The adventure of a young couple and an 80+ year old home!
The ceilings at Project Hillside are holding up. I was concerned the repairs on the cracks would start showing stress as we get closer to a year old. Well, it has been 10 months and all is well. We've had 100' days and 10' days .. vibrations everywhere in the house, 3 large parties, and all is well.
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The wine cellar is about 70% complete! All walls are up, 100% barrier is 100% complete, and insulation is starting. Learn More.
We had a nice get together for July 4th at Project Hillside. The backyard really served it's purpose and we had amazing flank steaks cooked by Chef Amber. July 4th at Project Hillside Pictures
With the summer heat well upon us I remembered growing up we used to turn the attic fan on, wait to hear it, and smile when it turned on for the year. That was the signal it was HOT in Virginia! This old house isn't any different. With a no fan currently in the attic I find myself looking for something that isn't like what I grew up with. We want something a little more modern and advanced. Solar power! Why not!? I have researched the U.S. Sunlight attic fan and think it may be something we consider, unless we go with the old fashion kind. Amber likes the idea of having a green attic fan and as we continue to develop and improve the house I like that idea as well. Do you have any experience with solar attic fans?
I certainly will admit it .. getting things for free that people throw away amuses me. At our little apartment outside of NYC we stay at while doing work in NYC people throw away crazy stuff. I've dug a propane tank out of the trash, a laptop, perfect condition bakers rack, and a tower computer just to name a few things. I'm not exactly dumpster diving, just picking it up on the floor inside the trash room .. it is like the to good to throw away at the dump. Amber usually makes fun of me and I enjoy telling all my co-workers who also look at me strange and say, "so, it was in the trash?" If I see something I like I say WHY NOT! Perhaps my pleasures rubbed off on Amber? A few weeks ago she is coming back from a walk with Oliver and I hear here fumbling at the door. Three trips later ...
We have a Panasonic receiver, 4 speakers, 1 center speaker, and a sub-woofer .. it works just fine! This is going to power the outdoor music system at Project Hillside :) It is very green, right? I like to think of it as recycling.
Project Hillside has a much needed addition: an additional bathroom .. well, if you are 3 feet tall and don't mind using an outhouse! Check-out our new well cover at Project Hillside. Hopefully everyone will stop asking me what is that sticking out of the ground .. now, instead of seeing the well, they will see our mini outhouse! We love it!
This past weekend I embarked on another project: the Backyard Winery wine cellar at Project Hillside. As my aspiring wine making skills continue to grow storage was certainly going to become an issue. Why not take the basement, partition a section off, and create a nice wine cellar? Absolutely, sounds good! Lots of work is going into this project and this is only phase 1, getting it framed out. Check out the pictures and keep track of our status.
Luckily for us we have another helper at Project Hillside. He doesn't require money, simply food, water, and lots of good snacks. I guess you can't expect much when you don't pay someone, so he gets away with sleeping on the job on a regular basis. When he does decide to help, it is superb. Thanks for the hand Oliver!
This project SUCKED! Partially, because I thought it would be a good idea to pickup all the supplies. The other reason, because everyone said how easy it was and how it is like 5 steps. I think they are building these in some nice Arizona flat desert land! At the bottom of a mountain, with the soil has sat since the house was built 80 years ago, working UPHILL, that is HARD stuff. After 3 days of work, it is done! Read all about the patio project and see pictures, click here.
The hot tub at project hillside is installed! After waiting nearly 2 months, it finally arrived. All works with the hot tub but a new issue has came up! Since the well is new and we really haven't used it much, lots of sediment formed inside the tank (inside). As a result, after about 50 gallons it pumped MURKY water beacuse the inside tank got low. I need to flush it all out and try again. Hopefully it works! Click here to view the pictures of the hot tub install