Dual Homestead Update 11/21/2014

November 21, 2014November 21, 2014 James Burnette 217 Comments

Homestead Update

Another update on the tiny house build going on at Dual Homestead. Smitty and I have been killing it. Even with my recent winter cold. I shot some video after a long day out there. I went back one more time but was so tired I didn’t get any video. This update has two major completions. With the move in date getting closer the need to be done is ramping up.

Plywood Walls Going Up

The walls are finally going up. In fact they went up surprisingly fast. Which was what I thought. I figured using plywood sheets instead of drywall would go very fast. I did not realize how many pieces would need to be cut though. Which turned out to be every sheet. Not a single one went up whole. With that said though we covered the walls in two days of hard work.

The back wall still has a piece to go up. We are building a wall for the bathroom. The ceiling still needs to be covered as well. As you can see in the video though the rest is up. We have not even stained the walls yet and they already look great. The next step on the walls is to fill holes with wood filler, sand and stain it.

I’m still going back and forth on whether I want to use a stain with or without polyurethane. Do I want them shiny or not? Still not completely sure on the stain color either. I’m leaning towards no polyurethane in a red oak. We will see though.

Insulation Is Finally Done

Doing the insulation on the ceiling was becoming a pain in my ass. The problem was the ceiling rafters are about 22 inches apart. The insulation we had was 15 inch wide. Our original plan was to cut down one piece and add to a whole one to make up the difference. Doing this on a ceiling was nigh impossible. It took me about 30 minutes to get up one piece. And it looked like crap.

So the solution was to go get the right size insulation. I also picked up some metal rods to hold them in place. Those speed up the process. I got the entire ceiling done in a few hours. It was so rewarding to see so much progress. Now we just need to get the plywood up there. I can’t wait to show you guys the finished house.

Homestead Update Windows and Wiring

November 4, 2014November 4, 2014 James Burnette 1,085 Comments

Just a quick update for you today. I met up with Dave and Smitty at Dual Homestead yesterday. We spent the whole day out there getting stuff done. Progress is still going slow. Still waiting on some things to move along the project. It was great to see the transformation yesterday. It was a huge transformation when we left out. Let me share what we did to keep all of you up to date.

How To Off Grid Internet Solutions

November 2, 2014July 29, 2016 James Burnette 1,568 Comments

Off grid internet was a necessity when I moved into my tiny house. I can’t run survivalpunk without the internet. The idea of driving thirty miles to Starbucks to mooch while drinking coffee did occur. I spent a long time researching off grid internet. I was looking for the most bang for my buck. I have become spoiled with cheap and fast internet. I’ve had cable Internet for over 10 years. With that there’s no limits on data. With many of the off grid options you have data caps. What did I end up going with? Let me walk you through the decision.

Putting the Home In Dual Homestead

October 27, 2014October 28, 2014 James Burnette 201 Comments

Today I have an update on the homestead front. I’m sure you read about my frustrations a few weeks ago. This week is all different. I spent a week up on the land getting work done. So many things finally got accomplished. We still have so much more to do. It was refreshing to move forward. It felt like we were spinning our wheels for so long. Most importantly was the shed delivery.

You can homestead without a home. Though not quite a Home yet it’s progress. Not to go off in hippie land but it felt like home. I immediately felt comfortable in it. Well except the first night. That was a cold night. Let me tell you all about it and the other projects accomplished.

Homestead Frustrations

October 21, 2014October 27, 2014 James Burnette 182 Comments

I thought I would give you guys a quick update on Dual Homestead. We have been dealing with some homestead frustrations. It seems like one thing after another. Being that we are friends I’m going to share with you. The Dual homestead driveway was badly washed out when we got it. I’m not sure that it’s much better now.

The driveway had huge gashes of water damage. Getting up the hill in my little hatchback was a chore. If it was wet even harder. That was the big reason for Smitty to bring out his tractor. He filled in the holes. Smitty graded the driveway really well. For the first time it was easy to get up and down the driveway.

The problem is that in grading the driveway the top no longer had gravel. It was bare dirt on the top of the hill. We knew we needed to get gravel and soon. Cash was in short supply and gravel got pushed back. We were hopping that the rain would hold off long enough for us to get things taken care of. Mother Nature is not cooperating. So far this is the third wettest October in Tennessee with half the month left to go.

We had a three-day long rain this week. Smitty and I went to go see if the land was passable for delivery of my shed. We get to the driveway to see that is has some washout damage. The soil is very soft. He was able to get his truck to the top with only a little tire spinning. We make the call to reschedule the shed delivery. To give the driveway a few days to dry out. I also call Dish Network to see if we need to reschedule setup. I told them on the phone that my building was delayed. The lady I spoke with said they could still set it up. I would just need to bring a TV out to the land. Great one less thing to worry about.

This morning I get up at 5am to eat breakfast and head out to the land. The drive is about 2 hours away. I get out there and set out my mailbox. Then I drive up the hill. I see that it is more muddy but my tiny car gets up no problem. I do a few things around the homestead while I wait for the installer. When I hear him coming up the driveway I head that way to great him. I can hear his van struggling to make it up the hill. Then I hear the worst sound. I hear the van sliding down the hill and abruptly stop. Great..

I get to the driveway to see the installer in the ditch. This is already going south. He is stuck completely. No getting out. He says he’s going to try to call and get pulled out. He has two phones on his a Verizon and an ATT&T. I know Verizon does not work on the land. In fact We have not see any service work. He manages to make a call on the ATT&T phone to his supervisor to let him know.

He ask to see where we are setting up the satellite dishes. I show him over to where I want them. I had my tv hooked up on table over there. I tell him about how the building was delayed. I just want him to put the poles in the ground and test them. I’ll run them inside myself when the building gets there. Well he can’t dig holes until he gets the ok that it’s safe to dig. Also he can’t install the satellite dishes without a building there. I tell him that IS NOT what I was told. I will do it myself I just want the equipment. Not possible. The lady on the phone was wrong.

I wasted half my day and a lot of gas for nothing. I hate wasting time. The whole thing has me so frustrated. I’m ready to get this started and we keep hitting road blocks. We are trying to get this going fast. Maybe too fast. The new plan is to scrape up money for gravel before the shed is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday. Stay tuned friends.