Well it looks like I need to finish what I started...
Apparently we (finally) got a decent rain last night, and out of curiousity I went into the bar to see if it had leaked at all... Unfortunately it had. Oddly enough, the leaks were pretty much at the exact point where I had stopped tarring the shingles on my last pass....
Though there is little that will be damaged by the minor leaks it doesn't help with the decay situation. Now that it's starting to cool down I am running out of excuses: I need to get back up there and finish tarring and nailing the roll shingles. Until last night the sheeting had almost completely dried, and though the cool-down helps with the work involved it doesn't help drive out the water that got in.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
The Bar: Planning
Well I think it's high time that I share my plans for the bar. Unfortunately I don't have pictures to share as of yet (the last set I took still had large quantities of celing debris on the floor; I have since then cleaned the place out and held two game parties there).
As of right now I have repaired the roof (a relative term), cleaned out the Bar and Dining rooms, installed electric lights in the Bar, Dining, Kitchen and Wash rooms, hooked up a stereo in the Bar room (an absolute MUST for any proper bar!) and partially repaired all of the doors to the building.
First of all is the Bar room. This room needs the following renovations: First and foremost, I need to either replace or at least properly board up the broken window facing US 24 and the Maumee river. I desperately want to replace this window, but I doubt that I'll be able to afford to do so before this coming Spring. Next I want to install the last light fixture that this room will recieve (right now it has two lampholders, which is plenty, but I want more light!). Unfortunately this requires tearing down one of the three remaining celing panels in this room, which was subjected to some of the worst water damage that this building saw... This will be a very messy project which I am not at all looking forward to.
In addition to those repairs I plan on building a bar in place of where the old one was located. I am planning on building a frame out of 2x4 stock, boxing it in with Luan plywood and topping it with a material that's both decorative and durable. I'd like to use Marble, but the price will likely be prohibitive...
On a side note, I am not sure yet what I'm going to do about heating in that building. I plan on using either wood or coal fired equipment, and only using it when the building is in use. Exactly what I do will depend greatly on what I can get of course. I'd like to get an old "hybrid" stove (which is basically a coal stove with a secondary air inlet, which allows it to burn wood with reasonable efficiency. Unfortunately, due to EPA regulations on wood-fired appliances such stoves are no longer made...). If such a stove is unavailable I will probaly eventually get a solid fuel forced-air furnace.
For the Dining room I had it suggested to me by my friend Nick that I should build a few resteraunt-style booths around the outside wall. The interesting part about his suggestion, however, was to make the booth tables wider than typical restearaunt booths, so each booth could accomidate two PCs with LCD-panel displays (I plan on hosting LAN parties out there once it's ready). The Dining room also needs some floor work, largely to deal with a now nonexistant drain that was very poorly plugged, and poses a significant trip hazard. Not sure what I'm going to do about this yet.
The Kitchen room will be what the name suggests, a kitchen. It doesn't need to be a full-service kitchen, it'll be more of a fridge-and-stove room. I plan on putting a "boxwood" stove in that room, both for heating and because such stoves have a proper cook top with removable burner plates.
As for the Washroom I am unsure as to what my plans are. I'd like to put a basin sink in there, but I can just see myself using the thing as a parts washer... This is all well and good right now, since I don't have a finished floor or paint in the building, but down the road...
Other than that there are only a handful of projects. I need to run conduit and wire for electrical service to the Bar and Dining rooms (more on this later), repair the roof over the breezeway between the Bar and the Shop, clean out and restore the Men's room to service and repair the doors properly. I will keep you all up to date as I get these projects done, and hopefully I'll have pictures soon...
As of right now I have repaired the roof (a relative term), cleaned out the Bar and Dining rooms, installed electric lights in the Bar, Dining, Kitchen and Wash rooms, hooked up a stereo in the Bar room (an absolute MUST for any proper bar!) and partially repaired all of the doors to the building.
First of all is the Bar room. This room needs the following renovations: First and foremost, I need to either replace or at least properly board up the broken window facing US 24 and the Maumee river. I desperately want to replace this window, but I doubt that I'll be able to afford to do so before this coming Spring. Next I want to install the last light fixture that this room will recieve (right now it has two lampholders, which is plenty, but I want more light!). Unfortunately this requires tearing down one of the three remaining celing panels in this room, which was subjected to some of the worst water damage that this building saw... This will be a very messy project which I am not at all looking forward to.
In addition to those repairs I plan on building a bar in place of where the old one was located. I am planning on building a frame out of 2x4 stock, boxing it in with Luan plywood and topping it with a material that's both decorative and durable. I'd like to use Marble, but the price will likely be prohibitive...
On a side note, I am not sure yet what I'm going to do about heating in that building. I plan on using either wood or coal fired equipment, and only using it when the building is in use. Exactly what I do will depend greatly on what I can get of course. I'd like to get an old "hybrid" stove (which is basically a coal stove with a secondary air inlet, which allows it to burn wood with reasonable efficiency. Unfortunately, due to EPA regulations on wood-fired appliances such stoves are no longer made...). If such a stove is unavailable I will probaly eventually get a solid fuel forced-air furnace.
