Farmhouse makeover

crosscreekcooter

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All that is left of it.
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That's a terrible loss 51. did anyone determine the cause of the fire?
 

Gator515151

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That's a terrible loss 51. did anyone determine the cause of the fire?
It was a clothes dryer that caught fire. The house was 150 year old pine it went up in minutes. Luckly nobody was hurt but my cousin who lived in the house and had slowly been remodeling it was heart broken. I feel so sorry for her over the last year she has lost her mother, father, baby sister and her house. Her daughter has cancer too. But she is a trooper and just keeps on plugging away.
 

Gator515151

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On a sidenote crosscreekcooter I spent a couple of summers in that house when I was a kid around 1955 they didn't put in indoor plumbing until the late 50s, it still had an outhouse behind it in 1955; The electrical wiring was all that old asbestos cloth covered wire. The fireplaces were converted to gas sometime in the 40s or 50s the AC was window units.
 

crosscreekcooter

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The front wall and roof section and 2/3 of the rear wall of the barn that had collapsed has now been repaired. A front door still needs to be cut in. The ground around the barn was too soft to safely access the 35 foot tall ridge so we had to rent a boom lift.
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The barn now from a distance, I'll take some closer shots later.
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The house is slowly beginning to take shape on the outside. All of the windows are installed with exception of the 3 dormers on the front and one upper bedroom window. The two layers of old siding will need to be removed and window openings reframed in those areas before the new windows and siding can be installed. I'm holding off on the installation of the front and main family room door due to potential damage from mechanical trades and future drywall installation.
The board and batten siding (Hardie Board) was started by the crew I had working on the barn but they only seem to be motivated to work a couple of hours a week, probably in part because I made them tear off a lot of what they installed and reapply it. I'm now pretty much resigned to installing the siding with my crew and have been doing so the last week and a half.
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The HVAC contractor started his duct rough this week. I had 3 other bidders for heating and air and they all wanted to use 2 systems, however this drove the cost way out of budget. I found a small contractor that is familiar with installing zoned systems which will allow us to use one condenser and one air handler and reduce the cost by about 30%. Hopefully the electrician will start next week and we will be pushing to insulate and prepare for our framing and mechanical inspections. Being able to start drywall will be a huge milestone, however there is a lot of work to be done throughout before that happens.
I did manage to pour new concrete floors inside the fireplace fireboxes but I still want to provide a fresh air duct to the family room fireplace so it's not starved for combustion air. Old homes didn't have this problem because they were real drafty and leaked a lot of air. I also want to disassemble the old set of stairs and rebuild them; two things I have been putting off for too long.
Looking ahead at the weather, the forecast is calling for some amount of rain for the next 10 days but there is plenty to be done on the inside.

This is Little River at sunset, part of Strom Thurmond Lake and 8 miles from the farmhouse. It's a 70,000 acre lake that borders SC and GA. This lake is loaded with largemouth, stripers, catfish, bream, and crappie. The bass are supposed to be going to bed in the next couple of weeks so I am hoping to try it out.

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crosscreekcooter

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@crosscreekcooter
Does the single system have multiple temp sensors that activate “gates” (for lack of better terms) that route airflow as needed?
They do. This system will have 2 thermostats (one up and one for the ground floor) that call for conditioning independently. When the upstairs is warm and the downstairs needs heat, the system closes a series of dampers and the excess airflow is re-routed through a bypass duct.
 

Detroitgator

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They do. This system will have 2 thermostats (one up and one for the ground floor) that call for conditioning independently. When the upstairs is warm and the downstairs needs heat, the system closes a series of dampers and the excess airflow is re-routed through a bypass duct.
DAMPERS!!! Damn it! ;)
 

NVGator

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How many Sqft is this place now? Equal upstairs and downstairs?

Why didn’t you just raze the home to begin with?
 

crosscreekcooter

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2000 down
900 up
1017 covered porches The system will be a 17 SEER heat pump with variable speed air handler w/10KW heat strips. He's comfortable doing this with 3 1/2 tons. What was driving the other HVAC bidders to quote 2 systems was getting airflow to one end of the house and the ability to cool the 2nd floor.

He didn't need me to raze the home, he could have done that. Out in the country they used to call the fire dept and let them practice.
Here's the local VFD about 3 miles away.
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CGgater

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@NVGator
2000 down
900 up
1017 covered porches The system will be a 17 SEER heat pump with variable speed air handler w/10KW heat strips. He's comfortable doing this with 3 1/2 tons. What was driving the other HVAC bidders to quote 2 systems was getting airflow to one end of the house and the ability to cool the 2nd floor.

