Sarah's Country House Update

[sarahperdue]

So, it's been a while. Here's the latest on the restoration/renovation.

The kitchen work continues, but it's not the kind of progress you can see in pictures. We're doing structural work underneath the kitchen so, nothing is currently finished or functional in the kitchen.

I’m doing OK but not as productive as I would like to be. I’m taking microbiology at our local jr. college and still have a non driving teenager at home which makes it hard for me to go down and get ahead during the week. Additionally, the weather has been rotten, and the house is so torn up that there are few comfortable living spaces. Also, the well water tank has a leak and needs to be replaced before we can confidently keep the water on. The tank should be pressurized with air to prevent the pump from running full time but had no air in it when we checked. We have no idea how long the tank has been depressurized, and we’re lucky it hasn’t burned out the pump. I feel like we're in the "it's going to get worse before it gets better" stage.

We took a break on the house last weekend, but my master carpenter, his son and I were down three weekends in a row prior to that. Last time we were down, Jerry found substantial termite damage in the structures under the kitchen. I wasn’t surprised. I’d been telling him to expect that all along. I would like to reuse the structural elements under the addition we are tearing off to replace rotten wood under the kitchen, but I really need to get down and remove some more flooring before Jerry and his son come back down. Otherwise, it will be more cost effective to buy new materials, and I’d prefer not to do that.

I'm planning to go down tomorrow and pull up some flooring before Jerry and his son Michael get there on Saturday. I took a bit of a detour and planted some bulbs and peonies that I had ordered. I have a bad habit of buying bulbs and seeds then never planting them.

More news to come...
Sarah

 

[mattl]

Progress is progress no matter how slow.

 

 

 

Microbiology - interesting.   My cousin monitors the egg production at Herbruck's in Grand Rapids MI.  Always taking swabs and inspecting the production line.  They supply Mc Donald's and such as well as a great number of grocery stores.  Lot of responsibility to make sure nothing is contaminated. 

 

[wayupnorth]

Sarah, yes, you need to replace the well tank or your pump will constantly go on and off and burn the motor out. Most well tanks have a rubber bladder pressurized with the air but if the bladder is worn out, adding more air is a waste of time.

 

[pulltostart]

Sarah,

When you go back and start taking up more flooring - please remember to be careful as you pull nails.  We remember what happened the last time you did this....

 

lawrence

 

[sarahperdue]

And then there were the burglars

I'm not sure exactly how many years it's been since the Gastonburg house has been burglarized, but, over the last several months, I've begun feeling that maybe it's time...

So, four weeks ago, Jerry the master carpenter, his son Michael and I began securing doors and barring windows.

Two weeks ago, the burglars came. Apparently the only door they were able to breach was the door to the storage room off of the patio. So, they broke into the storage room, climbed up into the rafters and came down into the house through the pink bathroom ceiling. And there they were, trapped in the house. They probably would have still been there the next morning if the bar across Grandmama's back bedroom door hadn't been screwed into some trim with termite damage. They managed to get the door open, but they didn't take a thing. I'm thinking that by the time they managed to get out of the house, they were too panicked to stick around and steal stuff.

I've been hauling my tools back and forth every trip for years. Recently, I installed a hasp and padlock on one of the closets and began leaving the tools there. So all of the tools that would have been useful for their escape were in the house. They just happened to be in a locked closet.

I'm not sure why, but I'm not particularly angry. Jerry, however, is very, very angry, like Marvin the Martian angry. He is determined to make sure that they don't get in...or out next time. He and Michael spent most of the day we discovered the damage making the house even more burglar proof. We are all hoping they were straddling a rafter when the ceiling caved in.

And then I decided to do something really radical and contact the sheriff's department. So, a week later I drove into town went to the Sheriff's department expecting a lackluster response and planning to submit a report. Well, damn! was I surprised. The chief deputy and the deputy who collects evidence immediately drove down to the house (about twenty minutes away) to check things out. The chief deputy asked why I hadn't called it in the day I discovered it. I explained that we had never before succeeded in getting the sheriff's department to respond when we'd been burglarized. He apologized on behalf of the department, gave me his card and told me that they would keep an extra eye on the house.

The chief deputy asked if I had a "key holder" to take care of the house. When I said yes, it was clear that he suspected Pig, our key holder, was involved in the break-in. I explained that Pig and his family had worked for my family for many years, and I had known Pig my whole life. He didn't seem convinced. He said Pig probably brought some people over and that's how we got broken into. He told me said he was going to ride over to Tracy's store (where the shady black folks hang out) to find Pig. I told him emphatically that he would not find Pig there because Pig works, sometimes he brings his grandson, and then he goes home to garden and be with his family. I gave him Pig's number and encouraged him to give Pig a call. I'd trust Pig with my life, but I still felt awkward giving the police, even black police officers, his phone number because black folks in the deep South have generations of bad experiences with law enforcement. So I rode over to Pig's house and told him he might be hearing from the sheriff's department. He didn't mind at all.

I'm not even going to pretend that race doesn't matter down here. The county is over 70% black. I'm white; Pig and his family are black, and the two deputies are black. It's a sign of changing times that black law enforcement officers will acknowledge that the perpetrators are most likely black and pursue them. Back in the 70s, some black folks were stealing gas from my grandaddy's farm. Grandaddy gave the (black) sheriff a photograph of the thieves, car and license plate, and the sheriff didn't even pretend to do something about it. Historic change takes time, and we have a long way to go with regard to race, but I see, at lease in my small corner of the world, incremental change for the better.

