# 20 acres and an old house



## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Hi everyone. I just wanted to share the farm/ land progress. About 4 months ago I bought 20 acres that had an old house. The house needed major work due to rot. So instead of tearing the house down and starting over I repaired the rot. The rot was caused by water leaking into the structure due to no flashing, or doing anything to stop it from happening. The land is all wooded except for where the house sits. I wanted it for the view, and the woods. Below are some pictures of when I bought it. I hope they load. 

Mark

Deck view



Front view



Side with rot


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Start of the remodel

Rot fixed siding started


New door and windows on the front


Front all fixed up



Back all fixed


So during all of this, the exterior walls have been reframed, new sheathing installed, and all new siding and trim. The inside has been gutted, walls removed, some walls replaced in new locations. The idea is to finish the exterior with calk, and paint etc. and move to the inside with new power, and plumbing.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Looks nice, and that really doesn't look like a very "old" house.
Just about anything can be repaired if you're handy.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

Beautiful work!!


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Thanks everyone. 

The house is over 50 years old. Not old to some but it is the oldest that I have ever worked on. The main beams that run the full length of the house from front to back are about a foot and a half thick tree that was flattened on each side. Some still have bark on them. They were still in great shape. the problem was where the deck was attached, and the front porch, and the windows. It allowed water in and rotted many places, from the floor to the walls. I have torn out and framed almost the entire outside walls. I still need to remove the porch roof, and add flashing to that section. I did reframe the gable end over the porch, but have not gone further due to needing the flashing. I have a 4 day weekend so I will start that process.


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Cool project! I like the idea of taking a place that's not doing well and turning it into a good and sound home. Glad you have the situation that works for you like that.

I've often heard that it's harder to repair and rebuild a house like that than to start fresh and build a new one. My wife is from lower Alabama and it's pretty common to see a new house beside an old rundown one. Seems kinda sad and I've daydreamed about what it would be like to restore some of those old places... on our drives through the country...

Hope you'll share more pictures as you progress through your project!


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

Good work. Nature takes back so fast.


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## ForestToFarm (Feb 28, 2016)

Looks nice!

Is that hardi plank siding?


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Thanks everyone. 

It would have been much easier to knock it down and start over. It would also have easier to make the walls straight etc. I am not sure which way I would have gone if I had known how much rot the house had. It was bad very bad. All outside wall, a good portion of floor joists are all brand new. So it is a tough call on what I would do if I had known.

The siding is LP Smart side. I had used hardi plank in the past and hated cutting it with the dust and all. This stuff cuts like wood and goes up much easier. I know people that have had it for over 10 years, with no issues. So I guess we will see. I have had a scrap in water for over a month with no swelling or breakdown. If this stuff messes up, I will rip it down and go vinyl. They are making some very impressive vinyl now.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

In some jurisdictions you would have to meet the most current code if you tore it down and started over. Repairing the house gets you grandfathered in. I hope this gives you another reason why repairing was the better choice.

Great view and good job on the fix up.


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

That is true about meeting the current code. But I am doing it anyway by redoing the plumbing, electrical, etc. I am also planning on adding a utility room on the back for a washer, dryer, and hot water heater. On the back of the utility room I am adding a master closet that will have a door from the master bath. Since the only bath in the house will be converted to the master bath, I am adding a 3/4 bath up toward the front off of the middle bedroom. I do like the fact that the house has a crawl space, it makes running plumbing and such much easier. One of the reasons that we liked this place was the fact that we have county water, power, and septic to the house. I was also told by the county that a natural gas line was at the bottom of the mountain, and I can have it ran to the house for about 500 dollars.


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## melli (May 7, 2016)

Samhunter1 said:


> That is true about meeting the current code. But I am doing it anyway by redoing the plumbing, electrical, etc. I am also planning on adding a utility room on the back for a washer, dryer, and hot water heater. On the back of the utility room I am adding a master closet that will have a door from the master bath. Since the only bath in the house will be converted to the master bath, I am adding a 3/4 bath up toward the front off of the middle bedroom. I do like the fact that the house has a crawl space, it makes running plumbing and such much easier. One of the reasons that we liked this place was the fact that we have county water, power, and septic to the house. I was also told by the county that a natural gas line was at the bottom of the mountain, and I can have it ran to the house for about 500 dollars.


Very nice Sam! Sweet home Alabama! 
I am thousands of miles away from you, but every time I read the name Alabama...that song starts up...lol
20 acres and a view! 
Yeah, folks always do a poor job of deck to house connection, especially with respect to flashing, waterproofing. Almost looks like you had some water spray from deck hit old siding, and got behind. I get some work fixing those types of issues. Having good siding overlap is crucial. Our code up here on the wet coast bumped up overlap specs, and we avoid tar paper (house wrap like typar is used). 
Great job!


