biggerboat's building boondoggle blog
I started this in H&F but this seems a better place for it. These are my H&F posts. A bit long-winded but hopefully entertaining. I'm sure more hilarity will ensue.
I've been debating about doing this, and I sort of thought it might qualify as health and/or fitness so I'm gonna do it.
A little background. I have a very old house that I started to remodel about 10 years ago, then ran out of money and WIM to finish it. I gutted it completely and moved walls and did a lot of interior work. But I never did anything with the exterior.
It is sort of falling apart now. The roof leaks and a lot of the wood siding is so rotten I can stick my finger through it. It needs to be completely replaced.
I just paid the house off so I can sort of afford to completely re-side and re-roof it..............if I do it myself. Another factor is I just got out of a serious relationship and now I have way too much time on my hands. I'm going a little stir crazy.
Now to the health tie-in. The last few years I just haven't been able to do things like this. I used to be able to work sunrise to sundown. But lately I'd be good for about 2 or 3 hours and my back would just tell me to stop. However, due to this forum, my back is really feeling strong again. I think I'm up for the challenge. The other health aspect is mental. I don't feel good unless I have some sort of challenge like this. It gives me something to look forward to. I'm really needing something like this about now.
So, I think I'll sort of log this activity as well as lifting. I'll have to cut back on lifting/running some. Mostly due to time considerations. I'll be working on the house on Saturday/Sunday so no lifting/running on those days.
I haven't committed to this quite yet, but I think I'm close.
On the house front. I went to the city website to see what permits I'll need. It was so confusing that I called, got an answering machine, and never got a call back. So, I went down to city hall to ask some very basic questions. Apparently the appropriate question answerers are only there MWF but a substitute question answerer was available. So, after waiting 1/2 hour the substitute question answerer informed me that he couldn't really answer my question so he told me to come back when the real question answerer was there.
I suspect this will not be healthy in any way.
I tweaked my back Wednesday doing deadlifts.
The back pain has nothing on the pain the city is inflicting on me, though.
Went back to talk to someone again. I at least got the right day. The girl was really friendly and helpful. However, she seemed to not really know what all I was supposed to do. Which, as you will see, nobody could.
The first thing she did was pull up my address.
Apparently, there were 3 expired permits associated with my house. About 10 (or more) years ago, I did a big remodel. I did it mostly myself. The first permit was for an interior remodel. I had to get electrical, plumbing, framing and probably more permits. I remember having each one signed off on. However, apparently there was a final inspection that I never got. This is just conjecture based on what she said and my hazy memory. The second was for a garage. I hired a contractor to pour the slab and I framed and finished it. Apparently the slab inspection failed but the framing inspection passed. I'm not sure how this happens. I really don't recall any of this. The third one was for a bedroom addition. I never did this. I do not recall even applying for this. But, it is there. More on this later.
So I asked a lot of questions and the girl was very polite when she had to repeatedly excuse herself to ask someone else that knew the answers. From what I gathered I can do most of the work on something they call an express permit. However, if I want add a small porch roof I will need site drawings, impervious cover documents, elevation drawings, detailed framing plans and flood plain people approval. At minimum.
Back to the old permits. The girl indicated that I could fill out a form to remove the permit for the addition since I never did it. She then sent me to someone named Tony on another floor to figure out what to do with the other ones. Tony, it seems, did not have his coffee this morning. Either that or he was just an *******. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He told me they couldn't do anything about any of them since he had no idea if I even did any work or not. Which is problematic since I can't get any new permits with these on their computer. After much discussion he agreed to go back downstairs and talk to the friendly girl. Tony then came up and informed me that I needed a Life Safety for Expired Permit permit. He informed me that I needed to go back where I started (the line that I waited over an hour in) to start this process.
So, I go back to the window and explain to them what Tony said. They seemed a bit confused on exactly what a Life Safety for Expired Permit permit was. So, they suggested that what I really need to do is re-submit all three permits and get inspections on the work I did over 10 years ago. Even if I didn't do the work. They then put my name in the computer to talk to someone. However, the number of people waiting had swelled considerably and I had already been there 2 1/2 hours so I think I'll tackle this another day.
