7Wannabe5- Take 7- The Money Dimple

[7Wannabe5]

@Alphaville:

The crawl space is somewhere between 2 and 3 ft high, so concrete is impossible. The puddling is terrible right now because we had a ton of snow and there are no gutters at all, and it is obvious from google map photos that previous owner allowed shrubs and vines to grow up and over front of house. Hopefully, once I fix the gutters, rot, and landscaping, the puddling will be much improved. The oak floors survived for almost 100 years and only rotted sometime in the last 6 years max due to extreme neglect, so it’s not an inherent placement problem.

[tsch]

You have been busy! And the FlyLady would be proud.

I love the conservatory, and every home I've ever dreamed of has a library.

LOL on the realtor's suggestion. Blockchain Trash Pandas would be a good band name, though.

Seriously, there's worse things than odor in a raccoon latrine. You are undoubtedly taking all precautions but it is potentially very nasty stuff. With any luck, all the activity around the site will convince them to move along.

[7Wannabe5]

@tsch:

I’m okay with the band living in my attic. My 99% effective against Covid mask is coming in very handy for raccoon stench. I also bombed the place with pet odor control powder.

[Toska2]

Marine grade plywood will outlast osb 100:1. I work with osb for crates, its falls apart after a month outside.

Why nails over screws? The threads of a screw can prevent gaps from closing if not clamped tight-tight. The same effect that pulls the screw in keeps the gap apart if there is one. A nail (spiral and ring not smooth) will grab and keep tightening with every hit.

Screws are acceptable if the smooth part of the screw is longer than the board is thick. Use torx bits as they dont strip out as easy. They are shaped like a fuzzy star.

[Alphaville]

@Alphaville:

The crawl space is somewhere between 2 and 3 ft high, so concrete is impossible. The puddling is terrible right now because we had a ton of snow and there are no gutters at all, and it is obvious from google map photos that previous owner allowed shrubs and vines to grow up and over front of house. Hopefully, once I fix the gutters, rot, and landscaping, the puddling will be much improved. The oak floors survived for almost 100 years and only rotted sometime in the last 6 years max due to extreme neglect, so it’s not an inherent placement problem.

aaaaaaaaah it looked shallower in the photo ... and you said you'd have a hard time fitting under?

but now that i get it... you could have broken a leg falling through that! glad you're in one piece.

but it all makes sense now, and good to know.

Marine grade plywood will outlast osb 100:1.

this is great information. must file for future use. MARINE plywood. need to remember that it exists.

eta: looking at home depot i find synthetic dimensional lumber? is that the one you mean? oh no no... https://www.marine.com/store/c/836-Mari ... ywood.html $$$?

[Gilberto de Piento]

The biggerpockets forum used to have a lot of info about stopping smells in houses. It was usually a problem coming from dog or cat urine in flooring so people would remove the carpet, paint with some version of kilz paint, and run an ozone machine. Sometimes the subfloor would have to come out too. All of that may not apply to an attic but you could look around on that forum for info.

[Frita]

Your pictures show you’re making progress!

Do you have any friends in the dead industry? They will have some tricks. We looked at a condo with a cleaned up purified body, like in a puddle on the hardwood floors. One couldn’t tell. No odor.com has numerous products.

Once one is full-on menopausal, it does seem harder to not put on the LBs. (Heads up, it gets more challenging to keep it off.) My weight has increased during COVID too which I attribute to a decrease in exercise, buying more processed foods due to not shopping as frequently, and being around my spouse more who snacks non-stop. Anyway, good for you in reining it in.

[sky]

How did you find the house for sale? Are there any other similar deals?

[DutchGirl]

Scary place I will have to slither into on my chubby belly when I fix the plumbing.

Hmm, is *that* under there a pillar made of brick that is supposed to hold the weight of your house? Is it supposed to be crooked?