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Thanks Melli.
From what it looked like, and the lack of any type of waterproofing, or flashing they didn't need to ever clean the house. Each time it rained the inside would get washed.


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Not much building over the long weekend. I did add some trim and finished a few odd and end jobs. Most of the time was spent removing the remaining interior wall covering. I now need to finish removing the ceilings in the remainder of the house. I think I have 4 rooms to remove. I was able to start calking on the outside. I am up to 12 tubes of calk and have half of one of the long sides, gables and part of the back of the house remaining.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Great photos. Thanks.


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## rockgrove (Jan 31, 2017)

nice, looks like you are building a home not just a house


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## melli (May 7, 2016)

Samhunter1 said:


> Not much building over the long weekend. I did add some trim and finished a few odd and end jobs. Most of the time was spent removing the remaining interior wall covering. I now need to finish removing the ceilings in the remainder of the house. I think I have 4 rooms to remove. I was able to start calking on the outside. I am up to 12 tubes of calk and have half of one of the long sides, gables and part of the back of the house remaining.


Caulking is so tedious, but a good job pays off. I can easily see you going through a couple of cases of caulk. I like using DAP230 for siding (guns out smooth), and Lexel or equivalent for windows and doors (beware of using it in hot weather...it sets quickly, and is almost impossible to play with).


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Well I ended up using 21 tubes on the main part of the house, and still have the three gables to finish. But the main part of the house is ready for paint. I also removed part of the front rail so I can work on the post.


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## ed/La (Feb 26, 2009)

The house looks great.


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Thank you!


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Nice work!


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Not a whole bunch completed today, but I got the side door raised, and added some paint to the siding and trim on the front.


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## oldtruckbbq (Aug 8, 2016)

I'd live there! Nice place.


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Thanks Oldtruck. This weekend I am going to try and do some post wrap, and paint the front gable and trim if the weather holds out. It is supposed to start raining on Saturday evening. If the weather is bad, I can always move to the inside and tear out the ceiling in a few rooms that are left. I also need to frame a wall in the master bath, and 3/4 bath. So I still have plenty to keep busy. I also need to order the metal to wrap the trim, and such. From rough calc it should run about 900 for the metal, but it is already bent so I don't have to try and do coil stock myself. I think it would take me a very long time to do since I don't work with it everyday.


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Got a little bit done this weekend. I painted the gable, did touch up on the front, and started to cut in the left side. I also started wrapping the porch posts. It was a very cold and wanting to rain kind of day for this time of year here. Maybe more will get done next weekend.


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## FireMaker (Apr 3, 2014)

Last time I was doing stuff outside at our cabin, it was 10+ below. What's very cold?


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

When you need to paint but it to cold for the paint.


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Oh and as far as 10+ below you can have that. If a person or animal were not in trouble, I would be inside. You can have that mess.


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## MoBookworm1957 (Aug 24, 2015)

Congratulations!


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

I was able to get about 90 percent of the exterior painted on Sunday. I think I am going to darken the gable paint. It looks washed out to me. So I will repaint them next weekend.


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Went up and worked on the house some on Saturday. I was able to finish painting the main house body, and most of the trim. I repainted the front gable after having the paint tinted darker. I thought the color looked too close to the trim color. The only other painting remaining is the back gable. We had some nasty storms moving in and I did not think the back would have time to dry before the rain started. I started back working on wrapping the posts on the porch but the storms hit about 4 so I just packed up and went home.


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

This morning I ordered the metal for the roof, and all the trim parts. So in the next month or so I should have the outside finished with all the major work.


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

I was able to go up and work on the house on Saturday. The back gable is painted, and the porch post are wrapped. I also met with the pump guy about getting water up to the house. My buddy that is an electrician stopped in and we talked about wiring the house. From what he said we should be able to do it in a weekend.


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## MoBookworm1957 (Aug 24, 2015)

Are you going to be living there?


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

Well that is the plan at some point. At the moment it would be a little far out, since I look after my 86 year old parents. So I plan on spending the weekends up at the house, and maybe a night or two during the week, as time allows.


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## Samhunter1 (Feb 13, 2017)

So I have been working on the house for the past few weeks. I was able to do more demo on the inside, and frame some walls. On the outside I was able to get the metal wrap installed, and get the roof on.


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## MoBookworm1957 (Aug 24, 2015)

Samhunter1 said:


> So I have been working on the house for the past few weeks. I was able to do more demo on the inside, and frame some walls. On the outside I was able to get the metal wrap installed, and get the roof on.
> View attachment 59954
> View attachment 59955
> View attachment 59956


Looking good!


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