Newest prediction has a strong cat 2 making a direct hit. . Ugh.
That sucks. Good luck. I assume you'll be waiting to do any repairs at ground level.
I have guys working in Orlando who are supposed to move to Ft Myers and Tampa next week. I already shifted their schedule to put Orlando first instead of last because of the last storm, now another one. Ugh.
Every once in a while something works out. We decided to go ahead and order cabinets today. We had to match the kitchen cabinets because we are keeping the upper ones. They are Kraft Maid from Home Depot.
We didn't have to get Kraft Maid for the two bathrooms, though.
They had a sale on Kraft Maid if you spend enough (we did) - 30% off. And, we got 40% off the bathroom cabinets.
Today was the last day for both sales. Saved a LOT.
Got lucky.
Bumped up to cat 3 and moved a little north. Absolute worst case scenario for us.
At least the repairs weren't just finished????
Ugh. GL, Mr. Boat.
you still got a couple days to sand bag even if it doesnt keep all the water out, it stops the force going into your place.
and after water gets you ive found running many fans and heat dries it up quicker and keeps mold from starting.
good luck and start thinking about not being there when this **** happens. all it takes is a tree falling on the house or something crashing in to ruin your life.
you cant do much while the storm is upon you anyway.
and you may not be covered for water damage but might be if say your door was broken open by an intruder. and that damage let the water in. worked for me on a rental years back. got a police report and clear sailing. and the back door had been kicked before.
Too late for sand bags. We've already torn walls out. Even if the water is higher this time there isn't a lot more that could be damaged.
As it looks right now, the eye could go right over us. We still don't have storm surge predictions which will determine what we do.
Plan a is to stay put.
If the storm surge prediction is about the same as helene, we have a neighbors house around the corner that's much higher.
If the surge prediction is significantly higher we're getting the hell out.
The real problem is the exact location of landfall. 10 miles south and we're good. Direct hit or 10 miles north, not so much.
The latest forecast moved the track just a little more south. That is a good thing for us.
We still don't have storm surge predictions. But unless they are really crazy I believe we've decided to stay at our neighbor's house that is about 4' higher than ours. We've already lived through standing water so we could take a 15' storm surge maybe. I really don't think it gets that high though, based on the size of the storm. And, if it's at least 10 miles south we are good.
Is there any way to build a sea wall (or something) around your property, to try to keep at least some of the water out?
Of course not for the upcoming storm, but long-term.
Is there any way to build a sea wall (or something) around your property, to try to keep at least some of the water out?
Of course not for the upcoming storm, but long-term.
No. There would have to be a wall around the entire house.
Our neighborhood is a bunch of man made canals. Even though we are on the water, we are strangely higher than the bordering neighborhood that isn't.
Anyway, you would have to either build that wall completely around the house of completely around the whole neighborhood.
When the water came up, it wasn't just in the back yard where our canal is, it covered the entire neighborhood.
yea you need a higher wall than the water and sump pumps to get out the surface water from the ground and what gets through with rain and wind and such.
but they do work.
but in hurricanes or floods, if you are not on higher ground you are going to get washed out if near water at some time.
We have a local weatherman that is beyond awesome. I remember when Irma came he speculated it would turn away from us when the forecast didn't say it would. He was right. Not only that but he posts on facebook about once an hour for days. I have no idea when he sleeps. I'm pretty much glued to his facebook page.
Anyway, I've been just waiting for the first storm surge prediction to come. It's killing me not having any idea what they are thinking.
The models are all over the place but most of them have it going just a little south of us, and they have trended southward. But not all of them agree yet.
We
the right side of hurricanes is called the dirty side which has the highest winds and the most destruction.
but i dont see it missing you to the south at all. but you never know for sure. you are going to get blasted by some big winds and a lot of rain water at the least
fox news is saying just a tropical storm. but the better ones are saying tampa bay area being hit with its worse storm ever and worse than helene.
as we know anytime you might get flooded raise anything you dont want ruined high enough off the floor. including your car.
i dont know why you want to stay in a house that may get destroyed and unlivable for a time and possible get hurt when you have time to go away and come back when all clear.