I'm attaching a link to the demographics of our county for those of you who are interested. While I don't have hard figures, I think the website coverage is incomplete. I'd be interested in knowing how many people work as day laborers for cash like Pig and his family. It doesn't include self employed people, farming and timber or people who own vacation property on the Alabama river. While unemployment is undoubtedly high, I think the figure of 2,901 employed persons out of a population of 10,919 is wildly inaccurate.

https://datausa.io/profile/geo/wilcox-county-al

Sarah

 

[chachp]

Cameras or Security

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Sarah,</span>

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Have you thought about a couple of security cameras or a security system?  They do make some cameras that don't require internet so while you couldn't access them remotely you could at least have a recording of what happened.  If you now have police support a recording would sure that it to the next level.  </span>

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">A friend of mine has a summer home somewhere in Kentucky.  He and his wife found some kind of battery operated outdoor camera that he placed outside and inside and put out a sign.  I don't know if they have had anymore problems but he is amuzed by watching the recordings and see what the birds do.  Something to think about.  I can find out which ones he used if you want.  I don't think he spent a lot of money on them either.</span>

 

[gansky1]

 Your microbiology course sounds fascinating and quite demanding when added to an otherwise full-time life.  Big projects do take a lot of time so enjoy the progress you do make and don't be discouraged by slower than expected progress, it will get done.

 

[mattl]

Security

Get a few of these, load them up with a big micro sd card. cheap and effective even w/o internet..  Can be set to record on motion.. @ $20 each cheap insurance.

 

Wyze Cam v4 | 2.5K HDR, Indoor/Outdoor, Wired Security Camera

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wyze.com

 

[chachp]

I bet those would work well

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Be sure to hide them so they can't see them to take.  Since they will record locally and not on line the recording will go with the camera if they take them.  These look like great little cameras and I bet would serve you well.  The SD cards have really come down in price now too.</span>

 

[mattl]

One other thought- what kind of cell phone plan do you have?  Can you add a phone cheaply?  if so it could be setup as a hot spot and could give you live updates and alerts from the above cameras.

 

[sarahperdue]

Thanks for all of the security ideas

Several cameras are definitely in the plan. The chief deputy also suggested cameras that aren't obvious.

I purchased a security system that can be connected via SIM card using my phone plan for $5 a month, but the data signal isn't consistent.

And, I just added a car to the landscape. My husband drives all over the state for work and wears his cars flat out. We have a completely non functional Nissan Sentra that we towed to the driveway this afternoon. My husband isn't so sure that it will make a difference, but I like having it there.

So, I pulled up flooring today and am studying micro tonight. Tomorrow wash rinse repeat.

Thanks all

 

[sarahperdue]

And another great thing

We have cabin in the back pasture that my grandfather and uncles built for the help back in the 60s. It's in disrepair but has good siding and beautiful paneled pine walls and ceilings. I contacted a local arts foundation that has been planning to build a house for an artist in residence. I think the house is a good candidate for deconstruction and I've offered to donate it.

The director came down this afternoon to look and seems very fired up about the project. They have been talking with Auburn's Rural Studios about building one of their 20K houses, and I think it will be a great joint project. Both Black Belt Treasures and Rural Studio are non profit, and a team of volunteers with good direction could probably deconstruct the house in a day.

And yes, Lawrence, thanks for the reminder about the nails . I was down by myself today and, with that memory still fresh, set aside several boards for Jerry and Michael to take care of instead of attempting to do it myself. Not much harm done with the finger. It makes a good story, and definitely reminded me to be more careful and upgrade my first aid kit.

Sarah

 

[firedome]

unexpected problems...

always seem to crop up during any reno, but burglary shouldn't be one of them! Hope that the enhanced security measures will make it a thing of the past.

Micro was one of my favorite courses thanks to the super Hopkins prof. I had (a woman PhD, somewhat rare in the late '60s, who retired shortly thereafter). Majoring in Bio w/ a minor in Chem, a lot of courses were pretty onerous, but Dr Reed always made Micro a real pleasure, to the extent that I always looked forward to it, something that couldn't uniformly be said, and at times I wish that I'd gone further with the study of it.

 

[jeb]

I don't know how old your pressure tank is but the one I grew up with and had in my first home did not have a bladder-just a bubble of air. when we noticed a change in water pressure or heard the pump kicking on and off rapidly we knew the tank was "water logged"(about twice a year) and dad would put more air in through a valve that looked like it belonged on a tire. I didn't really pay that much attention as a kid but something rubbed off because when it happened at my first house I knew exactly what to do.

 

[sarahperdue]

Noticeable progress!

We had a breakthrough today! Jerry was able to stabilize and jack up the joist between the kitchen and breakfast room. (Will be all one room when we finish). The floor is level and stable.

I had a pretty successful day removing flooring Friday...and a pretty painfully sore day Saturday. I'm having to accept that I can't do that kind of work for hours on end and not expect to pay for it. I'm going to try rotating through different tasks that use different muscle groups throughout the day and see if that helps.

It was a beautiful day today, and we finished with a sense of accomplishment and elation. Jerry's son Michael laughed at us as we passed around the end of the day bottle of bourbon.

Cheers,
Sarah

 

[mattl]

<blockquote>
....Jerry's son Michael laughed at us as we passed around the end of the day bottle of bourbon.

 

</blockquote>
That's standard practice for my cousin Marty and me at the end of the day working on a remodel.  Only thing is he prefers Crown Royal.  Last house I flipped we tossed out 4 or 5 dead bottles collected over about a year.