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bought a house from 1910

Go 16' and get an 8ft plus an inch or two ceiling in the basement

Being able to stand 8ft material upright in what will inevitably become some sort of workshop or storage area is a godsend.

Also that hole you drove the skid steer in. Stick a door there and pave it. Stick a roof on top to keep the rain out if you have to. Roll in access to your basement is highly underrated.
 
Yeah with all the trouble you going through 8’ minimum 9’ even better.

you just need to get yourself a few big house mover beams jack the whole shit up drive the skid steer under the whole thing and be done. Build the basement in one shot.
 
Go 16' and get an 8ft plus an inch or two ceiling in the basement

Being able to stand 8ft material upright in what will inevitably become some sort of workshop or storage area is a godsend.

Also that hole you drove the skid steer in. Stick a door there and pave it. Stick a roof on top to keep the rain out if you have to. Roll in access to your basement is highly underrated.
nope, this is gonna be a normal basement with normal basement things in it like electronics type shit, nothing that won't fit through a 30" stairway.
no walk out access as then I need to put a footing 6' under THAT, or just heat it for the rest of eternity so that the heat bleeding into the ground keeps it from freezing and busting up the foundation I just put in. Never mind that the basement is going to be about the same elevation as the ditch next to the road, 300' away.
Yeah with all the trouble you going through 8’ minimum 9’ even better.

you just need to get yourself a few big house mover beams jack the whole shit up drive the skid steer under the whole thing and be done. Build the basement in one shot.
Trouble is that I'm pretty sure I'm already underwater
clay is shit for drainage though so it just takes a while
we'll see if it's a pond tomorrow, if not I'll add a foot to what it currently is

I'd love to have been able to get me some beams to lift the whole roof off as a unit, keep the squirrels out by covering over the whole bottom with plywood, but then I'd need to knock down the badly attached garage and that would leave zero enclosed stuctures on the lot
there are methheads just up the street, lockable storage is necessary

Whole thing just kinda got outta hand. Gotta fix the shit up to a livable standard before anything else. It was falling in on itself when I started, I was gonna just shore it up and build a real nice 30x40 shed to live in while fixing the house, but kinda just kept working on the house long past where it made sense. Committed now, gonna put the foundation in in sections. What was there had no rebar, I'm figuring on lots of the shit (probably 6 #4 bars in the 8"x18" footer) with 2' overlaps.
 
opened the poop tank
electric had been shut off in '13, but judging by the battery powered shower apparatus they were still hauling in water from time to time

water was crystal clear and about 2' above the alarm float switch
plugged the pump in with an extension cord and it didn't do anything but draw locked rotor current
banged on it with a stick of rebar and it started pumping
Also started leaking oil, so I guess those submersibles are oil filled for cooling.
took a good 20 minutes to suck the tank down to where the pump sucked air, nothing came outta the standpipe at the other end of the drainfield mound, so that's prolly doing what its supposed to

gonna wait until I got someone nearby to pull the leaking pump outta there, the pipe union is about 3' down and I don't feel like breaking my neck falling head first into a shit tank, or drowning because I can't get turned around and back up out
bright side of breaking the pump now is that there ain't no stink in there, even after running most of the water out it's still crystal clear
 
Well fuck, lets update this shit
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the stairs were only held in by one piece of 1/2" OSB at the top, in tension with about 3 nails through it
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cut some more kitchen floor out, was rotten with 5-6 layers of different floors laid all atop one another
didn't even burn good, a lot of it was asphalt flooring that smokes real bad. Had a blower farting down some old exhaust pipe to give the fire some forced induction, still smoked black for most of the day
 
Sometimes after looking at your pictures I think you would be better off tearing the whole thing down and saving the lumber. You can spend the winter pulling nails and get ready for the spring
 
and another
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stuck in another post once the poop pipe was outta there
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stuck a channel in to keep the gable end wall straight as I fuck around
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wrassled it in there all on my lonesome
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this is to the left of the very last pic in the last post, was a washtub here, this is in the "garage made into two bedrooms made back into a garage"
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gotta love that shitty fucking bild-rite or whatever it is
wonder what happened to that stuff, never see it any more, would think you'd see a fuckton of it with how shitty they're building houses now
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this is after vacuuming out a bunch of rusty nails and black dirt from the "footing"
that's a concrete trough with 3" tall walls that they poured around the bottom of the wall. It naturally trapped water and rotted the entire shit out. Yes, that is outdoors you see there, and the stud ends 6" from the bottom of the trough.
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sticking a beam in, 5" c-channel is way cheaper than wood, and when you're done with it you can build a trailer
fuck wood
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screws on the left holds the beam up, screws on right holds garage roof up, lol
 
