End of the month

We've owned the house about six months now and what do we have to show for it

1. Amazing ideas from Sara at 4 Over 1 Design. She helped us figure out the nooks we couldn't wrap our heads around. We worked with Heather Wagner on the tax credits for Oakwood (fantastic by the way) and were happy to have the opportunity to work with Durham's other Preservation Leading Lady.

2. Tax Credit application is very close to finished. We need to give it another once over (Harris), finalize descriptions (Natalie), fit the pictures to the rooms (Natalie), complete drawings of the proposed exterior (Harris), complete the existing cad (Natalie), complete interior proposed cad (Natalie), and then copy everything from the federal application and paste it into the state (Natalie)

3. Lot of Lizzy, Lizzy 2, yard etc is coming right along. We hope to finish the trash pick up at Lizzy 2 this weekend. We will then go to the scrap yard and use the money we make to create the Bottle Count Prize! We've also gotten great estimates for tree care from Cormac and Erica at Aerial Innovations. This is the same company that takes care of our trees at Oakwood and we've got a lot of faith in their honesty and ability. They also don't use spikes or take other short cuts that damage the trees and just love climbing and playing in the trees. It's their playful professionalism that is just so cool. We've got to work out with the property owner next door about the tree situation as the ones that need to come down stradle the property lines.

4. Estimates- We're still waiting for estimates...
This is sort of frustrating but not really frustrating. Since Harris is on the Dole it's not like we'd qualify for any loan (short version, I'm at 50% debt/income ratio because I am responsible for all of our mortgages and student loans, none of Harris's income counts, and the income from Q St rental doesn't count. I look very bad on paper right now even with my high credit score and money in the bank.) We are also being very cautious so that we can claim the federal tax credits. I can totally understand why estimates would be slow coming when the contractors know we won't start work until the tax credit plan is approved and we have the cash to pay them.



Lucky for us it's light at night again and we can start spending dates playing in our little non-electrified shell.

Gone

Bamboo is gone for $19.50 thanks to either the carelessness of the solid waste dept. or the indignant responses from council members.

While Harris was talking to Solid Waste about the problem on Friday, the caller suggested that Harris take it up with City Council if he had a problem with it. After I got back from lunch on Friday, that's exactly what I did and it seems city council was not amused.

By 3:30 Friday afternoon Harris had an apology from the director of solid waste who had pulled the tape of the call and listened to it and confirmation that they would pick up all of the bamboo for no additional charge by the end of the day.

It's all gone.

We also anticipate having our first estimate for the shell rennovation delivered to us this week. This would entail a licensed general contractor fixing the foundation and rebuilding the roofline. Additioanlly, they would put in the new replacement windows where the current broken replacement windows are, rebuild the porch, and replace rotten exterior wood.

We're thinking colors along the lines of ... HEX: #F70586RGB:

Bamboo removal

Harris signed up for yard waste service for the remainder of the year. The cart rental plus service agreement set us back $19.50. This also entitles us to two free bulky brush pick ups. We have requested one for the bamboo that the city tells us will be complete by Saturday. We'll see on that one.

It also enables us to fill 10 lawn and leaf bags a week with bamboo leaves to be picked up for free at the curb by the city.


You might wonder why there are so many posts about bamboo and so few about...you know...the house.

First, the bamboo is something we can actively work on and make progress, ergo it is satisfying to do this work. Additionally, it is realtively inexpensive to go and hack/haul/curse the bamboo.

Second, the bamboo lot had previously obsured the sidewalk, making it impossible to see the connections between this section of Elizabeth St and the hill. Now that we've cleared it, from the sidewalk you can see straight on to Dowd St. It is also less likely that the lot will be cited by NIS for code enforcement.

Third, the overgrown and trash filled lot makes the place feel abandoned and un loved. We want to instead make it seem a little loved.

