Home shopping is always a stressful time in a life! Hope yours goes smoothly and you find everything on your list easily!
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Home shopping is always a stressful time in a life! Hope yours goes smoothly and you find everything on your list easily!
Wes, we have good friends who were in that situation, and he took a unique approach. They found a corner property in an area that had not yet "popped" with the developers and bought an 80 acre field. Then they built a big metal building on slab, spending a bit extra to give it a better "look" than just a pole barn - some front facade to resemble an old time store front or barn, plumbed it for full bath, fully insulated it and finished a large area as living quarters. They then lived in the "barn" for a year while the house was being built, and the guy "helped" with construction as he wanted to, especially when it came time for special features and finish work. Ended up with a fantastic setup, the house they wanted, plus a very, very nice shop. The big upside, after about eight years the developers started surrounding them with upscale houses, $350 to $600K on 1/3 to 1/2 acre lots, and he sold off the extra land, keeping an acre or so for his back yard. They did very well....
Good luck on your hunt.
Wes good news for sure to get a bigger work space, and nice to have some time to find what is right for you, versus the frenzy market to pop on whatever is listed for fear of losing out. It seems around here people go into a buyers frenzy when something remotely resembling what they want appears on the market. Our new neighbors bought a house for over 100k above asking because of the location and that they had been searching the area for a year. They've had to completely replaster the house, and do tons of other work for over 7 months(former owner was the local cat lady who schemed and always tried to cut corners for 15 years on maintenance issues, thus over grown trashy yard, cat piss stained floors, leaking roof with plaster falling off the lathe..you get the idea), while living in one room, with construction going on 6 days a week. The point is it's worth renting to give yourselves time to get the right place, vs. overpaying for what you aren't really thrilled with. It's funny 5 years ago places around here were sitting for sale for 3-6 months, and selling 100k under asking, now the market frenzy has started again, especially in the 500k range. Good luck and tune back in here when you get the time!
So here's the new digs. Newly constructed on 2.5 acres. It has a 3 car tandem style garage to house the VR until the shop can be built.
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The shop will probably go on the hillside, to the left in the first pic, behind the propane tank.
If all goes well, we'll be closing early next week. We're very excited to finally get a taste of country living. We've been talking to a landscape architect about drawing up a plan for the entire property. It's a little bit n the expensive side, but will be worth it in the long run. We don't want to do a piecemeal job and end up with elements that don't match (a common problem whenever I design on the fly).
That's bloody gorgeous!
2.5 acres = about one hectare.
That's a lot of lawn to mow!
That's pretty much what we did.
But we subdivided about 14 acres off our 329 acre block and sold the 315 acres.
Built the shed prior to that, and lived in it for twelve months while the house was being built.
So we now have a set-up that when sold would appeal to any small business, complete with showers, m & f toilets, smoke-oh room, manager's office, secretary's office, front counter area, lots of mezzanine storage, truck access, three phase power throughout, and large ancillary buildings . . .
That is Beautiful ! Trust all goes well at the closing and then the Big Move!
Great looking place Wes! Should be a blast living in the country and away from all the city hassles.....At least it will present new hassles to deal with!!!!! (I think that's good news???)
Looks like a very nice place, Wes! Congratulations on the find, and best of luck as you move to closing! Is that last picture the road leading up to the house? I like that the garage has a pass through door to the back, too! Looks like someone was thinking when they planned the house/garage/property placement. Glad that you found it!
Beautiful place Wes, Are you still in the same area?
Thanks for the moral support guys.
We gotta be out of here by Thursday, but won't close on the new house until sometime next week...hopefully. The underwriter keeps asking for explanations, for things that seem pretty petty, so we don't know when the documents will be drawn up yet. Our loan broker assures us everything is fine and on schedule. In spite of that my wife is convinced something is wrong, and the loan will fall through, and we'll end up homeless. She stresses enough for both of us...so I'm good.
Yes, that's the view from the main road. The asphalt drive up to the house is hidden behind that little berm. It remains to be seen if that rear garage door is going to be of much use. If I set it up as a drive through, it will limit the use of the backyard. I'm hoping the landscape architect will have some good ideas.