He didn't need me to raze the home, he could have done that. Out in the country they used to call the fire dept and let them practice.
Here's the local VFD about 3 miles away.
View attachment 13900

I’ve heard of that. Some states and local townships give you a property tax break on the new construction for providing that training opportunity.

@NV - some renovations are based on preserving history rather than the cheapest option.
 

NVGator

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I’ve heard of that. Some states and local townships give you a property tax break on the new construction for providing that training opportunity.

@NV - some renovations are based on preserving history rather than the cheapest option.
I get it, but this reno appears to look nothing like the old. Therefore the preservations may no be worth it? Maybe it’s just for keepsake.

That said, I’m glad you weren’t the CG Terrorist. I was worried.
 

CGgater

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I get it, but this reno appears to look nothing like the old. Therefore the preservations may no be worth it? Maybe it’s just for keepsake.

That said, I’m glad you weren’t the CG Terrorist. I was worried.

Ha! How do you know I’m not posting this from federal prison?

I don’t even know what to say about that officer. He clearly needs some serious help.
 

URGatorBait

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Ha! How do you know I’m not posting this from federal prison?

I don’t even know what to say about that officer. He clearly needs some serious help.
or a bullet to his own head.
 

crosscreekcooter

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The mechanical roughs should be complete the end of this week hopefully allowing us to insulate and call for our inspections which would allow us to begin drywall. The siding contractor will finish his work within 2 weeks, and we can begin prepping for exterior paint.
The masonry contractor has also been working this past week laying the brick at the foundation, steps, and fireplace facings.
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The front and back porch ceilings are now complete and the post caps and bases are being finished
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The repairs to the barn have been completed. It will be painted after the home is finished. I have tried to talk the owner into having a large Mail Pouch or Browns Mule advertisement painted on the building.
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LagoonGator68

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That uncleaned brick look is all the rage in new multifamily buildings in Tallahassee.
 

crosscreekcooter

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That uncleaned brick look is all the rage in new multifamily buildings in Tallahassee.
Its an attempt to replicate the look of very old masonry. Before portland cement, the binder in mortar was lime putty. It was soft compared to the cements of today and would allow water to pass through if not struck properly, many times the jointing was only cut and not struck at all. To prevent water intrusion, lime was burnt and mixed with water in a real thin slurry and applied over the face of the brick which dried to a thin pale white coat.
The lime has a unique quality that allowed the vapors inside the home or walls to escape but would prevent it from entering from the outside (much like the microscopic pores of todays housewraps -Tyvec, etc,) This was known as a lime wash, and was also applied over parged stucco, tabby, and daub and wattle, sometimes with colors added. Builders today go a step further and whitewash masonry typically using paint that has been thinned. Since this mortar is white and the brick used is an "Old Charleston" family wood mold, we chose to only cut the mortar, apply a light jointing tool and not clean the brick.
 

crosscreekcooter

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Many of today's builders and superintendants have a background in carpentry. Centuries past, the mason was THE Master Builder. He was deep in mathematics with great spatial vision, and had knowledge and skills of all trades and the ancient principles of good construction. Today they mostly focus on brick block and stone with some stucco. Hold my beer.
 

Gator By Marriage

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Its an attempt to replicate the look of very old masonry. Before portland cement, the binder in mortar was lime putty. It was soft compared to the cements of today and would allow water to pass through if not struck properly, many times the jointing was only cut and not struck at all. To prevent water intrusion, lime was burnt and mixed with water in a real thin slurry and applied over the face of the brick which dried to a thin pale white coat.
The lime has a unique quality that allowed the vapors inside the home or walls to escape but would prevent it from entering from the outside (much like the microscopic pores of todays housewraps -Tyvec, etc,) This was known as a lime wash, and was also applied over parged stucco, tabby, and daub and wattle, sometimes with colors added. Builders today go a step further and whitewash masonry typically using paint that has been thinned. Since this mortar is white and the brick used is an "Old Charleston" family wood mold, we chose to only cut the mortar, apply a light jointing tool and not clean the brick.
Fascinating. I grew up in an old and historic area (the original part of our house was built in 1789) and thought I knew a bit about old masonry. I had no idea about the lime putty. Thanks for making me a little smarter!
 

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