Fourth, Natalie is tragically afraid of snakes. As it gets warmer, there is less of a chance that she will go anywhere that she cannot see the ground...so we better get it clean before the critters emerge.

Fifth, we're still planning the interior of the house. This isn't our full time job by any means. Since we don't have the loans lined up yet to do the work or the tax credit application submitted, there's not much we can do inside of Lizzy other than clean.

We've set up a meeting with Sara of 4 over 1 to chat about the house next week and are excited to hear her thoughts!

Friggin bamboo

We ordered the lawn mower (173cc 21" Kohler Rear Bag Rear Propelled Lawn Mower ) today and the end of the bamboo is sooooo very close. After we cut it down and then clean out the bottles, tires, and trash, we basically have to mow it every week for three years. Other effective methods involve a mattock or backhoe. One of those is ruled out by laziness and the other by the slope of the yard.

We were debating tonight if we had clumping bamboo or running bamboo. After mindlessly staring at pictures tonight I have found the answer. If you look in this picture from the State Preservation Office, it is clear that this stand of Bamboo is older than Harris and I are.




If it were running bamboo, the entire neighborhood would be covered by now. While extensive on the lot it by no means covers the entire surface, so it is clumping bamboo. However, we're pretty sure it was added after the period of significance and can be killed.

We hope that we will have it all cut (but not yet dead) after Madeline's nap on Monday.

Before taken from the back corner of the house.


Todayish taken on a spot near the original that was previously covered.

Hack and Slash IRL

Harris and I took advantage of Madeline's nap and the warmer weather today to get some hacking and slashing of bamboo. We also put an advertisement on Craigslist and another on Freecycle to encourage folks to come and get bamboo on their own.

Here's the progress as of today. While there is a slope, it's not THAT much of a slope. The pile is that majestic.


We spent about an hour and a half each over there, so we'll clock this at 3 hours total. We're estimating we have about 3 more total hours of hack and slash remaining. We're then going to rent or borrow a leaf blower once it's dryer and blow all of the leaves into the corner. Hopefully at that point we'll have hauled off all of the bamboo and will be able to mow the hell out of it.



Interesting things found today:
Tires
Bottles
Cups (that strangely match the ones used at the group home next door...)
An eddie bauer bag
another part of the toilet.

Land! Take two!

We signed the papers this AM and if the snowpocalypse stays at bay a little longer they will be filed at the courthouse this pm.

We paid $3,520.65 for the bamboo jungle next door (inclusive of fees). It is formally known at 503 N. Elizabeth St and clocks in at .088 acres. It is unbuildable without permission from the board of adjustment and then, you could only put a very small single family house on it. We purchased it because we were concerned that the yard for lizzy was very small and did not want to have a rental house or for sale house next door to an overgrown bamboo jungle next to the former shooting gallery.

It is currently covered with bamboo, ivy, and empty King Cobra and Budwiser bottles.

We will be clearing the lot and using it as a side yard for Lizzy. There are some beautiful trees waiting to be liberated from this jungle. Pics to follow shortly.

Plans :
Clear sidewalk in front of bamboo forrest
Hack Bamboo
Count bottles
Clear trash

Ramblings

Our heat at Oakwood broke this morning and after a 3am freak out (WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THAT MELTING PLASTIC SMELL) in which we all got dressed, told Madeline she needed to be a brave and cooperative child and wear many layers, and made multiple trips to the crawl space, Harris discovered that the breaker/switch/fuse whatever thing that powers our heat pump was literally melted.

The irony that we own three houses, two of which have no heat, and none of which we could stay in was not lost on me. We have high hopes that our HVAC crew will show up by 9am and will fix the heat.

Harris and Madeline are asleep upstairs which leaves me to stay awake downstairs and await their arrival. I've made brownies, cleaned the kitchen, and will probably finish the laundry before they do.

