I became the official owner of this house on Friday, June 23rd of 2006. It was first built in 1955. It's a 1 1/2 (walk-in attic that can serve as a bedroom/storage) story rambler house.
From l-r: looking at the west side, north lawn facing the northside of the house, and looking at the east side
looking northwest facing the garage (background) and the west side
Praise Report-Testimony of Purchasing my 1st House
Purchasing this house came with an awesome testimony/story! Before this house, I was looking at 3-5 different houses in the market. I started in the month of March, hoping to be moved in before my rent/lease ended in my other rental unit (109 W. 7th St.)-end of May! I didn't make an offer (to houseowner-Dan through West Central Realty) in this house till mid-May! Yes, I was chugging to get all my paper work done! I kind of knew that I wasn't going to be moved in to this new house before the end of the month, so I was planning to find a temporary place to stay for several weeks and have my "stuff" stored till then. With God watching over my situation, I was able to rent the house I was hoping to own-thanks to the owner (friend of a new co-worker that just started in my current very new temporary job at the Stevens County DAC)-praise God! I didn't have to store my "stuff", but have it all moved in one single move. I'm glad this opportunity came because I began to appreciate this more after several days of moving in the last days of May. I had so much "stuff", which I didn't realize I had so many until during the long...I mean long move! God provided the many friends to help move-some were "last minute" helpers and "last minute" vehicles (e.g. boss' suburban). God is good...all the time!
Main Floor
-Living Room
Television, Stereo, and Recliner (Looking west)
Coffee Table and T.V. (looking south west)
Couch, Piano, and Recliner (given to me by my Aunt)
Ceiling Fan (looking up towards south wall/ceiling)
Looking straight at the kitchen from the front door
Green couch
This past week (Dec of 2006), a friend (Tony from Bulgaria) has moved in and did some interior designing...
-Hallway
Looking east directly towards the second bedroom
Bedrooms
-1st Main
-2nd
*thanks Jeff Mangan for putting the red curtains, which matches my main 1st bedroom
Kitchen
Above are some pics (taken Saturday, July 26th of 2008) of my sink (under and top) to show my "clogging" (since June 27th of 2008) problems. I have procrastinated on trying to fix it. I've already used "Draino" and "hot water" (tip from site below), but not clearing! I've used a "snake" to clear all the "gunk", which I did; however, I can't reach any further down the pipe (below the floor level?). I believe there is more "gunk" that I haven't been able to reach, which is why I'm hoping to get a special tool to take out the pipes.
-Replacing Pipes with PVC
Basement
-New PVC Plumbing Pipes from Kitchen (above) to Basement:
I rented an electric hacksaw for only $5/hour from Town & Country on Monday, October 20th of 2008. It took about an hour to do two cuts, which my blade bended a lot-had to use several! I then finished putting the new plastic pipes on Saturday, October 25th using purple primer and white glue to seal the connection. Unfortunately, I have a "little" leak from the bottom where the plastic meets the metal pipe in the bottom part of the floor.
Thank you Clint W. & Neil T. for your advice on this project!
"Unfinished Bathroom" (toilet only)
"Unfinished Bedroom" (bed only)
Furnace, Water Heater
Washing Machine and Dryer
stairway
]
Putting special alumninum tape (recommended my friend, Brett Mangan, a professional maintenance worker at the company I work part-time for: Prairie Community
Services)-thanks for the advice!
Monday, November 12th of 2007: Current Picture
-Egress Window Project
Timeline: Digged 4 foot hole (September 8th-18th of 2006: 10 day project 2 hours each day for 8 days, 8 hours one day, and 2 more hours the last day; September 25th-Chris Athey Construction [Chris & Rose Athey; Alberta, MN 56207; 320.760.7186; MN Lic #20285850; "For All Your Construction Needs"-New Construction-Remodeling-Shingling-Siding-Decks-Laminate Flooring"] installed window and ?
;)
*took a week after I finished digging due to "rain delay"
Before
After
Looking up (clear plastic cover)
Looking down
Looking straight
OUTSIDE:
Took this picture (Thursday, September 27th 2006) before filling in the hole I digged.
-Fighting Water Leaks
I just put some "Water Tite" from Zinsser on my moldy white discoloring walls and here are the improvements...
