Merry Christmas...and all that...

Did some painting and decorating for Christmas on the "Manor" as Kathy calls it. We got some solid maple flooring from Kathy's boss, that he got from a gym floor being replaced. This will become our central floor area downstairs- the heated part. I also went shopping for fireplaces. It's gonna be great.

...and a bit alarming...

Okay- for the second time, one of our motion sensors has triggered an alarm with nobody around to set it off. Same sensor each time. So I have bypassed that one sensor and the security company is sending a guy to check it tomorrow. I could just see getting a false alarm while I'm out of town and can't check it personally. The city will charge an arm, a leg, and three fingers for too many false alarms.

And by the way- when I went down to check said alarm malfunction, the eastern walls and the refrigerator were dripping water. I checked...no leak; it was just room sweat I guess. Really? It just doesn't seem right.

Okay, sooo......

I got the railing painted and for decorating. I did not finish getting the overhang fixed, so I still have that to do before I can hang the lights. Kathy and I have decided to install two fireplaces- one in the living room and one in the main hall, one right above the other. Should be easy to put in, but it will be later.

When pulling out the rotten boards of the entry hall, I found that not only was the floor joist rotted, but the space between the floor and the ceiling below was filled with dirt and pecan shells and shredded cloth= rats! I filled three trash bags with the detritus and removed the remains of the floor joist. I'll replace the joist, re-deck the floor, cover with hardi-backer, and then tile the entryway. Working just a couple of hours a day should see this done well before Christmas.

Shocking, just shocking!

OK, since the slowdown associated with the start of school and the end of money, I have gotten the power up to snuff and the lights on. Tomorrow we'll be getting an alarm system installed as well. This holiday time, I'm going to decorate the building a little bit with lights, a wreath, and a decorated and lit tree in the big windowed doors. I'll also try to paint the iron railings on the balcony and touch up the paint some.

Jim and Jan gave us a beautiful gift: a brass plaque for the front of the building. It says "THE LAMBS 501 AVE A". It looks great! I installed it a couple of weeks ago by the front door. It adds just the right touch of class and, well, ownership. Hope to get a lot done over the next few weeks.

If it ain't broke...it ain't me.

OK...As everyone told me, the new place is a money pit. I know it will be worth it when we're done, but it's a hard slog to get there. Right now we're robbing Peter to pay Paul to pay the roofer. The problem is that our loan did not come through, so money is (to say the least) tight.

This is Labor Day weekend which means no work on Monday and a general excuse for food and fun with friends. We humans seem to love to celebrate things with family, friends, food, and fermentation. It's a way of cementing bonds- the sharing of food- leftover from ancient times. It's one of our holdovers of which I highly approve. Bon apetit, mon ami.

When in doubt...C4!

Since school has started for me a couple of weeks ago, I have not had any time to work on the building. I've had long days and short nights. As with everyone else, money is also tight. This weekend, however, there will be time to do some framing and some rough landscaping.

On another note, we gather the books for sending to Kenya this past Friday. We took them to the Artifacts, Inc warehouse until we could "palletize" them. They should be sent off soon. It's one of those great coming togethers that happen sometimes. PISD donated the books, the local Rotary gathered them up, Rotary International is paying for shipping, Jean Mollard is storing them for us, a local freight company is carrying them to Texas City for us at a significant discount, A shipper will cargo them to Kenya where a Peace Corps volunteer and a local educator will pick them up and distribute them. All this in the name of education halfway across the globe!

I'll post pics of what I can accomplish this weekend.

Steel thinking about it

The roof is half done. Looks like really good work. The roof is quite solid underneath. Gonna be great!

While looking at metal for pillars in the basement, I saw beams that might do for the ceiling in the main hall. That might allow me to be rid of the pillars in the middle of the floor. If it's not too expensive...maaaaybeee.

There will be a slowdown of work on the building as school is about to start. That means work only on weekends and some evenings. I'll just do what I can. I want to be done with the inside work by April '11.

Moving along now...

OK. I was unable to sign in since my last post. It has taken this long to get it sorted out. In my last post I talked about uncovering 6 steps...wrong! There were 11 steps buried up to 4 feet deep. We dubbed them the "Stairway to Hades". They extend down past the French drains. I'm afraid I'm going to have to cover a couple back up to keep from having to relanscape the entire eastern slope. I'll brick the bottom for a platform and Bobs-yer-uncle.

The new roof got started today with tearoff. Should be done midweek next week. Should. We'll see.

Monday we'll start the electrical and some of the reframing. The belltower is opened up as it the rotted floor in the northeast corner. We'll work there first.
Will be posting new pics to the link http://nickelchurch.shutterfly.com/ There will be more later.

Constructive destruction

OK, I know, long time gone. Back from Kenya and working on a show (The King and I) @ PCT. While I've been off the air we've gotten a lot done.

While releveling the street-level floor, we found extensive termite damage to the pillars holding up the joists. I replaced the worst ones and marked the rest of the damaged ones. I'm going to eventually have to replace all of them- maybe with steel or concrete pillars. In the meantime, I have contracted Chasten Pest Control to terminate the termites. Their process and warantee are the same but half the cost. They will commit mass termicide this week.

