Skwerl's new cabin

[skwerl]

Yup, I just gave away well over a thousand dollars of fishing gear and tackle. Felt good because I gave it to a good guy who will appreciate it and share it with his kids.

Photobucket isn't cooperating but I got my interior doors hung today for the four bedrooms and two bathrooms. I will stain the doors with a cherry wood stain and paint the jambs to match the baseboards.

 

[WARstang]

Those look great

 

[skwerl]

Looks like Photobucket is finally working again. With all the Flash updates and browser updates last week I guess Photobucket was a few days behind the curve. I'm finally able to access my page for the first time in a week.

Been working on cleaning out the old house this week and have run out of room for stuff here until I build out my garage and get my kitchen cabinets in. I did manage to get a couple sets of shelves moved over from my old garage and I installed one of the used cabinets I had over the washer and dryer. I also installed the new water heater as the other one sprung a leak as soon as I turned on the power to it.

My carpenter buddy stopped by the other day and installed the 6 interior doors I bought for the bedrooms and bathrooms. I most likely will end up painting the baseboards and door trim white but the doors themselves will be stained with a reddish/cherry tinted stain to tie in with the other cherry wood stuff I have.

 

[skwerl]

I put this in the other thread in Pitstop but wanted to post it here.

I listed my old house for sale last night. I e-signed the paperwork about 11pm and the ad went live on the MLS at about 12:30am. We had two scheduled viewings this morning and I already have an offer for full asking price with me covering closing costs. We are countering with a counter offer capping the closing costs but I'm guessing they will accept. If the buyers are qualified for financing then it looks like I may have just sold my house.

I refuse to get greedy and jack my asking price and I'm not going to look back in a few months and ask myself "What if ...?" We priced the house fairly and I calculated what I need to clear from the sale in hard dollars. This offer meets my requirements so there's no use waiting for something better, I already got what I wanted. The fast offer/sale is just a blessing and I refuse to look at it any other way because there is no good that can come from it.

 

[stkjock]

Good way to look at it. Congrats and good luck

 

[ZmanM3]

Congrats.

 

[weather man]

Good way to look at it. Congrats and good luck

+1...hope you close her out fast.

 

[skwerl]

Thanks guys, I'm pretty happy about it right now. And I'm already planning on how to spend the money. We had a fairly intense little Florida afternoon thunderstorm blow through earlier and my dirt driveway is washed out pretty badly. I'm either going to pave the entire thing all the way to the street or else pave by the house and then blacktop out to the street. I will call a friend in the business and see what he can work up for me as far as cost.

 

[BadPiggy]

Thanks guys, I'm pretty happy about it right now. And I'm already planning on how to spend the money. We had a fairly intense little Florida afternoon thunderstorm blow through earlier and my dirt driveway is washed out pretty badly. I'm either going to pave the entire thing all the way to the street or else pave by the house and then blacktop out to the street. I will call a friend in the business and see what he can work up for me as far as cost.

Isn't paving & blacktopping the same thing?

 

[skwerl]

I was referring to concrete vs. blacktop. Concrete is a lot more expensive but will hold up better (as long as it is thick enough that my truck doesn't crack it).

 

[irishpwr46]

with a big bucket truck, your looking at 6" of concrete at least. but with the asphalt, especially in florida heat, i would be worried about it sinking in and leaving holes/ tracks in the driveway

 

[Wes06]

Yea. I'd do conrete up by the house so that you can work on the car or other things and not worrying about sinking down in the heat.

Then just blacktop the rest of the way

 

[skwerl]

They make roads out of asphalt so I'm sure we can make it so it holds up. It's all in the prep/base.

 

[WARstang]

Let me know if you find a good concrete guy. I need my driveway done.

 

[skwerl]

Let me know if you find a good concrete guy. I need my driveway done.

Send me your number again, I misplaced it. I'll have Bo call you.

 

[tjm73]

The wife and I just had our driveway done in recycled asphalt. If falls between blacktop driveways and stone driveways in durability and service life. Anyways, I asked the guy (like 15 years in the business) will I have any issues with our propane delivery truck driving on the driveway. His reply, no problems at all.

The more we drive on it, the harder it gets. We did ~500' of driveway (~10' wide) for just a smidge over $3000.

After the first rain it got harder. Few rains and more driving and it'll set up harder yet. Virtually no dust too. After a year or so I may have it sealed like a paved driveway. Still researching that option.

 

[skwerl]

Spent some more money today. Been waiting on two different buddies who were going to get me deals on lawn mowers for over two months now and a thread over on YB inspired me to check out my local Craigslist again. Within 5 minutes I found a 54" ZTR style mower with a 25hp Kawasaki for $1400. An hour later I bought it. It's a 'boutique' brand that was bought up by Ariens in 2007 but a well built machine that is in reasonably good condition considering its age. I considered buying a new Hustler ZTR since Lowe's is advertising them at $2999 but in 5 years this one will be worth more and it's half the price.

Chris, tell me if I got a decent deal.

 

[BadPiggy]

$1400?
Yeah, you did good.

The EverRide is a good brand. I know a couple guys that use them and love them. Good thing about that mower, if the engine ever lets go you can replace it. The key to keeping it running good is MAINTENANCE! Keep the zerk fittings greased, oil & filter every 100 hours, air filter blown out, hydro oil & filter changed yearly. You do that it should give you a few years of good service.

Spent some more money today. Been waiting on two different buddies who were going to get me deals on lawn mowers for over two months now and a thread over on YB inspired me to check out my local Craigslist again. Within 5 minutes I found a 54" ZTR style mower with a 25hp Kawasaki for $1400. An hour later I bought it. It's a 'boutique' brand that was bought up by Ariens in 2007 but a well built machine that is in reasonably good condition considering its age. I considered buying a new Hustler ZTR since Lowe's is advertising them at $2999 but in 5 years this one will be worth more and it's half the price.

Chris, tell me if I got a decent deal.

 

[skwerl]

I'm really bummed today. All sorts of ugly shit is turning up through the buyer's inspection reports of my old house. Today was a very expensive day for me and I still have to deal with some open permits from several years ago. I really fucking hate people right now.

 

[skwerl]

Time for an update on the old house. I have some open permits from 2008 and 2013 for the roof and the electrical in the shed, all stemming back to the old lady evil neighbor from Hell who called the cops/code enforcement on me every chance she could for over 10 years. I reroofed the house in '04 after the hurricanes without a permit and she turned me in in '08. She also turned me in for building the shed without a permit. I've managed to avoid dealing with them for years but now it's finally time to pay the piper.

The last time the county got on me about it was 2013, so I renewed the permits from 2008 and haven't dealt with it since. Today I went down and got the electrical permit reinstated/renewed so all that is left for that is the inspection. I had an electrician go over everything and prep the shed for inspection and he will also meet the inspector.

The roof will be a bit more involved. Since the roof is now 11 years old and has some issues, my only way to pass inspection is to put a new roof on the house. I'm meeting a roofer in an hour to inspect it and give me an estimate. The roofer specializes in insurance work and told me that if there is any hail damage at all then he can get my insurance to pay for the roof. I'll know more after we go over it later today.