No changes to the 5 PM update. They now have it going to cat4, then back down to cat3 before landfall. They think there is some shear out there.
I dunno ray. It's my home. Our fear is if we leave we can't get back for at least a week.
Everything is as high as we can get it.
The place we are planning to stay didn't get flooded last go around.
It's killing me not getting any sort of storm surge prediction. That will decide it for us.
If we decide to leave it will be tomorrow but I'm already hearing the roads are pretty bad. We've actually thought about going south instead of north. Miami maybe. I dunno.
As of right now, the prediction is hitting landfall at low tide. Hopefully that helps.
What I think you've said is you're replacing the outlets, as they were all submerged, but the wiring is ok.
Didn't think to ask til just now: Have you been without refrigeration or cooling since the last storm? IOW, are the outlets shot, or are you replacing them just for peace of mind?
Best of luck with new storm. Best wishes.
Mr. Big, move to Italy. Stay clear of Venice. Sell out and purchase something near the border with France and Switzerland. Escape routes help with increasing your opportunities and options.
I’ll come and visit.
What I think you've said is you're replacing the outlets, as they were all submerged, but the wiring is ok.
Didn't think to ask til just now: Have you been without refrigeration or cooling since the last storm? IOW, are the outlets shot, or are you replacing them just for peace of mind?
Best of luck with new storm. Best wishes.
No, we have power everywhere but the dock right now. We turned on one breaker at a time starting with the bathrooms where the plugs were high. Then I replaced them all and we turned things on room by room. The outlets were probably good but it was close enough to replace for my peace of mind.
Our stellar weatherman is streaming.
As of right now, the prediction shows it going 30 miles south of us. Not all models have this, but that seems to be the consensus.
South of that will be the worst storm surge. The best guess is about 10' at the worst. But, where we are will have almost none if it is south of us. He's showing some NOAA models that he thinks are worst case for our area and it's not higher than last storm. I'm trying to stay positive.
We have several options. We can go to my wife's mother's house but she doesn't live that far north of us. We wouldn't have to worry about storm surge but her house probably isn't as wind resistant as ours. Our neighbors said we can stay in their place in South Carolina but I don't want to drive that far. We are still thinking about riding it out in the house down the street for us.
The storm track hasn't changed as of 5:00 AM. Not much has changed really.
Still no storm surge prediction. This is a biggie. Get on with it already.
Last night about 9:00 PM a FEMA rep called and said he will be here Tuesday (the day before the storm is set to hit). They are NOT flexible. Either you're there when he comes or you are SOL. I have no idea if we'll get anything out of that, but we will stay to meet him. That doesn't give us a lot of time to get the hell out.
Speaking of getting the hell out, we've decided to go to her mother's if we decide to evacuate. It's a 2 hour drive on a good day. Probably 8 with the roads full. Not a great plan, but a plan. I really want to stay here if we can.
Yesterday when we were putting things up high (yet again) we found some totes that were sitting in the garage, full of water. One of them had Xmas lights in it. No biggie. The other one was full of Xmas tree decorations that my wife has been collecting for years. Some that her kids made. We were able to salvage a few but most had to be tossed. It was really tough for her.
I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
Our stellar governor said that everyone needs to remove those debris piles in their yards before this storm. Like, how the **** are we supposed to do that? The landfill is closed, not to mention good luck finding anyone to come pick it up.
We just found out that one of our friends' house will have to be completely torn down. Ugh.
Our next door neighbor has already made the decision to raise his house.
We just got storm surge warnings. It looks like from the eye south a few miles it will be 8-12'. We can't do that. North of it will be OK. We'll make our decision tomorrow after we talk to the FEMA guy.
Ugh. Heard this morning it went from cat 2 to 4 in something like four hours. Still hoping for the best outcome for you guys.
We just made the decision to evacuate. Probably this afternoon before the roads get too bad.
I'm not sure when I'll post again, but I have to say that this is really really hard. We just went through the most devastating storm we've ever experienced. Our house is torn up. We've lost so many things. And now we have to deal with another storm coming that is potentially even worse.
It's tough.