[7Wannabe5]

Why nails over screws? The threads of a screw can prevent gaps from closing if not clamped tight-tight. The same effect that pulls the screw in keeps the gap apart if there is one. A nail (spiral and ring not smooth) will grab and keep tightening with every hit.

Gotcha. I was reading an article about building temporary bracing walls and the author mentioned that he always used screws for this purpose, so I was wondering if it might serve for permanent installations.

aaaaaaaah it looked shallower in the photo ... and you said you'd have a hard time fitting under?

but now that i get it... you could have broken a leg falling through that! glad you're in one piece.

Yeah, it was a bit of a bounce. Let's call it 2 ft. I won't like it, but I can definitely fit in the crawl space. The problem might be getting my hips through the tiny entry.

I'm thinking I'll split the difference on the subfloor and maybe get exterior grade, but not marine quality. It will only be covered by a rug, so I can easily inspect.

@GdP:

Thanks for the note. I have been looking around the Bigger Pockets site. I actually bought one of their books to help with planning scope of work. However, I want to keep this a more zen slow motion project than preferred for profit by the typical flipper. Many years ago I "inherited" a very cheap apartment in which cats had apparently wandered free, so I have some experience with the problem.

We looked at a condo with a cleaned up purified body, like in a puddle on the hardwood floors.

Yikes! The smell actually seemed better yesterday. Best case scenario maybe I have frightened the raccoon away with my lavender scented odor bombs. I am 90% certain that it is/was nesting over the semi-intact dropped ceiling under the tiny roof over the Conservatory. Luckily, I believe there exist individuals in my new area who would dare to remove the dropped ceiling full of raccoon feces and the raccoon(s) for a reasonable cash fee. So, worst case comparative advantage trade-off for me would be maybe 4 days substitute teaching junior high vs. risk of angry raccoon landing on my head.

How did you find the house for sale? Are there any other similar deals?

I just kept searching all sorts of real estate and auction sites on the internet with filter set to maximum price $20,000. There are some more tiny abandoned houses (mostly of later circa WW2 construction) in my new neighborhood. I would guess that they are on their way to county auction. It would be a cool place for ERE community because its original place name was actually a synonym for frugal and located just far enough north with plenty of fresh water.

@DutchGirl:

Good eye. I was wondering if anybody else would spot that. It's obviously of relatively recent construction and not in a spot one would expect to find foundational support. I very well may be wrong, but I am guessing that it might have been put in place as spot support for a heavy kitchen appliance.

At this point in the process, it definitely is still possible that defects will add up to my purchase being nothing but collection of glorified garden sheds on .28 acres. Or that I paid $6000 for the opportunity to build up my musculature and lose some weight at the World's Worst Spa.

Well, the snow has mostly melted. I was just going to prep for my kids coming to help today, but I actually managed to clear and sort about 90% of the giant rubble pile on the driveway by myself yesterday!!! I was spurred on by coming across a number of interesting finds in the heap.





I am wondering if the baby in the photo is the same individual as in the portrait on back of piece of wood paneling? If he was also the individual who framed out the entry to the crawl space, it makes sense why he didn't allow clearance for human with my current hip dimensions. I also found a perfectly intact old mirror about 3 ft X 3 ft. and a whole bunch of re-useable plank wood. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found any of the missing window sashes. Hopefully, the kids and I will unearth more goodies digging into the giant pile in the garage/barn later today.

[Alphaville]

your pic looks utterly dark in my screen but especially after @dutch girl's comment i support the barbell strategy of getting a structural engineer and doing the rest yourself.

also i looked at your laws(?) and tiny house is permitted if main house is inhabited. you could, hypothetically, get house to basic shell condition but abide in cozy shed conversion--or build tiny. just saying.

