# Joined and then disappeared - here's why.



## Southern Forest (May 5, 2012)

I'm a private consulting forester who also teaches Algebra/Geometry who by mistake bought into town 20 years ago for my first job. 5 years ago I started really focusing on getting out of town and into the country. I was raised in southern Alabama and spent long weeks in the summer on my grandparents homestead (literal homestead post Civil War after that whole March to the Sea business) in the panhandle of Florida and knew my heart was always away from the bustle of town life (not even city life, as the town I am leaving has 12,000 residents). I joined this forum as the beginning of my quest back in 2012 and spent a bunch of time reading.

In 2013 I found a place, an antebellum home on 5 acres that was being sold cheap...real cheap...less than my sisters Lexus cheap. The place had been modernized many times, including installing louver windows, sheet rock over original tongue-and-groove bead board, cheap new windows in places, and vinyl over vinyl over linoleum over particle board over heart pine tongue-and-groove. The place looked ugly. But, crawling around I discovered that it also had new wiring and new plumbing - the owners were bailing out on their "country weekend home" because the darned place was still so ugly.

But I also discovered the floor joists were hand-hewn, with adze marks up and down. They were notched-and-pinned where they met each other. The studs were 4"x6" and were notched-and-pinned. Best of all, they were sound to a hammer strike. The house had three fireplaces and a chimney for a wood-burning stove and the kitchen, now an integral part of the house, was once a separate building that also featured notched-and-pinned construction. The nails were all square-cut underneath the modernizations. 

The grounds featured mature and productive fruit and nut trees - sand pear, pecan, blueberry predominately (the pears produced 60 pounds last year and the blueberry 3 gallons plus what ever the birds ate). The site had community water but the original well was still on site.

Best of all, it follows my Walmart rule for buying a place: I was looking for a place no closer than 30 miles from the nearest Walmart. Okay, it came close, as the nearest Walmart is 27 miles. The nearest interstate is 40 miles. The closest grocery (Piggly Wiggly) is 6 miles away, the closest supermarket is about 20 miles away. The road in front of the place is a lane-and-a-half on a road with only a handful of houses, all landowners (the baptist minister owns the least land, the farmer at the other end of the road has the most).

Now, I'm a decent carpenter and plumber and can do wiring as needed. I recognized that this place really needed restoration not modernization (okay, wiring and plumbing are nice to have) and that most of the really tough work was already done. I also realized that, after some online auctioning, I could buy the house free and clear.

So I did.


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## Southern Forest (May 5, 2012)

I worked on the place with neither water nor electricity turned on for about 6 months. The idea being that we would never go into debt for the place. Every weekend I took the kids with me and we worked. At first, my son, now 10, spent time clearing all the brush under the orchard (mostly 1"-2" brush) while he and his sister drug the brush to a pile while I worked in the house. Most of the work was simply tearing out the years of "improvements" to reveal the house underneath. I have tiled a bathtub, tiled floors, hearths, repointed chimneys, and the like. I have ripped up more plywood and particle board decking than I can count, and torn down enough gypsum to build a small house, hung 13 doors. I am now working on the last major tear-out, the back bedroom that was once the kitchen. The particle board was crumbly granola yet the heart pine tongue-and-groove underneath is still solid. 

So far, no debt. I lucked upon a ton of beadboard being torn out of an old house not far away, old windows (with wavy glass) for $10 each, and solid panel doors with rim lock hardware for $20-$30 each. Best of all, my kids have enjoyed playing and working out there and require only the mildest supervision (unlike our place in town, where we couldn't let them play in the front yard alone). My son has helped me out with carpentry, window hanging, door hanging, and ripping out of junk, learning quite a bit already by the age of 10.

My wife, whose commute will be halved once we move in, is now talking about getting into the place before Thanksgiving.

Here are some photos of the work we've been doing.


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

Looking good and keep us updated. Love he photos.


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## Southern Forest (May 5, 2012)

Also working on restoring the barn...


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## termite76 (Apr 3, 2015)

So great to see someone bringing a beautiful old home back to life! Looks wonderful. Wish there was as much of the original to work with on my old house but she's been gutted. Keep up the great work and love the pictures!


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## Jokarva (Jan 17, 2010)

Beautiful home, I love old houses (who doesn't  ) Good work!


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

Simply knowing that your place has been put into loving hands warms my heart. I love places rooted in the land and their history. 
I once took apart a small barn and moved it in chunks about 40 feet away. Hardest work I ever did but, even if I had endless money, wood like that barn's-simply-doesn't exist anymore.
I hope you have a very satisying Thanksgiving.


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## RonM (Jan 6, 2008)

Looks great, thanks for the photos...


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## CountryMom22 (Nov 27, 2014)

That is a heck of an undertaking, but so worth the work! 

It's awesome that your kids are helping, at that age they learn things without even trying as long as they are exposed to different things.

Keep up the good work and please keep the photos coming!


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## Southern Forest (May 5, 2012)

Thanks. Right now we're tearing out the back room that was once the kitchen. Even though as a forester I understand modern wood technology, I am not a strong proponent of much of it. In the 1960's, much of the rear of the house was decked with 3/4 inch particle board over which linoleum was installed. In tearing that stuff up, much of it is crumbling like granola. Under that sorry-condition decking is the original tongue-and-groove heart pine that remains in solid condition. All the improvements - though 50 years old and older in many cases - have proven less durable than the wood they were improving!


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

They were never improving on wood, they were making it "cheaper, faster and easier"....James


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## Mick23 (Dec 15, 2014)

Love the progress and that your kids are so involved!


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## BigJim (May 13, 2013)

Beautiful home, do you have any new updates on your home. My company and I did a lot of restoration work before I retired. It was dirty work but I loved every minute of it. I especially loved restoring the old stairs and trim work, trim we had to make, nowhere to buy the antique moldings.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

You're doing an awesome job. It's great that the kids are helping. They'll learn so much from all that hard labor.


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