and yet another
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back to digging
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missed a little in there, was in a bit of a hurry as one of the old bits of foundation coming down knocked a support post out, so...
got that nice treated 8'7" fence post in there then tore out the previous wabbly tree that was atop that concrete block there in the dirt
10' 6x6 is $57, fence post is 15
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thus far the steel is doing pretty good
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this one is actually yesterday's progress, forgot to take a pic today, got the wobbly tree in there underneath the left side of the wide gap between studs and dug the dirt out right to the foundation on the left of this pic

I really should just do a video walkthrough some time
 
Sometimes after looking at your pictures I think you would be better off tearing the whole thing down and saving the lumber. You can spend the winter pulling nails and get ready for the spring
I dunno man. Initially the plan was to leave the house shitty and build new elsewhere in the yard soon as the ground thawed, but then I got my head stuck on fixing the house instead and well... I'm a fucking idiot.

Oh well, we press on.


I have no plans in any of this. None whatsoever beyond "fix things" and "concrete/steel>>>>>wood". I just stop for ten minutes of sitting and looking at what the fuck I'm doing every half hour or so of autopilot work and direct my attention as I see what I've done.
 
I admire your dedication to your meth shack :flipoff2:

except for the old insulation/shit nastiness, it looks "fun". I'd enjoy torturing myself for a couple days on a project like this . but then I'd probably wind up getting frustrated, setting the whole thing on fire, and having better access to dig my new basement:laughing:
 
so I got it to past the left wall in that last pic, and just underneath the floor I'm standing on in that pic and I was gonna start putting in sections of footing and stem wall, but once I start doing that it'll be a lot harder to dig out

I know I can't put the whole house on stilts but... I'm thinking there's a value in removing as much dirt with the skidsteer as I can before putting the first concrete in, because once I do put any in I won't be able to turn the corner to get underneath the floor I'm standing on in that picture.

eh fuck it I'll get some pics stripped and resized gimmie a minute
 
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so, I can keep digging around that corner and under that floor, then start in on the concrete after moving as much material as possible, because there just isn't the room in there to turn without making bad ruts and getting mired
also, I'd surely end up tearing the vapor barrier that's going under the footings

so I'm thinking I'll dig as much as possible, then I'll stop being able to dig in there with the skidloader when the footings start going in. I might have to knock out another corner of the house and pull the skidsteer in through there? The ramp leading out of the basement is far too short to be able to fully dig it out with the skidsteer too, and if I go from the other corner it's actually downhill a little I think?

Dunno, just kinda worried about putting much more of the house on stilts, in this last area there's the same concrete footings as the rest of the house, leading back from that 16' 6x6 and also back along the wall in thelast pic where the last concrete bit you can see is. I figure I'll just leave those supporting the shit, and dig my way back between them as deep as I can, just like a slit trench or whatever, then I'll dig by hand after that, once the footings start.

Either way, that's what I'll prolly be doing tomorrow.
 
Damn man, you are kicking that houses ass. Great job. I would have asked the local FD if they wanted to do a practice burn and built fresh. I dont have patience to unfuck that many remodels by an untold number of retards. This is a great thread:smokin:
 
I dont have patience to unfuck that many remodels by an untold number of retards.
I think the kitchen was the newest "quadrant" of the house, the garage was newer than it, because it is attached to it, but we're not talking about that.
The kitchen is actually two additions with a load bearing wall in between that they'd removed, but we're not talking about that.
The floor was pretty spongey in the newer half of the kitchen room, and when I was tearing it up and burning it I noticed that there were no less than five floors there.
First layer, nice crappily installed vinyl that was butted against the trim rather than underneath it
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then there was 1/4" plywood and then this marvellous "pebble" or maybe "crackle" patterned asphalt flooring
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Then below that, there's another layer of 1/4" plywood and beautiful and real linoleum "60s elementary school break room" pattern tile
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That was glued down on painted tongue and groove boards which were over top of this artisanal farm to table organic asphalt roll flooring of indeterminate pattern, but it was green, by golly.
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and that of course was applied overtop of a painted single layer of (completely rotten and punky) tongue and groove boards.
So that actually makes six floors. Counting is hard.
Wasn't gonna post these because it was kinda a dumb set of pictures to take, but they're sitting there so you're getting them a bit late.
 
