Although I’ve had to scale back my expectations for the hovel as a livable space in the near term, I do have some goals. I want to be finished with the entry, media and living rooms as well as have one working toilet before 2011.
When I first bought this place, it was a tragic wreck. But I didn’t care. I was actually considering stapling AstroTurf to the floor and walls, adopting ten dogs from the pound and turning it into a big playhouse with balls and sticks, plenty of good food and fun - lending credence to the term rough-housing. It was going to be a space devoted to dogs, guitars, and beer.
My hero Greg has left town. Going back to school after a short summer working on my house. He (we) got a lot done. I owe him huge for his creative efforts.
We had been planning and plotting how to get this 300 pound gorilla in the house and into place, then we decided it was overkill. More beam than we needed, so Greg shaved off about 6 inches, reducing the weight by maybe 30%. Then another friend happened by to ask a question about audio interfaces and offered to lend a hand with the beam. So, we just did it! Ahead of schedule!
The beam is up! The beam is up!
In producing the as-built drawings, we discovered the roof was being held up by momentum. That is, there wasn’t much real support holding the roof up, so it looks as though the roof is staying up because it already is up. Since it’s sagging and big snow events may happen in the future, I decided to put in new supports. This means tearing out the old ceiling. A big mess. It also means new structural support, not only for the ceiling but for the floor, because support must go all the way to the ground.
Alone in the hovel today - tearing it apart.
Feeling a mixture of relief, anxious anticipation and revulsion.
I wish I had done this right away after I bought this place. I would have known what this thing is really about. But I was not in a position to do it at the time. I was a full time student and reeling from some major changes in my life.
Now that Greg Willis is here to help me with this … project, we have developed a plan. The first step is to map out what is here and put it down on paper in the form of drawings. This is often called “as-built” drawings. Important to have these for communication purposes. This will probably take another couple of days to finish up.
When it comes to the hovel, I’m afraid of things I don’t know and don’t understand. I have put off doing a thorough inspection of this house for years. I guess I didn’t want to know what is really going on under the floor and above the ceiling, partly because it is a huge mess and partly the feeling that I wouldn’t understand what is going on anyway. The stuff I’ve looked at so far just doesn’t look good. What frightens me is the prospect of finding things that will require a huge amount of work and expense.
Finally, help is on the way and this means that the hovel is moving to the next stage!