[7Wannabe5]

@Alphaville:

You figured out my new location?! The barn/garage is also in better structural shape than the house, but I can't do any of that until/unless I have the house proper deemed habitable. Another thought I had was that it might be better to just leave the majority of the flimsy 1970s paneling in place for the time being and strip off the wallpaper, because that will keep most of existing electrical which is relatively modern (on breakers) grandfathered in. I will, of course, still have somebody professional come out to inspect it. I think if I trim it out, the loose fill insulation will be once more contained. IOW, although it will be my long-term goal to improve the overall quality of the materials in the house, it might not be my best course towards first step of "deemed habitable." It's all a bit of a puzzle which will keep working itself out as I progress with clean-out/minor demo/ inspection.

[Alphaville]

yeah just make a potemkin house for the inspector lolol

eventually it could be income source just not today

[Alphaville]

one thing you might consider also is city has incentive to repopulate hence inspector might not be as picky as other jurisdictions. "please join our tax base, here's your rubber stamp."

[sky]

My guess is you are located in Tightwad City.

[7Wannabe5]

one thing you might consider also is city has incentive to repopulate hence inspector might not be as picky as other jurisdictions. "please join our tax base, here's your rubber stamp."

It's really a crap shoot. Also, I am going to have to deal with at least 3 different inspectors for electric, structure, and plumbing/water. My plan is to fail forward in zen fashion until I finally succeed. Once I am thoroughly vaccinated, getting an inexpensive Air BNB room rental in the area will also be an option. I'm not doing too bad with shopping for discounted intermittent hotel rooms now, but not a sustainable medium term plan.

@sky:

Very close. Can't find this place name on a map today, but it was revealed on deed. Realistically, Cuckoo Bananas City wouldn't be a bad guess for my personal location either. But, I am having fun while beating the rush to post-collapse lifestyle.

[Alphaville]

It's really a crap shoot. Also, I am going to have to deal with at least 3 different inspectors for electric, structure, and plumbing/water.

so i guess structure is the make or break one and the only worth worrying about initially?

[sky]

Some options to think about:

Ask for construction power. That means temporary electric power connection so that you can use power tools, etc. while reconstructing the house. Construction power would be a separate electric circuit box not connected to the house electric system, which would be an additional cost to you, so maybe not worth it if you can get residential power working. Ideally, you would get normal residential power, but you might be able to get construction power before your electric system is finished.

Get a building permit for structural work. "Close up holes in siding, replace rotted wood, floor repair". Once you have a building permit, there is no time limit to complete the work, as long as you show that you are making progress. Don't do a lot of work outside this permit, although you can do minor improvements in addition to the permitted work. This would mean less code enforcement hassle if you have a permit showing in your window, especially if you keep the yard clean and mowed, and the house boarded up securely. You generally don't need a permit for drywall, window replacement and siding, although your city may be different. You will need a permit to replace the rotted supporting wall.

Get a minivan and put a bed in it. You can vandwell for as long as you need to in the driveway. If code enforcement comes to hassle you for living in a house without an occupancy permit, say you are living in your van. "I'm trying to make sure nobody steals my copper and tools".

Insulate and ventilate the outbuilding. Seal up the floors and cracks so you can live (camp out) in the outbuilding as a secret "tiny house". If you put a good lock on it, you can store tools in it.

I have had to deal with racoon poop in the ceiling before, not in my house but in another house I was working on. It is pretty depressing. I hired someone else to clean it up. Have them rip out the drywall ceiling so you can start fresh.

If you can, install the toilet so that you can use it by flushing with a bucket. Set up rain collection of some kind, maybe just buckets where rain drips from the roof.

These are just some ideas that I had, and they may not apply to your situation. I have had quite a bit of experience with abandoned buildings from working in city government.

[sky]

Another good thing to have is a shower stall base, plumbed into the sewer drain (or just into the yard but thats illegal). You can wash yourself with a washcloth and washbasin and all drips go down the drain. Or use something like a pesticide sprayer with warm water in it for a quick shower.

[Alphaville]

These are just some ideas that I had, and they may not apply to your situation. I have had quite a bit of experience with abandoned buildings from working in city government.

not my thread, but priceless info. would like to hear more somewhere.