The Shop Roof

Chicken coop roof

Last week Bob started helping me with the work to be done on the house. Our first projects were the metal roofing on the chicken coop and the metal roofing on the shop. Bob sorted through the pile of original metal roofing and used the older looking pieces on the chicken coop roof. He got the metal roofing on and then we reviewed the remaining pile of metal and what we would need to finish both the shop and chicken coop roofs. I placed an order with Bagwell Lumber and they dropped it off that afternoon. With that, Bob buttoned up the gable trim and the ridge on the chicken coop.

The shop roof

After finishing the chicken coop, he started on the shop roof. He utilized all of the original roofing and then started on the new metal. It took him a few days but he got the metal buttoned up and it looks great. He did a really good job too! I’m really glad to have the roof done before the rainy season hits. Well, almost done. We were 3′ short on one of the metal trim pieces. Next time I order from Bagwell, I’ll have them bring out one more piece of trim.

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Gutters

We’ve been trying to get gutters on the shop roof for the past 2 months. I got a quote from a company and was waiting for them to schedule the install. But I never heard back. So finally I called Bobby Lee aluminum and they came out and quoted me for the gutters. We approved the quote and we went on their schedule which was 2-3 weeks out at the time. Well after about a week, they called and said they had a cancellation and asked if they could do the gutters. Sure! They did a great job and now I’ve got gutters across the back of the shop which will keep the shop from flooding as well as gutters on one small area of the house.

The importance of gutters

The ground behind the shop is sloped towards the shop. So when it rains and all of the water comes off of the shop roof, it hits the ground and can’t get away from the structure (since the ground is sloped towards the shop). So the water pools until it runs under the wall and into the shop. The gutters will capture this water and put it out at the back corners of the shop where the ground slopes away from the shop. Problem solved. Similar issue at the back corner of the house. The rain water coming off of the roof on the back left corner of the house drained into a lower area right next to the foundation. During the heavy summer storms this area would pond and be 8″+ deep. Not good. So we had them add a gutter and downspout to take that water away from this problem area.

New A/C is on order

We finally ordered another air conditioner to cool the rest of the house. Recapping – this house has never had an A/C unit. We added a two zone mini split to cool the two bedrooms on the north side of the house. The living areas are still open air (hot!). This new A/C unit is a three zone mini split that will cool the living room, dining room, kitchen, and master bedroom. To order the unit, I spent a good while on the phone with their customer service explaining our situation and working through what parts they have available that would work for us. They’re facing major supply shortages just like many other industries currently. But we were able to put together the order and now we just have to wait until it arrives.

The Audi is here

Oceana’s car has finally joined us at the house. It was the last piece of the puzzle to make the move from Loxahatchee. It had a handful of small things that needed addressed as well as one big thing (a new turbo on the engine) so as we made the move, we brought it to our trusted mechanics, BJ’s Wrench Connection, in North Palm Beach. These guys have worked on our vehicles for years. Good guys. Well we dropped off the car and left them with a list a page long of things we wanted done. We let them know it wasn’t urgent so they worked on it between other customers and now it was finally time to pick it up. I rode out with Oceana one morning as she was on her way in to work in Jupiter.

Problems. Solutions.

I started the drive back home as Oceana headed to work. I drove it like a twin turbo sports car should be driven. After all, it just got back from having a bunch of work done so I needed to make sure it ran right. Well, about 30 minutes into the trip home, the engine started misfiring and the check engine light started flashing. That’s not good. The car had no power but if I accelerated slowly it ran fine. I limped it back to the mechanics shop. They ran diagnostics and found out one of the coils went bad. They had a test coil in the shop so they put that in and took it for a spin. Solved. They picked up a new coil as I waited and as soon as it arrived they put it in. I’m back in business. Not only that, but they wouldn’t let me pay for the new coil. When has a mechanic ever turned down money? Good guys I tell you. I made the trip home uneventfully.

The new old trailer

Remember that old beat up looking trailer I showed a picture of last week? Well, it got a makeover. I put it up on jack stands and took the tires and rims off and took them to a local tire shop for some new rubber. The original tires were dry rotted. Since the trailer didn’t have any brakes, I ordered new brakes and hubs. While I was waiting for the brakes to arrive, I took a grinder with a wire brush to the frame and then gave it a new black paint job. Lastly, I removed the deck boards and wound up flipping them over and then reinstalling them. I drilled and tapped new holes to bolt the boards to the metal frame. 50 holes through 5/16″ steel. Not fun. The new brakes/hubs arrived and I got them installed. As part of the hub assembly, the axles got brand new bearings. Once the hubs were on, I ran new wiring to the brakes and installed a new plug for connecting to the van. Lastly, I picked up the tires and then gave the rims a scuff and matte black paint job. This is now the newest old trailer around.

A storage unit. Finally!

We took the trailer on her maiden voyage as we took stuff from the house to our new storage unit. Oceana had been making calls all over Avon Park and Sebring and found that there is still a waiting list for most storage unit places. She found a place in Sun Ray (Frostproof) that had one 10’x10′ unit available. Awesome. We took a load of stuff from the house to the unit which is helping to clear out the house so that we can work on the living room/dining room areas. We’ve got to be ready to install the A/C unit when it arrives. Priorities, you know.

That’s all for now. As always, thanks for following along our crazy journey.