I got my container from JR heavy equipment. It’s a 40 foot ‘High Top’ which means it’s 9 1/2 foot tall, rather than the usual 8. I had them place it in the front of the property, and the fence just barely gets around it. But it does, and I can still get back there with a weed whacker.
I plan to use it as storage and office.
As soon as the container was placed, I called Fencemasters and had them install a 6-foot high fence around the property. We have two pedestrian gates, one in front and one in back. We also have two vehicle gates. A ‘swing’ gate in the back of the property, and a ‘Cantilever’ (Sliding) gate in the front of the property.
I got the whole home surge protector installed. It actually wasn’t a big deal, provided you know what you’re doing. It requires adding a 2 phase breaker to your system and wiring it in, as well as the neutral and the ground. If you’re up for it, you can save a lot of money over an electrician. Otherwise, if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, it’s best to hire a professional.
I had a few workers help with the landscaping. This area will be a vegetable garden for my wife and I. There is a lot more I need to do to the yard, and this was a great way to start.
We had solar panels installed. 50 of them, in fact. Enough to generate 13.5kwh of power. That should be more than enough to cover us during the day, and the credits we banked during the day will be applied at night.
We had Murphy Enterprises do the painting, both inside and out. This is a few shots of the exterior. A touch up is scheduled when the windows are installed. That’ll still be a month or so away.
I’ve been updating my Facebook page with posts, I haven’t really done anything here, although I need to. It has been a while since I’ve updated so let me catch you up to what we have been doing:
The garbage was removed. In fact it had to be bulldozed away.
We have installed a container. A 40 foot Hi Top. I ran power to it, so it has lights and fans. It will be both storage and my office.
We had a fence installed surrounding our property 400 foot of 6 foot high chain link.
The Lemai tree that had choked the sewer lines was removed.
We had 50 solar panels installed; we no longer pay GPA for our power, other than a connection fee, as we have remained ‘on the grid’. The solar panels generate 13.8 kW of power. We typically draw far less than that, sometimes less than half.
The house was painted both inside and out. We are waiting for our windows to arrive, those will be installed. And the tile is ready to be placed inside. We check out grout tomorrow and then the contractor will begin soon after.
I have replaced all of the wall outlets, and wall switches. We need to finish ceiling lights selection. And that will finish that.
I’ll do more as it comes to mind.
I ordered my outlets online from Amazon. I got a couple of different types.
For just about every wall outlet throughout the house I’m using Leviton GFNT1-W self testing GCFI outlets. They’re around $14 each, and for a name brand GCFI outlet, that’s a pretty good price. It tests itself periodically to ensure proper operation. As long as the light continues to glow green everything is dandy.
In each bedroom and the family room, and selected locations within the house, I’m also placing these AC/USB outlets. They’re regular AC Wall outlets, but they also have a 5V USB charger built in. They’re not GCFI, so I may connect them ‘downstream’ from a GCFI outlet, so that they get the best of both worlds. These were about $17 each. A little pricey, but they’re well made and should last a long time.
I got two types of dimmer switches for the lights. I’m still not sure about the actual ‘lights’ just yet. But the dimmer choices consist of the Leviton Caseta Dimmer switch (the Caseta on/off switches cost more than the dimmers!) The ‘kit’ I purchased also contains a remote control as well. It requires a hub, which I also purchased separately with a ‘starter kit’. It works with Amazon’s Alexa, and other home automation packages, so it should fit in perfectly.
Then there’s also the Lutron Maestro dimmers. It works on LED, Halogen, Incandescent, and some florescent lights. It doesn’t require a smart hub, so you can easily swap them out with your regular switches. They’re also about half the cost of a Leviton Caseta. But they’re not networked or connected to any home automation. I’ll use these for things like the laundry room, bathrooms, etc…
Oh, I also got a few power strips for the kitchen appliance counter. From a company called ‘Inland’, it sports 12 outlets in a 4 foot long strip. It’s perfect for appliances, because it always seems like there are more plugs than outlets. Fastening this behind the appliance counter seems like a sure way to keep everything connected. And cheap; less than $25.
So during the initial inspection of the house, I noticed a lot of household trash in the yard. A lot. So as part of the purchase stipulations, we listed that the trash in the yard needed to be removed.
What we did not realize at the time, was that the greenery obscured a lot more trash than previously thought. They had to bring in a backhoe to get it all. It was amazing how much garbage there was. Good damn thing we had it listed in the contract. They must be dropping a couple of thousand dollars into this project.
I just got word yesterday that the judge approved the sale amount. I got word today that I needed to sign a closing document, and that Monday the sale would be recorded officially. Here is to hoping.