WAY O.T. - Why I haven't worked on cars for 13 months.

I mentioned in the 59-60 thread why I haven't been able to work on cars since September 2004. I've been to a grand total of 1 car show for 1 hour. ZERO swap meets. Just generally put everything related to cars on the back burner. Here's why. Please don't post until I say GO! because I have quite a few pictures to post.

Our house was built in 1918 and owned by Southern Pacific Railroad. It was moved from Rocklin to Roseville in 1927 and the last major work done to it (legally... with permits) was 1953. We knew we were going to have to do work on it but we didn't expect to have to do all of this NOW. Prior to working on this house... I knew NOTHING about construction, working on houses, plumbing, siding, roofing... the whole 9 yards. Everything we have been doing has been done with permits and my buddy is a General Contractor. The guy is a genius and does it ALL. Anyway...

Here's what we moved into. We bought it because it sits on a 1/4 acre in the old part of Roseville near the historical district. It's a GREAT place to live.
This gives you an idea of what we started with.

 

Hey, we all got to start somewhere, a lot of people forget that there are a lot of priorities that come before cars. Kudos to you for taking the initiative to dive into something like that...

 

We tore into the house and found all kinds of fun stuff. Countless wasp nests, a contractor's pencil with the address of 151 Main Street in Roseville (3 blocks away, and the building no longer exists) and the phone number says "643W", a fishing license shoved under one of the windows that expired in December 1955, 5 rat skeletons, newspaper shoved into one of the walls where someone punched a hole in the wall... they were all dated May 11 through May 16 1966... the Sacramento Bee and the Roseville Tribune (saw an ad for a 61 Impala for $695!!). So here's what the house looked like on Day 4... after we stripped all the siding...

 

When we got into the frame and all that... found a few bad spots... had to fix them and reframe them. For a while it seemed like our house was a toy house for the Jolly Green Giant. You could just picture him reaching into my house to move the furniture around. Amazingly enough, we ripped out one wall, cleaned it up, reframed it, and re-rocked it in 4 hours for each wall. So we did a wall a day...

 

How many of you caught me wearing my HAMB shirt?!!

Anyway... I admit I am envious of all you guys that can do your own chopping and channeling and all that shit. So... I decided to chop my house... uhh... and Anti-Channel the roof. See the new wood on the front part of that roof? We raised it 18", reframed the ceiling so we could have a recessed ceiling. Also it allowed for us to add the new roof extensions over the front and back porches...

 

In that first picture of the window next to the fireplace, that's the back side of our livingroom. The only way out of the house to the backyard is through the master bedroom. Fuck that. I stole... uhhh... scored a shitload of treated lumber and used it for the foundation of our new back deck... hacked out the windows and installed new french doors... check 'em out....

 

One thing I am really grateful to the HAMB for is the generosity of those who have the talent and skills to fabricate, and run their own shops. These guys have shared information and knowledge on fabricating stuff that the average idiot like me have no clue about. So when it came to having to make new sheetmetal flashing, I used flat stainless steel sheetmetal to make this stuff up. One HAMBer here in the past mentioned he uses manila envelopes to get the shape he wants, then flattens it out and cuts it out on the metal, then bends it into the desire shape and PRESTO!! He's done. So I used 3' by 4' pieces of cardboard (the size of sheetmetal I was using) and used those as templates and cut them into the shape/fold that I needed. Flattened them out and cut them out and bent the sheetmetal. This worked fucking PERFECT on the first try... my contractor said that this costs $600 to have a professional come out and do it. My cost? 6 hours and $38.

 

awesome man!!!!! now your ready for the next 90 years!!

 

I'll just put in where we are at now... sort of. The outside is almost done. We installed 21 new windows, 5 new exterior doors, raised the roof, put in new insulation (There was NONE in the house to begin with!! BRRR!!!). We have tried to maintain an appearance to where if you drove by our house now, it would look like it's about 1940. I think we are on the right track. We hope to finish the outside and have it painted by the end of November 2005. After that I am taking a break on the house until I finish 3 cars and then I can get back into working on the house again. Also one thing that I need to mention is that we also have re-done 2 of the 4 bedrooms in the house (reframed, rerocked, and re-wired) and the hall (new HVAC return, whole-house fan, and wiring) and the guest bathroom (new shower, toilet, sink, plumbing, re-framed, and re-rocked) during this same time period.

 

Anyway... my buddy and I have done 95% of the work ourselves. The other 5% is the guys who have helped us on the roof and little stuff like that.

What have I learned so far?

I can now run across the roof trusses. When I started, I was like a pussified Spiderman crawling along the trusses and hanging on to each one for dear life.

I bought the best shoes I could buy... Red Wings for $200 and they're the best thing I ever did for myself. At first, my feet hurt and I was slipping and sliding all over the walls and roof etc. Fuck that. Go buy good shoes.

Wear a comfortable tool belt. Someone gave me one that has all the bags on the front like the stuff is in your lap. You ever try to bend down and do shit with all that crap in your lap? fuck that. Buy ones that hang comfortably from your sides and back.

A roofing staple gun can shoot about 100 feet and hit a cat that's taking a shit in your back yard. (Yes... the cat's fine and literally... uhh... scared shitless).

I learned how to use saws, hammers, rulers, nailers, a carpenter's square, learned all about roof pitches, how to hang windows, doors, lights, wiring, how to install subfloors, install foor joists (that's a story by itself), do decks,.... the whole fucking 9 yards.

I will NEVER do this kind of job again while I am living in it.

