Winter came this weekend out here in Montana. I still had a couple brave souls that wanted to fish so we did. It wasn't great but good enough. Cole and Brian were troopers and a ton of fun. Thanks for sticking it out boys. I have one more trip on the books but I'm holding out for a few more.
This weekend also was my one-year anniversary of being in the Fort! I posted this video on Facebook and had a lot of response to how much work I've done and I got to be honest, I'm pretty proud of it. It's not done but it is home and Cutter and I have a comfortable place to hang out and get warm after a day out on the water. Check out the video and tell me what you think.
Here's a rundown of what all I've done so far:
Gutted and rebuilt the entire kitchen and bathroom including floor-joists, ceilings and walls.
All brand new appliances including replacing the electric range with gas.
Added a laundry facility with washer and dryer.
Remodeled the bedroom, including patching walls, refurbishing original hardwood floors, and wainscoting.
Barn doors.
Fixed the wall around the bay window and re-built the shelf using reclaimed blue-pine.
100% new plumbing. (Contracted out.)
About 60% brand new wiring. (Contracted out.)
Brand new mini-split heat pump for heating and cooling. (Contracted out.)
New windows.
New patio with railroad tie wall.
Killed off and replanted the entire back yard with grass.
Tore our countless trees.
Fire pit.
Horseshoe pits.
Flower beds.
New steps and re-furbished the floors in the porch, new pine trim, and painted.
New lights outside of porches.
New ceiling fan in living room.
Painted outside trim and shutters.
Painted the front door orange.
I paid $60,000 for this house. My best estimate on how much I've put into it is right around $28,000. It's not done. There are still the unfinished floors in the work area and living room as well as the ceilings in both rooms and trim but I feel like this place is getting there.
A big decision I had to make was on the heating system. To install a forced air gas furnace would have been close to $8,000. I would have had to run ducts and air returns and I would have had to spend another grand or so on A/C. Seems like a lot but maybe worth it.
Another option was to have two Rinnai gas heaters that would have cost about $3,800. The problem is, no A/C options and the resell value wouldn't be very good.
My heating guy suggested a mini-split heat pump. They heat in the winter and cool in the summer and they are super efficient for $4,750. The problem is they have to work very hard when the outside temps are below -13 degrees, which means the electrical bill will suffer during that time. They also don't run through ducts so my concern was that the entire house wouldn't get heat. I went with it anyway.
In the short time I've been using the heat pump, here's what I'm finding. With the combination of the new windows, the heat pump does really well. The outside temps have been in the twenties for the past few days and this place is nice and cozy and even in the back laundry room, it's fine. In fact, as you can see with the icicles hanging off the antlers in the above pic, I'm probably losing a ton of heat out the roof. That will also need to be addressed. I do need a new roof and will add insulation at that time. For now though, it's going to be WAY more efficient and cheaper than last year when all I had were single-pane windows and electric wall heaters.
I'm not even going to guess what this house is worth now. I couldn't sell it yet, as it is so there's no point in speculating. What I will say is that I'm happy with the risk I took, especially in this year of Covid. I could still be paying rent in Helena at $1300 a month.
There are a few people for who I owe a great deal of gratitude. The biggest thank you goes to Dan Antonia. This dude loaded me up with tools and helped with reframing floors and was a complete Godsend. I still owe him a few days on the river for all his help outside of the plumbing I paid him for.
A big thanks to Paul Jenkins too for hooking me up with Dan and for coming out to look at the place before I signed the papers.
Amy Omang and Mark Stahly for finding me the house and working with the bank to make it happen so quickly.
Jeff Boyer from First Community Bank for working overtime to close on the house so quickly and for figuring our how to finance it giving my self-employment situation.
Lewis and Clark Brewery and their patrons. Seriously. All the construction dudes that hang out there and gave me a ton of advise; it was gold.
Ten Mile Creek and Blackfoot Breweries for the times I needed to get away from the construction guys...
Geoffrey Wyatt and Donny Keeton, AKA Donny Love for some muscle.
I also want to thank Russ from Superior Heating and Cooling, Jim from Capital City Granite, Dallas from Pella Windows, and Zach and Anthony from Integrity Electric for getting me on the books short notice.
Also to my neighbor, Teddy, for helping with painting and picking out some colors. And for listening to me bitch while painting. I hate painting. Actually, all my neighbors that stopped by to thank me for all the work. Thanks for the support!
And thanks Cutter for providing a nudge with a wet nose when I throw f-bombs. That alone probably saved me a few hammers going through the walls. As a reward, you get to get out hunting ducks this year way more than we did last year. It's time to have some fun, Cutter.
Keep 'em where they live and put on a damn mask!
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