Articles:
-Water Softner
-Floors
Articles:
Attic
*putting first bundle of insulation on Sunday, October 8th of 2006; hurrying before the project first snowfall this week (Wednesday, October 11th)! After finding the right fit (R13 16" width-not the R38 24"!). Thank Ron Neiland for delivering the insulation 2x. He helped save the trip going to Alex and the delivery cost ($100 charge). Plus, it would've took many trips using my car~
It's the first week of November now and just filling in the cracks with the remaining insulation (2-3 bundles and an extra pink bundle that was left when the previous owner moved out) left. It's going to be 60 degrees this second week, so I'll be busy doing yardwork (down below). I feel confident I'll finish this insulation before the "real" cold comes.
Today (Tuesday, November 12th of 2007), I decided to put some pics I took the last 2 weeks of putting plastic to cover the insulation I put last year. Thanks Ron Neiland for borrowing your staple gun!....
I had to buy another roll (100 x 10 feet of plastic with #4 extra thick at Eul's ,which is #2 higher then the previous-from Menards-because it was the only kind available for about $40) to finish my project. I had less than 1 bundle of insulation left from what I bought last year. My next project is to put plywood, which I'll buy 1 piece at a time.
Roof
I bought a gallon size of tar (around September-October) to better paste my loose shingles on the roof-thanks for the advice neighbor (Joe B.)! It's better when the weather is hot and warm (preferibly over 40 F). I ended up putting it around the pipe where the "leftovers" from my furnace goes out because I found a hole underneath the roof by the chimney pipe-my basement would leak at times around the chimney (found some rotten moldy insulation between the chimney and wall below the attic leading to my basement, which I cleaned it last month-October). I ended up squeezing some concrete around the hole first. Then with advice from a friend (Jeff M.), I put some of the tar left from the gallon I bought a month or so ago-last weekend (Saturday, November 3rd of 2007-over 50 degrees)-around the pipe...
Garage
Paul (co-worker at the DAC) works on the garage door opener bar that pulls the door on October 2006
Yard Work
With all the dirt I had to dig out from the egress window project, I decided to put the extra dirt around the house and design a little decline to keep water away from leaking to my basement. Since I did this in early September, I haven't had any allergy to mold problems that was evident when I first moved in around June. We had some rains in September, which this was tested-it passed! I'm currently (November 2006) taking dirt from a old friend's rental house he moved out of w/permission of the landlord and putting it in my backyard (truck tire tracks carved a pit parallel to my garage)...
Today (Friday, June 22nd of 2007), I took advantage of my first Friday off from DAC for the start of summer by continuing my yardwork project (putting sand around the house to prevent rain from going inside my basement). There is a lot of dirt from that pile still and I took many trips all afternoon (11am-6pm) hauling dirt to the east portion of the house. I'm trying to have a slope, so the water that falls from the rain will go away from the house during Spring storms-just like this past month!
Winter Storm (February 24th of 2007) Pictures
We had about 4-6" of snow so far today (compare the snow level with the picture above of the garage) and more is expected. If it does come, check this tomorrow for an update picture. There was so.. much snow that I couldn't even get into my garage through my alley, so I had to park in the middle of the street until I realize there was a spot across the street from my house. Many college students live around the area, so many left their cars parked on the snow emergency route.
...more
Summer Storms
-Tuesday, July 10th of 2007
I came home after work around 3:55pm and saw my cable/phone lines went down in the backyard (north side) of my house.
Guests List:
-Sachiko (UMM Student from Japan)
-Shannon F. & Joey P. (UMM Alumns during UMM's Homecoming 2006, 2007)
*see pics down below
-Mark H. (former Morris resident)
-Tony & Margarita (couple from Bulgaria)
-Tom & Mike (from Papua New Guinea) from Harvest Community Church in Fargo (Outfitters for Adventure meeting)
*Tom came over again for an other OA mtg. at my old local church building on June of 2007
-Uncle Lou and Aunti Lita (recently immigrated here from the Philippines around January of 2005)
I took them on a tour around town (e.g.horticulture gardens-right as we were leaving Morris on July 3rd of 2007) and Alexandria the day before.
