To Sell or Not to Sell...

Today was a bad day.

I made it to the property around 10:20 A.M. for a 10:30 meeting with yet another contractor.  To his credit, the contractor was already there, but he was looking a little overwhelmed.  I tried to break the desires down for him, and I think he saw my vision, but the entire time I was with him, he just seemed to have a, "Where do you even start"? type of mentality.  Not good!!!

He was great to talk to, easy to converse with, and overall not afraid of the job.  But he made it abundantly clear that he didn't want to give me a bid without getting his subs out here (electrician, plumber, etc.).  He just knows that this house has too many variables to even remotely throw out a number.

I did smile, though, when he started up his truck to pull away.  The muffler was loud, and the engine had a tick to it.  That's my type of contractor.

I met with the demo guys, and I learned that two of them failed to show up today.  That was a surprise and certainly not planned.  So today's progress was severely cut at least in half.  That's super frustrating.  Because of that, I elected to work with the guys.  It's weird to do this for a job that I am PAYING for, but I get this vibe that if I don't, then the job will never get done.  I decided to prep the downstairs half-bathroom for them by taking out the vanity.  Unfortunately, I had to totally break it apart, as the plumbing didn't allow for anything else.

I had to break up the vanity unfortunately.

And then I started to help them with demo by going at the bathroom.  One of the guys said, "You make me feel like I'm not working fast enough," but sorry, man, without help, you aren't going to get this done.  It's soooooooo hard to find a dependable crew.  WHY?

The old design underneath the whiteboard.

The bathroom being demoed.

The two guys (brothers) were going at the kitchen today, and unfortunately, the work just wasn't progressing well at all.  I mean, it was SLOW.  This kitchen is such a joke.  It has been piece-mealed together with a wide variety of materials.  Today in the walls we found plaster and lath, drywall, wainscoting, cardboard, newspaper, linoleum flooring, tin cigarette signs (serious), backer board, and various wood scraps.  Underneath every layer is another layer.  It's slow, tedious, difficult work.  And I could tell it was wearing on the workers.

The kitchen cabinets are out.

What am I looking at here?!  See that yellow sign?

Three signs pulled out of the wall.  One cardboard Stag beer box.  The owners used ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING to stop air flow or provide a flat surface.  Poor people have poor ways.

"I wish this whole house was plaster."  Now THAT is a comment you would never expect to hear!  But I get it.  The kitchen just put a screeching halt to the progress because it was full of sooooooooooo many different materials.  Listen, I understand that poor people have poor ways, but this was just absurd.  This was the poor of the poor.

The styrofoam wall and one of several Salem cigarette signs.

A good view of the wall mess.  Here you see wainscoting, drywall, and plaster.  But look at the exterior sheathing!  I'm not even sure what is going on here.  Random horizontal and vertical scrap boards, some original, some not.  Poor people have poor ways.

Here is Clorox and Pure Lard cardboard boxes for insulation.  Sigh.

The various sections of wall in the kitchen. I counted at least seven different materials.

Inside the walls was another story.  We found the dreaded 1960's blown-in insulation but also another random material.  It just POURED out of the walls.  I would later learn it's vermiculite insulation.  Oddly enough, it was only in one wall cavity?!  This house is just crazy.

This weird material just poured out of the walls.  It looks like a crystal rock of sorts but is soft and squeezy to the touch.

What a mess!

There is nothing pretty about a demo.  The various stages of wall removal today.  This process was SLOW.

I broke for lunch around 2:00 P.M., and I tried to get back to "rally the troops," so to speak.  I met the truck leaving about 1/4 mile down the road.  Ugh.  The workers had left.  I pulled into the drive at 2:45 P.M.  There is soooooooooooo much more work to do.

The dumpster is filling up.

I myself tended to the various farm chores.  I fed the kittens (Peaches is coming around), fed the pigs four bags, and kept an eye on a dark blue sky to the northwest.  Hmm.  I was sure the storm would pass north, but it kept getting darker.  I looked at the fast-approaching clouds, checked the radar, and then realized that we had a quick-approaching storm moving a rare northwest to southeast.  I literally RAN around the farm, putting the ladder up from feeding the pigs, watering the pigs, lighting a fire to burn the kitchen cabinets, and lath, and on and on.  But the storm was close.

This storm was moving aggressively from northwest to southeast.  It came upon me suddenly!

I was RUNNING around to finish the chores before this big storm approached.

It's almost here!  Look at that rain!  Coming down so strong it's going SIDEWAYS in front.

And then I was overtaken by 60-70 MPH winds.  The winds were so strong that they actually stirred the dirt up ahead of it and created a haboob.  It was impressive.  Of course, the rain followed, and then the hail.  My radar showed the storm at a whopping 55,000 feet.  I endured what I could, then raced to my truck after the hail.  I decided to call it a day, but then got swept into the thrill of the chase.  So I went after the storm for maybe 15 miles.  I never could get ahead of it it was moving so fast.  But what a beautiful dust storm it created!

A good view of the dust storm that preceded the rain.  The winds were violent.

Another view of the dust storm (middle) ahead of the rain storm (far right).

My neighbor to the south lost much of his machine shed.  Live power lines were on the ground.

Lots of trees and power lines were knocked down.

My neighbor to the south.  Lucky guy is going to get a new building!!!

Lots of trees down.

My pasture was flattened with the winds and rain.

I headed back to the house, loaded up a wheelbarrow of demo material, then called it a day.  There is still sooooooo much to do here.  The owner of the demo crew texted me to say that he mis-bid the work.  He wants to raise his price.  I told him I was helping and that the workers think they can finish it in the scheduled seven days.  I think they can, too (minus the chimneys).  He didn't respond.

But I have a guy that bid something that he doesn't like.  My job now (unfortunately) is to make his workers work hard.  I now have to help them do their job. I plan on doing that by working alongside them.  I don't think I should...or have to...but I think it will speak volumes AND get them to work their tails off.

I have a goal of getting the upstairs DONE. I mean, plaster down and out, and lath carried away down the stairs.  It is going to be work (for the guys going up and down the stairs), but these guys need to see progress.  As it stands now, even with all their two days' worth of work, they have nothing to show for it.  No single room is done.  Each is partially done.

So tomorrow we conquer the three upstairs bedrooms and closet.  I think it can be done.  It will be work, but we will all feel the better because of it.  Progress is just fun...and good for the soul.

In other news, I'm demoralized.  I am realizing that this house is approaching unhealthy and unwise numbers.  I spent a couple hours tonight just thinking about numbers.  As it stands now, I am trying to get in the house for $275,000.  Anything above that, and I'm just really not interested.  That price can get you a LOT in the area.  Not land, not barns, not a big workshop, no.  But a lot.

It's hard.  I just feel like my dream is falling apart.  I love the country, I love the storms, I love the land, I love the kittens, I love the pigs, I love the area.  But I refuse to pay $400,000 for a home.  It's just not me.

Today was rough.

But time to go to bed to work my tail off in the morning...for something I paid for.  Sigh.