The new place is about 10 miles north of where we are now, in the English Hills area of Vacaville. Still gonna have some blistering summers.:eek:
Ahhh Steve, you couldn't be more wrong.:D
Number one, I don't have a green thumb... and number two, I hate tomatoes.:LOL:
But in that vain, my wife is thinking we might put in a small vineyard down the hill toward the road. THAT won't be hard to maintain.... right?**)
Wes, I wish you luck on a trouble free closing! That is a very, very nice place! Good luck sir!
Nothing like living away from the city. Nobody looking to see what your doing and with what. That used to be one of my fears with people driving by seeing the doors open. Enjoy the new place. I know you will.
My Grandma had 60 acres in Fresno which I worked as a kid. A few vines aren't too bad, plus you can make wine!
Wow!! It's hard to believe that it has been 3 months since my last post. So much to do with the new place. No time to work on the VR or its eventual home (shop). After a week of temperatures in triple digits, it wasn't hard for my wife to convince me to push the shop construction back until the pool / spa is finished. I'll need a place to cool off during the daytime construction and some hot water jets to soothe those aching muscles after the day is done.
We've settled on a pool design and it's now up to our landscape architect to work it into the over all plans for the 2.5 acres.
These are screen shots from the pool designers laptop.
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We're hoping to start on the retaining walls in the next couple of weeks with the pool construction being completed sometime in the late fall .
In the mean time I'll just keep taking the VR out a couple times a week to keep her limber.
Super nice design Wes! Keep posting us updates, and we will patiently await the shop and VR progress!
Very nice pool design and I like the idea of a shallow bit for the wee ones to enjoy safely. The only advice I can give someone putting in a pool is.... make it easy to clean by being able to get all the way around it easily. Nothing more frustrating then not been able to reach all the pool without using extra long handles on cleaning gear. Just a thought for you.
Wow, that's beautiful!! I guess "we'll" try to be patient and await another update on the VR... :D:D
Wish I had some progress to report, but I've actually regressed. While driving a few weeks ago the gauges and turn signals all went dead. The short is somewhere under the dash. Since I'm planning on a complete custom dash, I'm in no hurry to dig through all that wiring that I'm eventually going to toss anyway. We're finally getting some wet weather, so I've been content to let the VR sit in the garage for long stretches.
I needed to move her out last week, to make room for construction of this years Christmas village, but the battery was too low. I decided to roll her down the driveway, get her started and let the battery charge.
After popping the clutch, twice without a start, I realized I hadn't turned the key far enough to energize the ignition. :o Stupid me turns the key and BANG:eek:... the backfire split the muffler down the seem.
I think I'll wait until spring before I inflict any more damage.:rolleyes:
She still looks pretty good ifo the new digs.
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Sorry to hear of the issues. It sure looks nice!
Oh well, stuff just happens for no reason at all sometimes! The new house looks great, sounds like you're finally getting some much needed rain anyway!!!!
This rain has been impressive.As of this morning we got just shy of 5 inches of rain from this storm over the last few days! So impressive that while driving home from work late Tuesday night, I hit a flooded patch of hiway on 101 near the county line, that sent a wave over the convertible roof and windshield. Thank god I was only going around 30 mph, since it was invisible in the rain! Yesterday a.m. my wife emails me about something sticking out from the bottom of the MR2. It turns out that the rear subassembly splash guard got torn off from it's front mounts and was now hanging by rear screws only, half ground off! So I guess today's project is fixing that! My truck is still at the mechanics so I have to go talk with him about a return date!
Your new place looks fantastic, and the car suits the house!
Had to smile at the muffler story. Too bad you split the muffler, but it sure did make a good story here.
The car's gonna look great cruising in & out of your new neighborhood.
Been a while since I've seen the build came out nice, like the lines of the car. Good to here you're putting around and enjoying it. Of course I realize to the end of the drive way does not count. ;)
Merry Christmas
It's been six months since my last post and not much has changed with the VR. I still have the electrical issue, so none of the gauges or turn signals are operational. I did manage to get her down to the local muffler shop this week and replace what was left of the muffler. She sounds much better and I'm hoping to get some use out of her this summer. I'm gonna try to get the signals and a couple of gauges working by next week, but since I'll be replacing all of that stuff eventually, it's not high on the priority list.
