The roof, the roof, the roof is on fiyah!

The new wood stove was installed today by somebody other than me. And when I say "new," I mean NEW. It's a box wood stove, and it has two "burners" on it for cooking. Crazy. The metalbestos pipe was also installed. The fire-resistant drywall has not been installed but should be soon. Very nice.

Also, we had DirecTV installed also. Not that we're living there at the moment, but hey, we have satellite!

...and all that junk

All of our belongings have been moved into the building. The place looks like a complete cluster-f**k: building materials in one area, piles of boxes and furniture everywhere else. The "carpet" (if you want to call it that) was torn up the day before yesterday, after all the junk was loaded into the moving van. Three floors will have to be torn out and replaced, which could cost as much as $1600. Eesh.

Sometime today, the phone will be hooked up. Also, I'm supposed to get a decision on a loan I applied for on Friday. With my bankruptcy (18 months ago) and my father's trashed credit (he's cosigner, and his credit was trashed from a scam), I'm not holding on to too much hope. Still, I'm crossing my fingers.

Dojo Mojo

The roof repair over the (future) bathroom was completed, minus the flashing and "decorative" (read: hiding the beams, etc) trim. It looks pretty good so far. It snowed yesterday and will again tonight...then rain on Tuesday. We won't be able to do the flashing until after the snow is off the roof, so there'll probably be one more leak until the flashing's up. But it's a step in the right direction.

Shingles upon shingles

Oh. My. God.

The roof over the toilet area is a DISASTER. My sensei had laid down about 5 layers of tar shingles and 2 layers of flashing; all of it caulked together with silicon. Just underneath the topmost layer--a green ... I don't know what to call it...it's like a shingle that never ends--was a patchwork of various bits and pieces of wood, meant to (I assume) take the dip out of the roof where water had accumulated. We, at least, figured out why the roof leaked: the water pooled there, then soaked into the wood. Once saturated, the wood started to drip water. Sheesh.

Originally, we were just going to build a new roof over the existing one, seal it up, and call it good. We were going to put flashing on the seams, like we did over other seams in the roof (the source of the aforementioned leaks in the back rooms). My partner came out and said she didn't want it done half-assed. This is when all three of us started to realize the scope of the project. She left to go watch our son, leaving my neighbor and I on the roof to continue the removal of 5 layers of tar shingles and 2 layers of flashing.

We gave up.

Most of the wood is already up for the new roof. Friday (we're refraining from work tomorrow since it's Thanksgiving) we will finish it. It's supposed to snow like hell tomorrow (based on one source)...or it'll just spit flakes here and there (based on another source). I'm hoping for little snow; otherwise, finishing this roof is going to be a bitch.

Anybody got a bucket?

It rained (and still is raining) like a mother tonight. We (my partner and I) stopped at the dojo to check things out. Needless to say, we found more leaks. The leak over the downstairs toilet was even more prominent. Three walls in the back rooms were wet; water dripping off of the doorways. Carpet was soaked... That didn't bother me so much as this carpet is getting heaved. It is really crappy carpet, but it did its job.

I talked with our neighbor, and he's willing to help us fix the leak over the toilet area. We'll be working on that tomorrow.

Helping hands

Apparently, our neighbor (the man) works in construction (houses and the like). He is willing to help us out. We just recently decided to figure out how to lay the pipe for the bathroom (I'm "expanding" the current bathroom off of the main room so it is a proper bathroom). Carpet has been removed. Wood has been cut. No pipe though. We did manage to break the roof vent for the existing drainage pipe (to the apartment upstairs) while prying away the "walls" (if you could call them that) of the old "bathroom". Something we'll have to fix.

We signed the papers

It was an odd bit of irony seeing this place on the market: my old dojo, where I took karate for about four years. My sensei was winding down, and had bad knees, so he decided to close up shop this past September. When I was going to the school, there was the main room, the side room (where the alternate entrance to the school was), and a couple rooms in back. This time, he had also added on a closed-in addition to the main room (there was a toilet and sink in there). Three rooms had been added in the back, and a second-story one-bedroom apartment put on top of the roof.

I'll give one thing for my old sensei...he builds solid. But, holy hell, the construction is rough. The toilet off of the main room was enclosed, and was in a two foot by three foot "closet." He never bothered to put a proper ceiling up (anywhere!), so you could see the insulation overhead. Over the toilet, though, it had sagged and torn apart in places. The insulation, as well as the floor underneath, were (and still is) wet. There was a leak in the roof.

My partner and I, after going through everything, decided it would be a good fixer-upper opportunity. At $29,000, right on the water with 1 acre, it was a pretty good deal. We (well, I) signed the paperwork today. In one month, we close. We intend (and my old sensei allowed it) to start remodeling right away. Our budget is tight, though. Only 18 months ago I had to file for bankruptcy, so getting a loan to buy the materials we need will be challenging at best. I figure with the money I can save from my paycheck, the place should be complete in no more than three years.

Eek.