Anyway. I'm tired mentally and physically and I can not wait to work on my winged beauties again.

Oh yes... and on top of ALL of this, I still work 2 jobs, we had a new baby boy in August... and all that crap.

GO!! Now you can post!!

Travis

 

Great lil read Travis.

I'm about to embark on the same journey,should be fun.....Shiny

 

OH to be young again.

 

holy shit..........your like superman...........that's a shitload of work on it's own let alone with 2 jobs and kids, i helped a friend do that stuff (except the roof) and it sucked major ass (and that's why my house looks like crap). the house looks great.........and that's the best picture with the '59 elco in front of the house.


man, i feel like a lazy s.o.b now...................................

 

Wow, that's a cool house. It's a chore and I don't know if I would have tackled it while living in it. Just goes to prove that HAMBERS ain't skeered......

 

I've done that whole deal myself its a bitch but in the end its real satisfying, buy the way is that two 59s and a 60 I see in the pictures, I have a 59 that I've had since 1977. Your doing a great job that deck has to be solid as a rock with those 4+6s as your deck trusses. Pat

 

Travis,

Congrats! As a parent of a one month old and a two year old and owner of a fixer-upper house and two car projects who plans to rip out seven windows and replace them this weekend as well as stripping the paint off a hood and fender and pulling an engine, I hear where you're coming from! Keep at it! Sleep and rest are over-rated anyway.


Ed

PS- Sometimes I think about joining an old house message board. Old houses are almost as much fun as old cars. They can be just as frustrating too!

 

Major, Major, Major KUDO's!

My wife and I took on a project like that for our first house 17 years ago, though not QUITE this in-depth. I was handy before, but I've got skills now

My hat is off to you, that's the kind of project that makes all your neighbors love you (I know mine thought the sun rose and set on me when I got mine done)

Congratulations, this is how we make the world better.

 

If you ever want to come to Florida you have a job!!

That is great work done there my friend, it is no easy feat to do what you did. Are you amazed at how much money materials cost?

 

Nice house Travis...but I think you killed your yard.

 

I did the same thing before my kids were born. Added about 1200 sq. ft. to our one bedroom house. I did everything myself except for the brick and the heating and air. I bought books on each phase of the construction and learned as I went. Projects like this and raising the kids are why I'm going on yr. 15 of my truck project.

 

Beautiful!!! I guess you've moved from fixing up old cars to fixing up old houses. That's really NICE work.

Now, when are we going to see progress pics of the El Camino? Just kidding! Your body is going to need a break after all of this construction work.

And you're right about the shoes. Good support is needed for your feet. Your feet support ALL of your body weight plus all the stress from moving, on about one square foot of space or less. Think about it.

Great WORK!

 

Thanks guys!!

yeah Tyler... my yard is very very VERY dead!! Even that was a major task. We had to remove about 9 yards of dirt from the front yard because there was a hill on it and it was draining water TOWARDS the house. Found the roots of 2 dead trees. We also got rid of the walkways and the old original front patio (3 separate layers of cement!! One looked about the original 1927 layer when they set up the house, another was about 1940 and we can tell because it matches the sidewalk, and lastly about 1980) all that stuff. The landscaping and all that will be done next year.

That black and white 59 Chevy belongs to Guider here on the HAMB. I found that car for him and it's a factory 348/4-speed car. Guider is also the one who helped me big time on the roof on the house. On top of that he's the one who gave me the 1949 HAMB Calender. Can't say enough good things about him.

The blue 59 Elky in the front yard also belongs to another buddy and he generously let me use it for about 5 months. I put that car to WORK. When it was parked like that in the front yard, I was stripping out that room (notice the screen is off the window?) of lath and plaster and throwing it out the window into the back of the El Camino. Nobody is EVER going to accuse me of having a trailer queen!!!

I have more pictures I want to show you guys that will make you shake your heads and think "This guy is crazier than we thought" and also some things that were done to the house way back when and we all thought "What kind of crack were they smoking in 1951?!!"

Anyway...

Thanks again and will post more later.

Travis

 

I know what you are talking about. Did the same thing 9 years ago. first one born 3 months into the 10 months long project.
That was tough. worst of all for my wife, but she's the best and kept up with all the noise, dust and shit.
But what yo gonna do? Can't always afford two homes either.


YOU DID GOOD Congrats on a nice house

Paul

 

looks good antiqued... good job on the house!

 

Travis, nice work. My brother just finished his addon over on Twin Oaks in Citrus Heights. I love the area. Keep up the good work.

 

cool! we did the same thing, gutted the house except for one room. didn't have a bathroom... then my wife got pregnant, and I got a little extra incentive to get things done. We love our house and We never could have done it any other way.

 

That is awesome....speaks volumes about your talent & dedication

 

Cool Trav! I am glad to see you tried to match the charachter of the house to an older decade. So many folks lose the charm when the fuck em up by "modernizing".


Another tool belt tip, buy a good set of suspenders, eases the strain on long days!

 

Very,very nice. Congrats on a job very well done and learning a bunch of new skills-knowledge is power! I've done a similar thing-bought a two bedroom house when I went to vet school-with three small kids and a wife in graduate school.Don't know what I was thinking!! Anyway,we built an addition that doubled the area of the house and entered through a 16" stone wall through a former closet.

If we (you,me and all the other abitious replies here)all knew then what we know now,we probably wouldn't have started. But nobody told us we couldn't do it,so we did it anyway. That's called experience. It's also how great things are done.

Congratulations again on a fine job.