Mastodawn

austic23 Dec 22, 2024

Took some doing to get myself there, but I got a couple of hours in on the house.
* hung up some line to help me see where to run plumbing supply lines
* took down and unneeded beam in the basement
* took down some framing that was no longer needed in the basement
* hauled some scrap stone back outside
* updated a set of drawings to help me make sure I get the plumbing lines right - went to go print them out and the print shop is closed :/

austic23 Dec 21, 2024

It's 15°F outside (and in most of the inside). I have been trying to get myself moving for the past 2 hours to make any kind of progress on the house. And now I am back in bed. I think my brain is broken.

austic23 Nov 3, 2024

I've made some progress improving the building envelope by closing off openings to the outside. I'll eventually be using an insulation system to try to bring the house into 21st century energy efficiency range. Water management in buildings has been a topic I've sought a lot of education on. I am worried I am going to do it wrong.

#diy #HouseRestoration #homerenovation #centuryhomes #buildingScience #bldgWaterManagement #insulation

austic23 Nov 3, 2024

I've also gotten about 2/3 of the downstairs windows reframed with proper headers and good connections to existing studs. I want to try and knock out another large window this weekend, but the weather has not been cooperating to allow me to go to the lumberyard and get the lumber. I need 12' lengths, and wind and rain are not cooperating. I need to finish adding these headers and studs so I can get an electrician in to run new wire.
#diy #HouseRestoration #homerenovation #centuryhomes

austic23 Nov 3, 2024

I've made good progress on correcting bad, old framing. I've designed and installed a load bearing post and beam system that has corrected a lot of the 2nd floor sagging and addresses the span issues from the original build (they used 2x8s for a 14-16' span and the timbers just weren't holding up, especially with all the added weight from turning the upstairs into apartments).
#diy #HouseRestoration #centuryhomes #homerenovation

austic23 Nov 3, 2024

I've made significant progress in demolition. I believe I have the first floor fully demolished, and the basement mostly demolished. I've removed all plaster and lath (don't come for me. Most of it was falling off in the first place) and carpet and trim and doors and blown-in cellulose insulation. I've saved the doors and trim. Someday I will get to cleaning them up and rescuing them (I promise!)
#diy #centuryhomes #HouseRestoration

austic23 Nov 3, 2024

I struggle a lot with the project management necessary to make progress on the house. I currently need to line up some trades professionals (electrical and plumbing) but can't seem to find the time or mental bandwidth to manage the outreach and reach back necessary to stay on their radar. So I'm planning to do as much of it myself as I can
#diy #homerenovation #centuryhomes

austic23 Nov 3, 2024

3 summers ago, I bought a "landlord special" 19th century foursquare home in a Midwest college town.

Knowing it would be a lot of work, I thought it could help me find some balance between my day job, which is mostly thinking and writing, by giving me hands-on work.

I want to try and use this space to help keep me accountable for progress on the house and as a way to vent frustrations that come up with it.

#diy #centuryhomes #HouseRestoration #homerenovation

austic23 Aug 6, 2023

Peter Gleick Aug 5, 2023

When are we going to stop calling these "gifts," "loans," "personal financial arrangements," and call them what they are.
They're bribes.

Clarence Thomas’s $267,230 R.V. and the Friend Who Financed It https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/us/clarence-thomas-rv-anthony-welters.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

Justice Clarence Thomas’s $267,230 RV and the Friend Who Financed It

The vehicle is a key part of the justice’s just-folks persona. It’s also a luxury motor coach that was funded by someone else’s money.

The New York Times

austic23 Jul 28, 2023

Omar Moore Jul 27, 2023

Now why in the holy motherfuck are Black farmers having to fill out 40-PAGE APPLICATIONS just to try to get the money they are owed and promised??? Black farm land was taken, destroyed and eliminated over decades and now we’re filling out MF’IN applications?? Well FUCK and THAT. #BlackMastodon #Mastodon https://blackfarmers.org

National Black Farmers Association

The National Black Farmers (NBFA) is a non-profit organization representing African-American farmers and their families in the United States. As an association, it serves tens of thousands of members nationwide. NBFA's education and advocacy efforts have been focused on countless things to help impr

National Black Farmers Association