For the Dining room I had it suggested to me by my friend Nick that I should build a few resteraunt-style booths around the outside wall. The interesting part about his suggestion, however, was to make the booth tables wider than typical restearaunt booths, so each booth could accomidate two PCs with LCD-panel displays (I plan on hosting LAN parties out there once it's ready). The Dining room also needs some floor work, largely to deal with a now nonexistant drain that was very poorly plugged, and poses a significant trip hazard. Not sure what I'm going to do about this yet.
The Kitchen room will be what the name suggests, a kitchen. It doesn't need to be a full-service kitchen, it'll be more of a fridge-and-stove room. I plan on putting a "boxwood" stove in that room, both for heating and because such stoves have a proper cook top with removable burner plates.
As for the Washroom I am unsure as to what my plans are. I'd like to put a basin sink in there, but I can just see myself using the thing as a parts washer... This is all well and good right now, since I don't have a finished floor or paint in the building, but down the road...
Other than that there are only a handful of projects. I need to run conduit and wire for electrical service to the Bar and Dining rooms (more on this later), repair the roof over the breezeway between the Bar and the Shop, clean out and restore the Men's room to service and repair the doors properly. I will keep you all up to date as I get these projects done, and hopefully I'll have pictures soon...
Sunday, August 24, 2008
New Chimney!
At last! I am amazed at how quickly this went; what you see took me less than four hours to complete! Needless to say I am more than a little tired now, but it was well worth it.
The whole assembly, inside and out, still needs some work. The chimney is not plumb yet, and I am short one locking band, and really should have a roof guy kit installed. Inside the stove pipe is not yet straight, and doesn't fit up quite as tightly as I'd like... But the good news is, despite being just as hot (if not hotter) outside than in the chimney ALREADY is pulling a stable draft!
It shouldn't be any trouble to have these problems resolved by the time my door kit comes in, at which point I'll be ready for Frost Insurance to approve it.
Once it's approved it'll be ready for the first firing. This will have to be done with all of the windows open, as the paint on both the stove and the stovepipe needs to be cured, which produces noxious smoke. Fortunately fall is coming soon, which means plenty of cool evenings when a fire would be pleasant but not nessasary by any means...
Notice the shakes behind the chimney. Yes I did that myself. My work isn't quite as neat as my father's, but between the fact that it's largely hidden by the chimney and the fact that they're installed over an existing weathertight surface I think they'll do nicely.As I stated before I am rather tired, so I think it's time for me to chill out. After I work out the detals of the chimney I just have to build and fill a coal bunker and I'll be ready for winter!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Coal Stove
After driving my truck over 140 miles to Van Wert and back I now am the owner of a Harman Magnafire Mk. 1 coal stove. This stove is designed to burn anthracite (hard) coal, and according to the manufacturer only needs to be tended two or three times a day!
The really exciting part is how much money this will save me in the long run: Last year, despite not living here, I burned up over $1200 worth of LP gas! It is noteworthy that I did have an old, inefficient furnace at the time and there were two large holes in the walls. Yet my house has no insulation to speak of... With LP gas prices approaching the $4 per gallon mark I don't care to think how much it would cost to keep the house at a comfortable temperature now that I'm living here.
Hard coal is currently approx. $170 per ton. One ton of coal is the equivelant of about 300 gallons of propane. And, at $4 per gallon, that's $1200 worth of propane! That's a BIG price difference!
Obviously the stove is still incomplete; I was given the wrong door kit, and will be recieving a new one soon. Once I recieve that and complete the chimney I'll be ready for winter! For more information on the Magnafire Mk. 1 stove please click here.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
New Roof (again?)
Except this time it's on the bar. After spending a good portion of my economic stimulius check and eight hours working on top of a partially rotted roof (and a week recovering from the subsequent sunburn) the new roof is up... It is still not complete, but the good news is that it does not leak AT ALL anymore! This is rather amazing considering that before it would rain just as hard (if not harder) inside the building than outside.
The roof is not yet complete, I still have to finish tarring and bottom-nailing the shingle rolls. In addition there are a few portions of the sheeting that are fairly well rotten and need to be reinforced from underneath, as well as a couple of beams. But the good news is now that it no longer leaks I can actually get started on getting the building into usable condition!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Bar project has begun!
The Texas Inn building, circa 1900, had been added onto (very badly added onto.) Ben and his friends pulled down the lean-to shed addition. Here are the highlights: (photos by Andy)
Ben, swinging a heavy hammer, hitting rotten wood, whilst his friends Josh and Nick watch.
Most of the side wall down. Surprisingly, the roof stayed up!
Ben with his heavy steel hammer again, attempting to break/knock down a support post. Amazingly, it stayed up!
Josh working on the same section with a chain saw! That should do it!
Hmmm... Still standing!
Finally! After a lot of cutting with the chain saw, a single cement block too it down!
Looks better already! Since this photo was taken, Ben and his friends Bill, and Caleb put a new "roll roof" on the bar building.
Ben, swinging a heavy hammer, hitting rotten wood, whilst his friends Josh and Nick watch.
Most of the side wall down. Surprisingly, the roof stayed up!
Ben with his heavy steel hammer again, attempting to break/knock down a support post. Amazingly, it stayed up!
Josh working on the same section with a chain saw! That should do it!
Hmmm... Still standing!
Finally! After a lot of cutting with the chain saw, a single cement block too it down!
Looks better already! Since this photo was taken, Ben and his friends Bill, and Caleb put a new "roll roof" on the bar building.
