5 Day Project Marathon: The Final Lap

First off, I have to say that the awesome comments and enthusiasm about my big win with the barn siding have totally kept me going through the final lap of this project marathon. In the last four days I’ve devolved into a full-on unshowered, zombie-esq, bleeding mess.

Untitled

No worries though, my tetnus shot is totally up to date.

Monday I decided it was time to tackle what was left of the rubble pile. I had high hopes it would go as smoothly as the other projects have gone recently. Looking at what I was dealing with…

Untitled

That was probably wishful thinking.

I spent about an hour sorting the pile before I realized there was no way I was getting any of those roof sections to the dumpster manually, so the best $20 I spent this week was definitely for a days rental of this utility trailer from UHaul.

Untitled

I spent about five hours hauling sheets of OSB with shingles (and protruding nails) into the trailer, and then out of the trailer and into the dumpster.

Untitled

I only saw one snake, and there was a small incident with a wasp nest when my mom came up to help in the afternoon…

Untitled

And I have to admit, at the end of Monday, it didn’t quite feel like the end result was worth all of the sweat, blood, and swearing…

Untitled

My mom suggested we just light the thing on fire, and god bless mothers who are at the ready with a can of gasoline and a match when you need them. However, I decided not to turn any part of my property into a raging inferno… yet.

This morning I put a little more time in before returning the trailer. I do have a pretty good sized burn pile going, and there are still a couple of large sections of roof I’m going to need a little help with, but I guess we could call it progress.

Untitled

The unfortunate thing is that I’m going back to my day-job tomorrow, and it’s not enough progress for me to comfortably have the appraiser come this week. I’m hoping a few more days this upcoming weekend will get it into good enough shape. Or I’m going to go the gasoline and match route after all…

I’m probably only about four or five hours away from hitting a physical and mental wall, which I figure is just enough time to texture my drywall patches and finish up the trim painting in the master bedroom. That will at least finish up the work that needs to be done inside the house.

Untitled

And then I’m going to take two Tylenol PM, a 12 hour coma, and prepare myself gasps of horror when I walk into the office tomorrow looking like a train wreck. Hey, sometimes progress ain’t pretty…

14 Responses

  1. I found your website less than a week ago and am already back to about the 20th page of posts. Obsess much?

    I decided to stop lurking long enough to say, “You can do it! And take that – appraiser!” I love your posts and am actually starting to think I, too, could use a power tool other than the cordless screw driver that my husband gets nervous when I start roaming the house with a determined look on my face. 🙂

    Go, Kit, go!

  2. You just need some extra willing hands with dedicated time to clean up that pile. Where to find people like that when you live in the boonies? You’re ALMOST THERE. Don’t give up yet – reach in and find that last bit of determination and strength and get it done. Just remind yourself that when this part is over, you can start working on the fun stuff.

  3. Keep it up! You totally got this! Think of how much better your coma will feel if you can get through this. If I lived close enough I’d come help you.

  4. You seriously kicked ash (or maple, pine, cedar, particle board, whatever). SUPERWOMAN! Screw that appraiser, you’ve killed pretty much every damn thing on that ree-donk-u-lus list they gave you all by yourself. If they don’t like it, well, I suppose you have to suck it up because you do need their money, but you can MENTALLY tell them to suck a rotten egg and steer them in the direction of your rusty-nail-ridden-rubble-pile.

    You’re almost there!

  5. You are going to make it. It’s going to take awhile for the wounds to scab over, but damn girl. You’re going to make it. Way to stick it to a bank appraiser. 🙂

  6. One of the real pleasures of living in the country is fellowship by the burn pile. Here in the south, we plop down in a yard chair, open a few beers and watch ,er burn. (get a permit first) you have done a remarkable job. Way to go! MD

  7. I’m all for the burn pile! From the outside looking in, you’ve made great progress and are coming right up to the finish line! Can you hear us all cheering you on? We are, ya’ know!

  8. Maybe you can sort of ummm….drag those pieces out into the tall grass and it would look like even less? Just a thought…sort of like tossing stuff into the hall closet when company shows up, y’know?
    In any case, I am not in favor of the burn pile (sorry Kit’s mom)…who knows what further treasures are lurking just beneath those last few pieces..hope you are wearing gloves and boots at least!? Overalls are good too!

  9. You’re almost there! I keep wondering where the time and energy you have, must come from and I am guessing you don’t watch TV or internet (other than this blog) because those two seem to be such a time-suck for me! I need to get away from those two evils and work on my house!

  10. Honest to god, on this one I would just pay someone to haul all that crap away. I don’t know how things are in your part of the country. I’m in the city of San Diego, but when I needed to have a room hauled away (removed old shingles, etc.) I went to the Yellow Pages and got someone for so close to nothing it was embarrassing. He had one truck more than big enough to accommodate all of our stuff. Then he went to the landfill, and I continued with my work here.

  11. I would LOVE to know the steps and your thought process you took to patch the drywall where those skylights were. Like, what did you use to build up the box to be flush with the ceiling? Does that make sense?

Comments are closed.

I'm not interested in a mediocre life. I'm here to kick ass or die.

(formerly DIYdiva.net)