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Friday, July 29. 2011

It's taken a few years for my hunting pal to get his hunting getaway in the wilds of upstate New York into usable shape. He has been doing most of the work himself.

I do not know why he did not throw a match onto the old thing and start fresh. Probably because he is the sort of guy to do things his way, the hard way, preserving the old as best he can.

Posted by Bird Dog in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 18:09 | Comments (13) | Trackbacks (0)

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Ow, ow, ow. Just looking at this makes my head hurt. Ouch. Even my hair hurts. But good on ya. You must be younger than I am.

#1 lenf on 2011-07-29 18:28 (Reply)

Wow, very impressive. I wish I were that handy.

#2 Kurt on 2011-07-29 18:54 (Reply)

I liked the older look better.

#3 David Zincavage (Link) on 2011-07-29 20:32 (Reply)

Well done! Transforming a derelict building into a useful one is a grand challenge. You've held back the forces of entropy and all that.

On the other hand, doing a bathroom remodel freaked me out. I'd have run screaming from the initial building. You've got balls of steel to take on such a task.

#4 Adaptive Curmudgeon (Link) on 2011-07-30 10:52 (Reply)

I admire people that do things like this.

From my point of view, the outside is the easy part. It is restoring the wrecked interior that I see as the discouraging part.

#5 feeblemind on 2011-07-30 10:53 (Reply)

Looks like an example of what we Upstaters call a "New Jersey Farmhouse." L-shaped with a nice porch. Built by Revolutionary War veterans who settled Upstate New York, building on the "military lots" distributed by the gov't. This one appears to have a post and beam structure, just like the barns these guys also built.

Be prepared for the local tax assessor to realize another "rich person from the city" has moved in, however.

#6 South of 5 and 20 (Link) on 2011-07-30 11:49 (Reply)

Oh yeah, the veterans who built these houses immigrated here from New Jersey, hence the name.

#6.1 South of 5 and 20 (Link) on 2011-07-30 11:53 (Reply)

Now that's my idea of a house.

#7 Texan99 (Link) on 2011-07-30 12:11 (Reply)

Given the derelict nature of the house before the rehab, I wonder how the cost of the finished rehab will compare with the cost of building from scratch.

#8 Gringo on 2011-07-30 14:04 (Reply)

I knew of a couple of rundown houses in my hometown that got rehabbed like that. A half century after rehab, the houses are still going strong.

I also know of two houses from my childhood that didn't make it. One turned into forest- though the only time I knew it was occupied was a short time as a hippie crash pad. The other house was occupied until the parents died. After the parents died, the heirs did nothing with the place- one of whom was in construction in a neighboring town- and it deteriorated over the years. It got turned into a parking lot. Parking lots don't always replace Paradise, contrary to what Joni Mitchell implied.

#8.1 Gringo on 2011-07-30 21:45 (Reply)

A good patch is more satisfying than the new thing --no matter what it is --a shovel handle to a big old house.

#9 buddy larsen on 2011-07-30 19:52 (Reply)

buddy ... I so agree with you about good patches, or mends, or whatever you call them. When I was in grade school, the girls had sessions on housewifery, and the boys got to take 'shop'. One of the things we learned, besides cooking basics, was stitchery, including how to darn socks and knit things. If anyone would like to learn how to darn socks beautifully, I'm available for coaching in the techniques. Believe me, no one in our household every threw away a good pair of socks just because they had little bitty holes in them. And when the socks finally had holes everywhere and we threw them away, the darns were still as good as new.

Marianne

#10 Marianne Matthews on 2011-07-31 13:55 (Reply)

This is why I own a 50-YO wooden boat. Every time I crawl in the bilge I see the handwork of the men who made her, and I'm challenged to repair to their standards.

TC

#11 Leatherneck on 2011-07-31 18:15 (Reply)

I would like to know how do I find one of my own .. I don't even care what state it's in ? Great job guy's !!!

#12 wanting the same on 2012-02-08 16:33 (Reply)

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Friday, July 29. 2011

Handyman's Special