catch your house on fire is embers getting sucked into your attic through soffit vents and burning down your house.

The big investment is going to be solar and wind on the property. Out power bill for January was nearly 700$ part of that is due to inefficient insulation, well pump constantly goin, and water heater due to 3 people on this house who want baths everyday and fill the tub up completely with hot water(wife, mother in law, and kiddo). I'm looking at dropping 20-40k on panels, inverters, and batteries. I want to make the batteries modular so as I add more wind turbines I can scale up the batteries. I plan on selling my mom's car, 2 boats and possibly her truck then buying an EV and being able to charge that with our setup would be ideal.

We currently have 400amp service to the house. I'm looking at running possibly 200-250amp from multiple inverters to be able to completely power the house. Also looking at generator back up that can kick on to keep the system charged. I plan on using a 20' connex box as the power shed. Have the generator switched over to propane and go from there.

Lots to think about. Just gotta get through probate first

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Sorry to hear about your mother, Halfapint.

My condolences to you and your family.

[Halfapint]

Sorry to hear about your mother, Halfapint.

My condolences to you and your family.

Thanks, been a lot of death the last 2 1/2 years

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Sorry to hear about your mother, Halfapint.

My condolences to you and your family.

Thanks, been a lot of death the last 2 1/2 years

I had a similar experience back around 1995 to about 1998 or so. I think I lost like six or seven relatives in that time frame.

[Moab]

I lost 8 people in 14 months about 15 years ago or so. My grandparents that largely raised me. My wife at the time and I lost twin boys. My two very best friends of 20+ years. My uncle died. And my cousin - suicide by cop. 

It will change you. 

I'm sorry for your loss. Sincerely. 

It's good you have probate to get through. Take your time. I know your very organized and very well researched. You think a lot about your needs and priorities. And put the important stuff first. And that you will identify all your choices and make the best ones. 

This is also an excellent time to invest. You could not have picked a better lifetime period to do so. Most professional investors are talking about this time period being a once in a lifetime event. None can tell you exactly when or what to invest in. But you couldn't be in a better time period in general to come into a windfall and be able to invest it. 

It's great to watch you build your homestead, family and life. You've made some great choices. It's inspiring to see. 

You're doing alright man. You're building the dream. I'm very happy for you. 

[Halfapint]

I had a similar experience back around 1995 to about 1998 or so. I think I lost like six or seven relatives in that time frame.

Ouch. Yeah I think we've lost 12 people in the close family in the last 2 1/2 years. Aunts, uncles, husbands wife's, cousins, my grandparents, and mom.

It's never easy, but I'm alright. Gotta be there for everyone else because no one else can handle it.

[Halfapint]

I lost 8 people in 14 months about 15 years ago or so. My grandparents that largely raised me. My wife at the time and I lost twin boys. My two very best friends of 20+ years. My uncle died. And my cousin - suicide by cop.

It will change you.

I'm sorry for your loss. Sincerely.

It's good you have probate to get through. Take your time. I know your very organized and very well researched. You think a lot about your needs and priorities. And put the important stuff first. And that you will identify all your choices and make the best ones.

This is also an excellent time to invest. You could not have picked a better lifetime period to do so. Most professional investors are talking about this time period being a once in a lifetime event. None can tell you exactly when or what to invest in. But you couldn't be in a better time period in general to come into a windfall and be able to invest it.

It's great to watch you build your homestead, family and life. You've made some great choices. It's inspiring to see.

You're doing alright man. You're building the dream. I'm very happy for you.

Thank you, that's really nice to hear. I'm sorry about all your loss. It really isn't easy, ever.

I found some extra money from my grandparents and working to get that so that will be the "play money" the mom money is invest and insure we and our son is set for life.

Our business is really taking off, we are buying out our partner and reinvesting everything back in to buy the mini ex and buying a massive stump grinder.

Trying to think how to set this property up for long term success so with rising costs of energy. Property tax on the other hand.... Sheesh! Going crazy. We'll have 4 investment properties we don't charge much but it costed the cost and we make money. I just don't feel good charging the kind of money things are going for. That's always made us have amazing renters. The last ones stayed for 16 years. We only raised rent 200$ for the new renters.

We are also converting my mom's house into a flight attendant crash pad. That'll be cash cow. I don't feel bad for that because we are still charging less than others, but man... that'll pay for the property taxes for every property with thousands left over.

Anyways lots of stuff to think about.