Back to back he faced each other...

I was surprised to find that my last two posts were MIA.  I'm not even sure now what I had written.  Oh well...

Work on the "Manor" has come to a near standstill recently.  My uncooperative spine has decided to take a more direct hand in slowing down work.  Before it intervened, I was just about to lay the hardi-backer to the sub-floor of the new bathrooms to finally have toilets at the building.  I have already gotten the plumbing ready to go...drains in place, water in place (valves closed of course), and holes burrowed.  I even have the hardi-backer stacked not 12 feet away from its final resting place.

We have decorated the front of the Manor again for Christmas although some of the lights are a no go. Looks pretty good.  I have added a security light to the side yard which helps immensely.  We'll get things moving again soon-- as soon as I can get freely moving again.  Right now I have to be careful just pulling on my socks.

The windows are the eyes of your home.

Okay, I know.  Nothing posted here for months.  But I HAVE in fact been busy.  I got the windows all in so the main floor is tight.  They look good, too.  I've also got the drains and water run up to the main floor "restroom" area.  Just as that was really coming together...Boom...my back is getting chronically worse.  That makes life hard.  I have to pay guys off the street just to unload plywood!  In order to get the restrooms up and running, I need to lay the hardi-backer for the floor- can't carry them or I won't walk the next day.  I did get some wiring done in the basement to put lights where there weren't before.  Also got the tub out of the upstairs bathroom by shoving it out the third level window!  CRASH  BANG  BOOM  Good news, recycling the 700 pound tub just about paid for the guys I had working for me that day.

As you can see in the picture, we got hit again.  This time it appears to have been a girl in love.  Got us in six different places including a random brick in the yard.

Stairway to...the basement?

Okay, so a week or so ago, my brother Steve came to help me at the Manor.  We put a new floor in the future bathroom, but more importantly, we got a good start on the stairs to the basement.  We had to do this because as it was, one had to go outside to get to the basement-- no inside access.  We cut the floor and started the runners.  I have now finished them. We can now get to and from the basement at will.  That also means that we can enter the building through the basement and go upstairs.  Glenn B helped me to fix the basement doors so that they can lock from inside and out instead of using the hasp and padlock.  Major victory.  Next is the restroom that I keep putting off.  Problem is that I have tons of set work to do for the show "Willie Wonka" AND I have hurt my back again.  It never rains but what it pours.  Speaking of that, this summer has not been nearly as hot or dry as last year.  Good thing cuz I think I would be dying right now if it was. 

 Here are pics of the stairs progress.  I have since finished the stairs after having to expand the hole in the floor to save headaches to anyone taller than an Oompa Loompa.

Memorial Day Amazingness!

This Memorial Day (actual Monday) I'm going to start putting the floor in for the first working restroom.  If there's time, I'll start running the water lines so that soon, very soon, I won't have to walk across the street to Kroger's to answer the call of nature.  Yay!

I also will start moving all the stored crap -I mean- family items to another location in the building so that I can work more freely in the main hall.  The show, "Willie Wonka" down at the Texas Theater, will keep me very busy over the summer, but I must be equitable with my time, or Kathy will kill me in the night.

Put a lid on it! Finally.

Ok, Lucas Roofing and Sheet Metal finally finished what was promised a week ago. Not a great job, merely adequate. But now, ladies and gentlemen, I can finally start working on restrooms, and plumbing, and wiring. Plans are being made. More to come this weekend.

Game delayed on account of rain... sort of

A month later and the roof is still not finished. Aaarrrgghhh! Between weather delays, "help" delays, and my body falling apart, things have not gone smoothly. I have about half of the stripping done for the metal roof. I plan to get the rest up this weekend so that I can order the metal to be ready for Spring Break. Fingers crossed.

Raise the roof! It's just a frame of mind.

Okay! After a long and tortuous road, I have finally finished the roof joists in the back. Two and a half stories up and at a 45 degree angle life can be precarious. But with help (Keith and Greg), we got it done. Now to strip it for the metal roof and get that in place ASAP.

Check this site: http://nickelchurch.shutterfly.com/ for more pics.

Joist to the world...

Alrighty... I'm half done putting up roof joists almost completely by myself. OK, Greg helped me get one wall plate up, but the rest is all me. I may be getting back my "Monkey Man" status if I keep on climbing up the ladders and scaffolding like I have been. I should get the rest up this weekend. When I get 100% done, I'll post the pics from start to finish of the roofing process.

After a wind-induced mishap that damaged a nice piece of furniture, I replace the heavy door to the back with a home-made one that's much lighter. It will keep out the wind and rain but won't cause a problem.

BTW...Charles is getting married one month from today. See more on "Lamb's on the Go", my other, older blog.

To the top of the wall...

Okay. In the last post that survived hacking I complemented the brick crew for their work...that still stands, with an exception. When the top of the wall was completely done, it was finished extremely wrong! I had drawn a diagram of what I wanted and described it. That's not what happened. I had wanted a ledge on the inside, one layer of bricks deep. What I got was a sloped edge on the outside filled in with mortar at a 45 degree angle. Aaarrrggghhhh! Changes my whole design for the roof. Too late now. Just deal with it.

I have built scaffolding out of 2x4s to build the roof on the back section as renting scaffolding is really expensive. I'll be able to recycle the 2x4s easily.

I have bolted plates onto the top of the back wall with epoxy adhesive anchoring them. Same will be true for the register plates on the main wall at the top of the joists. Progress is being made.

You can also see that I've finished the fabrication on the security cages for the alleyway windows. More after this weekend is done.

Hacked!!- off

Well, I've joined the millions of folks of the "I'm a victim of hacking" club. Somebody got into this account and hijacked my password. Fortunately, Blogger has a good way to recover from that (unlike their previous incarnation). so I'm back on-line and blogging. More updates in the next post.