-Gina Nordstrom (former resident of my at Clayton A. Gay Hall at UMM in 97'-98') and Yer Yang (ASA friend)
-Salil, a student from North Dakota State University (Fargo, ND), came yesterday (Friday, September 14th of 2007) to attend our weekly fellowship (see Taiwan). He and his friends decided to stay overnight, so I invited him to my place while his friend's stayed at Hu's
-Saturday, September 29th 2007
Joey and Shannon having breakfast
Below are pictures of our late night hangout:
-Sunday, September 30th 2007
Below are pictures with Tim M. visiting for awhile during lunch:
In the evening, we had a farewell "party" for Joey and Shannon before they head out tomorrow morning @6am. Andy Kress came earlier, but wasn't pictured because we forgot to take one:
Cleaning Fish
-Sunday, June 1st of 2008
These pictures were taken after fishing in Starbuck. A friend (Anthony F.) taught me how to clean a "bass"!
Related Sites:
Outside Events!
It was a Sunday (June 10th of 2007) evening (around 6-7pm) when I was working on my computer. Just out of no where I heard some drums and I thought it was just in my head. I then went upstaris to find this...
It was the Litchfield High School Marching Band practicing outside my front yard along on E. 3rd St. I heard that this band has been coming to Morris the last 2-3 years to do a summer camp here. They stay at the UMM Campus for a week and play around town-cool, huh!
I had a house inspection done in the end of November of 2006 by the HRA (Steve Rudney) in town. They gave me a list of what I need to do (by January 11th of 2007-no chance) to qualify as a "landlord" renting my second bedroom if I charge. I decided to put a list of what I've done so far...
Clint Warcheza, "Handyman" (call 320.589.3622) for your handy needs around your home!), a friend of mine from church (Morris Community Church) came over this past Sunday (March 25th of 07') to put an overflow pipe for my H20 Heater. He did it within 15 minutes! I was advised to buy a copper pipe, teflon tape, copper pipe fitting (wasn't needed) etc.. This made the work go quicker. I watched and learn..
Steps:
-Cut the copper pipe with a tube cutter
-Apply flux on the edge
-Use a propane torch to solder (see site below for details)
*see
Working With Copper Pipe , from acehardware.com
Related Resources:
Before (Feb 7th of 2007):
After (Apr 3rd of 2007):
I had to bring-up the rails to at least 34" high from the footsteps, which I spent Sunday, Monday, and today doing (segments of hours). It was actually an interesting project. I had to buy the wood from Menards first and then cut him (using Neil Thielke's saw, which I had to be extra cautious using-thanks!). The reason why it took several days was because I had to charge-up the batteries of the drill, which used a lot when screwing and unscrewing the old nails!
I was able to get Roger Hill, who put the 200amp box prior to moving to the house, put a couple GFI breakers in my house. He stopped over 2 months earlier (Feb of 07') to give me some guidance on how to go about doing this by myself in the laundry room of my basement and exterior outside wall in my backyard (to cut labor cost-$25/hour!).
Had Roger Hill (Roger Hill Electric Inc.) put GFI Breakers both in the bathroom and kitchen on Monday, April 9th of 2007. It was an estimated $67 ($50 for 2 hours of labor work & $17 for materials) project only since I did the labor work for the other related projects around the house.
Just recently (Thursday, February 7th of 2008), the power sockets all in one side of my house (upstairs, mainfloor, and downstairs) just stopped working. It started right when I turned both my 1500 watt electric heater and computer on around 5pm after work.
Related Sites:
The sockets in my garage no longer work. Anybody know why?
...the power company is only responsible for service up to your building. after that is is yours. if you have lost power to 3 different outlets, then you have lost the "feed" somewhere between the fuse box and the first outlet. if you do not know what you are doing with electricity, get a licensed electrician to check it out. he can trace the wiring out, testing for voltage along the way..."
Like others said, it sounds like a GFCI trip. The challenge is to find the reset button - it may be on one of the outlets in the garage, but not necessarily. You may have to go on a scavenger hunt throughout the house. Common places are in the garage, bathrooms, kitchen, or sometimes on outside outlets. One tripped button takes all of the outlets on the same circuit offline.
I had a problem with an outside outlet last month. I finally found the switch that needed resetting - in the bathroom!
Cable/Phone Companies
Generator
Loan Agents
Real Estate Agent