Anyway, I also realized I needed to update the totals section here and on the separate spreadsheet we keep. We had to renew our vacant house insurance policy. Because the housing market is crap (which makes no sense to me) vacant house policies are hard to get and the only one we've found so far is a company in Arizona who will give us 3 month renewals. Great right??? As soon as we start construction we can get a construction policy or something. However, we're waiting for tax credit application approval before starting construction so here's hoping...

Again. Anyway.

We bought a pair of these today on sale at Sears for $15.88. FISKARS!

Being me, on our way home we stopped by Lizzy to try them out. I had to cut several strands of bamboo before I realized that yes, it was cutting that smoothly. We might be looking at fewer hours now.

We've gone back and forth about the best way to get rid of the bamboo. Chainsaw or loppers, and loppers has finally won out. Elena Chainsaw Turner came over to scout the lot today and agreed that the level of trash, bottles, junk, undergrowth, and slope meant that the chainsawing would probably be...not fun. Add to that her theory that as a grass it would gum up the blades often enough that you'd rather just hack it and Harris finally agreed to let me lop it all out.

Our new plan for the yard is to
1. Cut down bamboo, vines, and small shrubs.
2. Haul trash, bamboo, and logs to curb.
3. Dispose (trash/recycle) all of the crap.
4. MOW baby MOW!
5. Find land pin.

zomg

any day now! ANY DAY NOW!

delays

Sometimes it's the smallest deals that take forever.

We're trying to get a final deal completed, but are running into normal family drama.

Thankfully, though we've experienced drama of this type before, this particular drama is among another family and not ours.

Hopefully this week our costs will increase by 33%.

We're still investigating dumpsters as, with our work so far and the time change, we can't really move around and do much in the house right now. Hopefully we'll have the place cleaned out, the lot cleaned up, and the plans for the renovation up in the next month.

We did run a very nice scheme though. We traded 1.5 hrs of babysitting for some of the reusable materials in the house. We have less to dump and were able to have Madeline play with someone else one morning! Great trade!

Bamboo take 2

Madeline woke me up around 5am and we all decided to get up around 6:22. She of course then decided to nap at 10am when I was full of the energy.

So I tried a new approach to bamboo removal. I took a pair of loppers over to the house and individually cut each piece of bamboo. At the beginning it went really fast and I was quite accurate, however, about an hour in to the process, I noticed it was taking much, much longer. I then started moving bamboo to the pile until Harris called me home for lunch.

We're estimating there is about three more hours of bamboo cutting to be done. Then there will probably be 5-10 hours of junk picking, raking, recycling glass, and hauling stuff to the curb.

There are several trees that I was able to see today up close. Once the bamboo is gone, the yard is going to be beautiful.

Land

our costs might be jumping by 33% very soon.
This is a very good thing.

Bamboo

The vacant lot next door is currently overgrown with Bamboo.


This invasive is incredibly hard to kill and LURVES North Carolina. Our side yard provided the most perfect growing conditions evAr and is currently covered in the stuff.




Hats off to Danny Hunt at Hunt Surveying for getting in there and finding that damn property line, marked with orange surveyors tape. You, good sir, are brave.



Here you can see the jungle and our various game faces that we employ to scare the bamboo.



Using the pictured orange machete we spent about two hours hacking at bamboo. Yes, there are probably more expedient methods to initially remove bamboo stalks, but how often do either of us have the opportunity to wear ourselves out hacking at stuff with a machete?

Our destruction- a pile of bamboo stalks about four and a half feet tall and as many feet wide. Sun is shining on parts of the side yard that have probably not seen light in years. We were also able to pull a contractor bag of junk out of the bamboo.



Little known facts about slumlords:
1. They will go around their ass to reuse anything that has not been utterly destroyed yet.
2. Nothing is ever hauled off site- yards that are covered in ivy, or in this case, bamboo, make the perfect dumping ground for any materials that have been utterly destroyed.

It's not because they particularly care about craftsmanship or recycling or their impact on the environment;they are just cheap.