One of the great things that has happenned to me over the last few years has involved changing careers, relocating to Battle Creek, Mi and rebuilding financially.
Many of you that have personally known me through the years have realized that I havent really been at the peak of financial stability ever. Many reasons can be attributed to this, but one of the most important to me has been the lack of stability at home. I hammer down that point with the fact that the last home that I owned was mobile even...
Today my girlfriend and I have pencilled a deal to purchase 28 acres of her family farm in Climax, MI and with that a large two car garage with an attached 4 bedroom fixer upper. The homestead is a Centennial Farm, meaning that it has been in her family for 100 years or more and we are going to be leasing out a majority of the land to the people currently farming the property leaving us about an acre and a half to mow and maintain.
Pictures and updates will follow soon, we are going through room by room and making it "perfect".
Because I am pulling out and replacing all of the old plaster walls I am replacing and updating all of the electrical outlets and in some cases the wiring. The house has just had a new panel and updated service installed but apparently there was a very kind or blind inspector because much of the wiring upstairs is circa 1972. While updating the outlets we plan to also run CAT6 and USB outlets to each room as well as wire rooms for surround sound just in case it may be used (with 4 kids at home and an XBox in every room there is a chance).
Eventually the goal is to purchase the land across the street that has her father 50x120 pole barn. While it is overkill for my hobby I envision it as a spot to park the snow plow, the autocrosser, the Challenge car, the truck and trailer, the lawn mower and still have room to work on anything I want.
Suggestions for "home hacks" are requested.
On my radar are:
- Solar 12V lighting
- Solar assisted water heating on hot water "circuits"
- Point of use water heaters
- Pellet stove heating (currently propane :( )
Insulation. The very best thing you can do is insulation, especially since you're opening the walls anyway.
Other than that, every old house needs love and every one needs to be approached in it's own way. Should be fun!
Insulation and seal it up good. Most homes have uncontrolled infiltration equal to an open window.
Well a minor snag hits before even getting the keys. Apparently moving in is going to take $2500 more out of pocket than originally anticipated draining the Challenge coffers already. It's not going to stop me from going, it just puts everything back a few weeks
Congrats! Sounds like a great spot. I want a pole barn..... Like others have said, try to sel it as best you can with the walls opened up.
Loved my pellet stove in my old house so much it came with me and now warms the garage. That house was electric heat and the bill could easily hit $350 a month, pellets are cheap!
With an older house, I would want the "bones" to be 100%. If the roof leaks, the windows are drafty, the floors sag and the attic is too hot/cold/wet then you will be putting lipstick on a pig. I would start with good windows and doors, and then fix/replace anything that might allow the inside to get out or vice versa.
Then I would insulate, especially the attic, but exterior walls and basement too. This will allow your heating and A/C to work better and cheaper, and keep your house comfortable year-round. Then you can work on making it look nice.
And with kids, I highly recommend a laundry chute. Some large portal through which they can throw their clothes and have them end up by the washer/dryer. If their clothes are on their floor, they will stay there until the rapture. If they keep their rooms clean and put their dirty laundry where it belongs, mom and dad will wash and return it. Their choice: go to school dirty and smell, or put in the labor and be clean.
Luckily the roof, central air and plumbing is new. The structure is sound, it's just laid out like a 100 year old farmhouse.
You do know this thread is useless without pics, yes?
Haha, Climax, MI. 
I thought all the cities with innuendo names were in PA?
Hey neighbor! ...well sort of. I drove past Climax the other day while on my way to K'Zoo.
mazdeuce wrote:
You do know this thread is useless without pics, yes?
Yes. I understand
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Her father owns the larger pole barn across the street. It is on my shopping list as well.
You are finally moving your wife to climax? 2 soon?
Does the house have two peaks on it that intersect in a valley? From the air it looks like a leak waiting to happen. Or I just suck at figuring out roofs from satellite photos. Could go either way.
mazdeuce wrote:
Does the house have two peaks on it that intersect in a valley? From the air it looks like a leak waiting to happen. Or I just suck at figuring out roofs from satellite photos. Could go either way.
No, there are three roof levels on the house (four if you count the garage) all peaked the upper second story, the road side main structure and the rear extension of the house.
TRoglodyte wrote:
You are finally moving your wife to climax? 2 soon?
No chance with the ex wife so I am bringing the girlfriend instead.
Holy potential Batman!
Want to loan me that brake so I can do some tin work on the Grosh? 
Will one of those siding brakes bend anything heavier than soffit aluminum?
DeadSkunk wrote:
Will one of those siding brakes bend anything heavier than soffit aluminum?
not really. i have my 10' long brake for work and a shorter heavy brake for automotive work.
mazdeuce wrote:
Holy potential Batman!
Want to loan me that brake so I can do some tin work on the Grosh?
It's the guy who's replacing the windows. I am hoping that it will still be here when Otis needs some trim work
I got the chance to do some cleaning and inventory of the Casa.
Garage specs are 28'6"x28'6" for roughly 810sf. There is a built in two stage compressor in the basement that I am going to plumb up into the garage after I locate a larger tank (big compressor, tiny tank). The lighting and outlet count are subpar at best, that will be resolved soon enough, but the bug issue is there is no heat source. I will be on the lookout for an inexpensive used electric furnace to heat the garage and laundry room.
What this really means is that the garage is probably 60% right but that 60% is pretty good!
In case I screwed up the hotlink
There appears to be enough room
