Tuesday night’s Burn-to-Learn was a success! First and foremost, there we no injuries and the buildings are burned to the ground. There is much debris to clean up, but considerably less than there would have been!

As you may have noticed the link in the first paragraph, we took some pictures… check them out in the gallery. All in all, I think we took about 35 pictures–it was quite a sight! The actual house fire will be quite amazing to see…

I’ve also uploaded more pictures showing the progress on The Barn, so look for posts/gallery pages coming soon to a blog near you.

Lucas isn’t feeling too well these past few days. Flu, and ear infections. As a result, he isn’t hearing too well.

Lucas was watching a movie in our living room, Mud was on Michelle’s workshop tables knocking things down (as he often does when he wants something).

Conversation this morning:

Mom: Mud! Get down.
Lucas: What?
Mom: I wasn’t talking to you, hon. I was talking to Mud.
Lucas: What?
Mom: I was telling Mud to get down.
Lucas: Mud’s not in here.

Mom just shakes head, smiling. It’s going to be that kind of day.

As part of the Burn-to-Learn, we had to clear various items from the old buildings. Much of that which we haven’t yet cleared can just be left to burn. Specifically, we had to get rid of the tires left by the previous owners, two barrels filled with who-knows-what, and many glass bottles/jars left around the house.

I spent Friday morning calling whoever I could think of for how to remove two 55-gallon barrels when I didn’t know the contents. More than one person suggested I may find, um, “remains” in there, and then I’d have a whole new set of things to deal with. Finally, I spoke to a company who would come and pump out the contents of the barrels, then remove them. In speaking, I mentioned the tops appeared to be water, but under, I wasn’t sure if was oil or what. Oil floats… so the fact that the top was water meant there was no hazardous oil under. So, we tipped them over… I’m happy to report there were no “dead hooker” parts in either barrel–only water, mud, and a few coffee cans. These have since found their way to the dump.

I spent the first half of Saturday loading and hauling the tires to the dump. Final count? 52 tires removed from the property, including 1 tractor tire. Total bill? $95.00, and a backache.

The glass will be easiest, except that it’s glass which is prone to breakage. However, it’s just a matter of boxing it up, and hauling to recycling. That’s on the agenda for later today.

So, tonight’s the night things get started for Burn-to-Learn. They are burning 3 of the outbuildings today, with the remainder to be burned in 11 days. Apparently there is increased chance of hooligans burning the house. Lovely. As I’ve said for a long time now, I will be considerably happier when that place is gone. Sorry about the history of the building (it was built in 1901) and all, but goodbye!

Bring your marshmallows… June 23rd is the planned date to burn the old (aka Junk) house sitting on the property.

We have been working with the Turner Fire Department to get all of our ducks in a row to rid ourselves of the bête noire that is a house sitting on our property. Turner FD (and many FDs out there) have a Burn-To-Learn program where one can donate a structure to the FD. The FD then burns the structure as a training exercise from which to learn and train. Hence, the name.

It’s not as easy as calling them, scheduling it, and sitting back. There is much involved. However, in the grand scheme of things, it is a win-win situation, as far as I’m concerned. They get to practice and learn from it (and who doesn’t like burning things?!). We get to get rid of it, or at least make the removal much more manageable. See? Win-win. To top it off, I have heard there is a tax break available, since we are donating it to a non-profit organization. I’ll have to check with my tax authority…Anyone reading this know anything about that?

Actually, there is the house and 4 outbuildings that are to be burned. 2 of the 4 outbuildings are in decent condition, and could be usable. However, 1 is too close to the house, and will probably go up purely from the heat. The other is a garage which has a crappy attempt at a greenhouse attached, and no doors. It’s too far from The Barn; otherwise, we’d repair it a bit and use it.

Now, I’ve written that June 23rd is the date. That’s true–for the house. The FD plans to burn 2 of the outbuildings Tuesday, June 12. Yup…that’s 5 days from this post. I found out yesterday! They’ve had a change of plans–it’s been warm here and they’ve had a couple of grassfires, so they want to make sure all will go well. Guess that seems logical.