So what have I been doing these past months???
Here are a couple of before and after pics.
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To the far right of the last image, my new tractor sits on the pad that will eventually be home to my shop. If I'm lucky, by this time next year I'll be finishing the VR in the comfort of that shop.
Sweat! Nice size lot you have there!.My truck has officially been gone one year and may actually be returning this week, as the transmission linkage mods are almost done. Have to check in with Randy today. Sometimes it's nice to get a long break, it inspires us once we get back to it! Your new home looks marvelous!
Very very nice Wes, the home and garden is comimg together very nicely. You must have a good size section as the workshop garage will be a good distance from the main home o that all those grinding and other noisy jobs won't be unbearable for those indoors..
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Time for an update. Unfortunately there is no progress to report. Only regression.
A couple of months ago my son was showing the VR to a friend. When he fired her up for a little drive, we spotted a fuel leak near the carb. We quickly shut her down and fixed the problem. My son then leaned in and turned the key while standing outside the drivers door. The VR immediately started.... while in gear!!!... and drove about six feet... directly under the rear of my daughter-in-laws Mazda 6... before stalling out. The back of the Mazda now rested on the bonnet of the VR approximately three feet in the air. After jacking the Mazda up about three inches we were able to push the VR out from underneath.
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The damage is mostly cosmetic. I'll have to redo all the fiberglass work I did to extend the scoops and do a little reinforcing. The only functional damage was to the bonnet hinge bracket. The upper bolt "ears" snapped off under the weight of the Mazda. A simple fix with a little welding.
I only wish I would have had the presence of mind to take a photo while the Mazda was resting on the hood. It was quite comical. And it was a good thing the Mazda was in the way. Without it the VR would have driven off our paved parking pad and dropped 30 feet to the gully below, al a 'Ferris Buellers Day Off'. :o
For now, the VR waits out the rainy season (long overdue here) under a temporary RV cover. Hoping to start construction on a permanent home for her this spring.
Sorry to hear of the damage(s), Is the Mazda okay?
Wow! I was excited to see your ID pop up after the understandable absence, but gut punched to see the pictures and read the story of the damage. I imagine that your son was devastated, anticipating showing off Dad's project to a buddy, and then being the one that caused it to run under the Mazda. At least no one was hurt, and to your credit your attitude (at least now) is great - nothing that cannot be fixed, just a couple of welds and some fiberglass, it'll be good as new in a weekend!! As you noted, it could have easily been soooo much worse!
Looking forward to some shots of the barn/shop build, and then the repairs and continuing finish work! Glad to see you, sorry for the reason...
Sorry to hear about the damage, might be time to consider a neutral safety switch?
Hey Wes sorry to read this update. Hope all is resolving and no one feels too bad. Did the Mazda get damaged? I ACTUALLY ENVISIONED A SIMILAR THING TODAY WHILE TESTING OUT SOME led REVERSE LIGHTS. nOW THAT i'M SEPARATED, i DON'T HAVE A PARTNER TO SIT IN CAR WITH FOOT ON BRAKE WHILE THEY PUT CAR IN REVERSE. mY 1998 tACOMA 4X4 HAS TINTED REAR WINDOWS MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE WHATS BEHIND YOU AT NIGHT WHEN REVERSING, SINCE STOCK BACKUOP LIGHTS ARE STOCK 1156 BULBS. sO i PURCHASED SOME SUPER BRIGHT ledS AND HAD TO PUT PARKING BRAKE ON AND PRAY THE TRUCK DIDN'T RUN ME OVER IN REVERSE(IT'S AN AUTOMATIC SO NOT AS BAD AS IF IT WAS MANUAL!) tURNS OUT one of the bulbs didn't work, so they will be returned tomorrow, but for being labeled super bright, the stock bulb seemed the same. Thus after this prolonged process went to evil Bay and found a pair of 1200 lumen cree led backup bulbs, if they don't work nothing will! Anyway sorry for your set back. And sorry for the caps lock capitals!
You could run the existing brake light switch to a relay, using a normally open contact to interrupt the start circuit.
If your foot isn't on the brake, car won't start. Easy, and no new switches needed.