The roof repair is another big issue. The first bid I got was way out of line, so I'm getting another. Again from a local business. I'm a big believer in keeping your money local when possible. When I got into the attic to check its condition, I found a couple of a surprises. First- clean and dry except in one little spot. Second- the roof was partially constructed with recycled BURNED wood! That's right- wood from the 1910 fire that destroyed the church the first time! The roof joists are fine; ceiling joinsts-fine; ridgeline- no problem. Braces- all burned...but interestingly not dropping any carbon in the attic. Maybe they are "flame hardened".

We also undovered some buried steps...six of them...under 14 inches of dirt. I really think there has been little to no maintenance for many years. I'll post some more pics of all this tomorrow.

Asbestos I can remember...

Had the building checked for asbestos today. None in the building, BUT the slate shingles on the rickety old shed out back are. Dang! That's $1k for disposal. I was tempted to just accidentally have them disappear, but no, asbestos can truly cause problems, and I don't want that on my conscience.

The basement, however, is getting cleaned quite nicely. The "dirt" floor I thought was there was simply 100 years of dirt covering a tile floor. Quite lovely. Tomorrow we'll get the rest of it cleaned out and then work will halt for about two weeks as I journey to Kenya. I'll post a summary of my travel journal here when I get back. I doubt I'll have a chance to post before then.

A Great Start!

Okay... back to the original topic. It's ours. We have closed on the building and have started the prep work. Today, we got officially approved for zoning as a live-above business. Yesterday, I became a legal contractor and have gotten started on all the legal and physical challenges of restoring a 126 year old building. We have also had a historical researcher come and look at things. He was quite excited by it all, but very disappointed that it had been cleaned out before he got there.

We had a "closing party" last Saturday that went quite well. There was no electricity service, so I hooked up my generator to power lights and fans (and music, of course). This morning I gave a tour to some folks who missed the party but who have an old building of their own in town. We need to get a support group going, I think. Life is exciting!

This Friday, I leave to go to Kenya for two weeks. That rather slows down the work on the place, but well worth it. My wife's nephew is in the Peace Corps there in Msumbweni. His mother, her husband, and I will travel there together. More on that after I get back.

...and the Living is Easy.

Continuing our side trip: Charles has been living in trailer for a couple of days to get accustomed to it. He likes it. He's got his "nest" started. He's even had guests over. Friday night he'll be a Dallas resident. Time has flown- seems like it was only 21 years ago he was being born and now... Oh...wait...that WAS 21 years ago.

On the Nickel Church, the real subject of this self-centered blog, we close on Tuesday. Money set. The Williamsons have been cleaning it out with great energy. I really appreciate their efforts. There will be an estate auction in the building Saturday. Wish I could be there; there are a couple of things I'd like to snag. Oh well.

BTW, is anybody out there reading this stuff, or am I just self-indulgently talking into the mirror?

Thanks a Lot...in Dallas

To continue the last post from before. Today, Saturday, all three of us packed into the Prius and headed to Dallas to find a lot for my son's new trailer. We looked at several. After pretty much settling on one as a "temporary only" choice, we were headed out of town and BAM...we found a great spot, signed up, and we're done. One more problem off the table. But, man! it's been a loooong week.

Side Adventure

Well, we took a short break from our frantic lives for a merely hectic week. Today we bought our son, Charles, a travel trailer to live in when he moves to Dallas to start at the KD Studios Acting Conservatory and College. We hope that when he finishes we'll be able to sell it to recoup some of our expense. Rent- down the drain. Of course he wouldn't take the plain, slightly smaller one...that would be too convenient. But truly we'll get a better resale price for this. Oh, we travelled all over the county looking at trailers big and small, old and new. Kudos by the way to my best friend Jim Vincill for all his help. You da' man!

Survey says...!

Went and picked up the official survey today. There actually were a couple of surprises. The lot for the property doesn't lie where I thought...exactly. And what I thought was a city-owned easement, is in actuality an unpaved street, with a name and all. Who'd thunk it?

The previous owner is busily cleaning out the building with a will. The greenhouse is in pieces but on site. I'm excited by our plans, and a bit daunted at the same time. Two more weeks.

Perimeter

Today we took the exterior measurements of the Nickel Church for our diagram. Tomorrow afternoon I'll get the interior measurements, then I'll plot all on grid paper. That way we can plan very carefully what's going to be done to what. I am so jazzed about this project!

Thanks City of Palestine and Gurney Guys

A big shout out to you folks. I wasn't looking forward to cleaning all the foliage along the creek at the new place. Yesterday I drove by, and there were guys from the Gurney Unit cleaning the creek out and trimming the trees and brush. They did a great job...maybe cut more trees than I would like, but hey, I'm not gonna complain too much.

The Nickel Church (Avenue A Baptist Church) Adventure

OK, my old blog is no longer accessable by me, so a new version has appeared. Today marks the beginning of a new adventure for us. We are purchasing a church built in 1882. It hasn't been a church since about 1910, but has been a residence upstairs and a business downstairs. Some "before" pictures can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnickelchurch.shutterfly.com%2Fpictures%23n_5&h=60fde New pictures of the downstairs will be added next week.