Today and yesterday I was just clearing out the other half of the kitchen, no pictures as I was just moving accumulated crap around, as the floor joists will soon be resting upon nothing but air. I might put in a beam to hold them up if they feel springy.
Rained like fuck after a couple months of almost none, so it'll be swampy as hell tomorrow. Prolly won't get much of anything done then either.

Oh, and digging the comments. Easy to look at a lack of replies and stop wasting the effort of taking pictures.
 
I check this thread everything it pops up. I just don't know enough about building/ rebuilding houses to give any input :homer:.
 
I am amazed at your work ethic and kinda scared for you as it looks like that house could actually come crashing down on you.

Take some time to make sure you have it shored up well.

Oh yea, dids on your stuff if you get ded.
 
I am amazed at your work ethic and kinda scared for you as it looks like that house could actually come crashing down on you.
don't worry, the sweet release of death probably won't come swiftly

meaning: it'll be the mcdonalds that kills me
 
I like reading about your efforts to save/restore your 1910 home. I am so glad/thankful that our 1910 is nowhere close to what you are dealing with.
 
If the house does fall on you it will be slow enough that you feel obligated to do something. Then you'll waste even more time and money. Houses never fall fast unless you do something like erode the cliff below them. They just kinda slowly fold flat section by section as you take out the footings and internal structures.
 
I always watch this thread, it makes me feel so much better about the condition of my house.....
Makes me glad I hired a bunch of Mexicans to hand dig out my basement . . .
Took em two weeks ,
They they laid 600 blocks and mixed 440 bags of cement and wheelbarrowed it down and poured the floor .
My house had six inch metal poles every 8 feet in concrete footers and no foundation

wow I admire your work ethic !
 
I am amazed at your work ethic and kinda scared for you as it looks like that house could actually come crashing down on you.

Take some time to make sure you have it shored up well.

Oh yea, dids on your stuff if you get ded.
He needs one of those grave bell systems rigged up to his skid steer so if the whole thing does come down on his head he can sit there and pull the string till help arrives :lmao:
 
How the hell did I miss this thread? That old house couldn't have found a better new owner, you two are a match made in heaven (hell??)

Keep on kickin ass on that place
 
Makes me glad I hired a bunch of Mexicans to hand dig out my basement . . .
Took em two weeks ,
They they laid 600 blocks and mixed 440 bags of cement and wheelbarrowed it down and poured the floor .
My house had six inch metal poles every 8 feet in concrete footers and no foundation
how many moneys was this?
either way, I've got a feeling it'll be a bit stouter than block foundation
I've got some forms to toss poly on, then I'll prolly update this shit again. First concrete bits went in yesterday.
 
how many moneys was this?
either way, I've got a feeling it'll be a bit stouter than block foundation
I've got some forms to toss poly on, then I'll prolly update this shit again. First concrete bits went in yesterday.
Was $15k

Little over $6k was materials , rest was labor. A lot of labor . 4 guys 10 hours a day for 11 days . Bout $20 an hour for the labor.

i started doing it a couple hours every day and all day Saturday’s , and after a several of months without much progress , I realized that being almost 60, I’m way too old for busting up and shoveling red clay that’s hard as a rock.
and just wrote a check and got it done in two weeks.
Wish I had done it years ago when I bought the house.

.
 
worth it
i started doing it a couple hours every day and all day Saturday’s , and after a several of months without much progress , I realized that being almost 60, I’m way too old for busting up and shoveling red clay that’s hard as a rock.
yeah this shit's that below a few feet, anything I gotta dig by hand gets pickaxed then shovelled
total pain in the ass, shit's hard as fuck, kinda neat how on the face its all flaky from the layers though
I'm 27 and I'm too old for digging this shit, one of my knees is bothering me more and more
 
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