It will be a huge relief to get make that house a part of our memory only. Since we’ve owned the property, many times over the past couple of years people have broken in to that house. It sits right on the corner of two roads, and is obviously vacant. We’re fairly sure it’s the previous tenants (see the first post about the property for a bit more about them). With it gone, we won’t have the worry that someone will be breaking in and getting hurt (there’s nothing to steal anymore) then suing us.

Now, in re-reading my first sentence, before you show up, contact me as I have not yet found out how the FD feels about spectators. Obviously, safety first.

I’ve neglected to update, I know. For those who are trying to keep up, things are continuing. It’s simply me that hasn’t found the time or words to document the changes.

Currently, we are about 1-2 weeks ahead of schedule. (Shh…don’t wanna jinx anything.)

So much has changed… where to start? Let’s say this: the framing and basically all of the exterior is done. The exception to that is there is some siding to be painted yet, as well as trim. That’s up to Michelle and I, pretty much, and is slow-going. But, we are nearing completion of that phase.

Inside, much has changed.

• Plumbing and electrical is all routed.
• Electrical service is connected to the service panel (meter), which means that has all been inspected and approved.
• Drywall is hung and shaped. Texturing happens today through early next week.
• Interior insulation is in.
• Interior paint is scheduled to take place the weekend of June 9th (email soliciting help coming soon!). At a bare minimum, we need the kitchen, both bathrooms, and utility room primed and painted so that we can handle the next item.
• Cabinets are built and will be delivered next week. These will be stored temporarily in the living room until we can set them. That’s scheduled for June 16th, 17th.

Michelle and I have taken a few excursions in order to pick out some of the fun interior things: countertop colors/styles, carpeting/flooring in general, and interior paint colors. Fun, but fairly difficult. This is mostly Michelle’s department–I have little fashion sense (SHOCKER!). She does a great job limiting choices, and from there I can help with what I like or don’t like. It’s a good team effort!

As I always promise, there will be pictures coming. Just have to find time!

You may have noticed, I finally got around to posting more pictures in the gallery…

• Priming: in total, we had 47 sheets of siding (some 10′, some 8′) to prime — front and back. The siding is T-111, and to put simply, rough-cut siding basically drinks primer. Was quite hard work, and I wish to express my huge thanks to those friends who spent the time helping us out! It is very much appreciated!!

  The pics indicate a pink color for the priming. No, The Barn will not be pink! In this case, we elected to mix some of the “Barn Red” paint with the primer to (hopefully) fascilitate the final coats of paint. In the end, it was recommended by the paint professionals to tint the primer gray, so that is the appearance of most of the siding.

  Here, there are a couple of pictures of the first coat of the final color. We currently have about 15 sheets with 1 final coat on them…and the remainder yet to do. We were hoping to get one coat of color on before the siding was mounted, but the builders are too quick! They have about 75% of the siding up–some red, some still gray. Oh well, we’ll paint it twice after it’s up. Good thing I’m young (ish).

• Well House (aka Pump House): Earlier, I referred to this thing as the Pump House. Hereafter, I’ll (try to) call it the Well House. In reality, it holds a tank, but I’m not calling it a Tank House.

  Sequentially, this was built over the course of 2-3 weekends. This thank you goes to the Supervisor of our whole project: Father-in-Law. Jeff, you’re invaluable! As of now, the Well House is up, roofed including shingles, door hung, and tank mounted (with water-a-flowing). Woohoo! Left to do: final coat of paint, prime & paint the door frame, a bit of trim, and prime & paint some trim. Few things on the list, but in reality, probably a day’s work or so.

• The Brush Piles: These pictures are of one rather large burn pile that sits about 50′ from The Barn. It’s gotta go. Several times we’ve started this thing blazing and it’ll burn much of the material out of there, but at the same time much of the material remains. Basically, it won’t stay burning. However, we’ll keep at it…it’ll be gone at some point.

  Aside from this one, there are about 7 more slash piles about on the property. This is by far the biggest, and contains the most root wads from the clearing of the home site…so is clearly the most difficult to destroy.

  Also, take a look at the last few pictures in this gallery to see some “before” and “after” pics of The Barn.

For The Barn, up next is insulation in the walls and ceiling, and sheetrock…that is set to start next week (pending an inspection approval due today).

More next week!