We have ignition!

While we headed off to Maryland for our granddaughter’s wedding, our power company made a secret visit. Yes, the electric is now connected. We got photo confirmation from our helpful neighboring teen, Justin.

When we got home, my first chore was making sure the newly installed inside and outside lights were working. I removed the extension cord connection inside – all A-OK. Then I waited until dark for the day/night outdoor lights to turn on. Success!

What’s next? I need to complete the indoor wiring, that will be my winter project. I need to recoup from some surgery that limits my physical activities for a few weeks. Next spring/summer, I hope to get at least half the inside concreted. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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Juice me!

The fourth time was the charm! The electrician and his crew arrived early and did a fantastic and professional job. Once done, the inspector from the power company came out and signed off on it. Now I sit and wait for the power company to do the connection. They are backlogged with upgrades and repairs, so no idea when that will happen. But it’s wired! Highly recommend Dillon’s Electrical and Maintenance.

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Third time wasn’t the charm…

Back in April, I started my search for an electrician to wire the garage. Emails were sent, most with no follow-up. I got a referral from a local we know and things were looking good. The contractor came out and really seemed up on things. He answered a lot of my questions and said he’d get back with a quote within a couple of days. Almost two weeks later, I got the quote and agreed with the price with work to start in June. But as the time grew closer, I got no replies to repeated requests for a firm date.

So I moved on to another locally recommended electrician. He came out almost immediately and got back to me right away with a quote that was better yet. Dates were left loose for early July. But once again, no go. He did contact me and said he wasn’t able to do any work over the next few months but he did recommend another man.

On to number three who agreed he could deliver using the quote from number two and said we’d firm up the date as July approached. And approach it did, and he had multiple delays. Finally he got back to me and said he couldn’t commit to a date within my needed timeline (by mid-September). He understood if I needed to find someone else.

So now I’m waiting on number four who answered his phone immediately and said he could get us on his schedule within a couple of weeks. He would need to come out and that would be soon. Still waiting but still hoping the fourth time will be the charm…

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Do you dig me?

Another step closer to getting electricity to the pole barn. I had long planned to rent a trencher to dig most of the ditch needed for the electric install. Unfortunately, when the local power co-op engineer arrived, he advised I dig most of it by hand. The little bit that was left wasn’t worth the rental cost or the time to get and return it. So dig by hand it was.

I started and was fortunate to have our good friend Earl arrive to help finish. You may remember he spent days helping with the siding installation.

Time to dig, dig, dig…

Everyone should have a friend like him. I even got him to sign one of the boards inside, now everyone that has worked on it (no matter how small a part they played) has signed a board.

Once the ditch was dug and the pipe was in place, it was time for the engineer to return and give his approval. Red flags in place, we’re good to go.

The electrician is scheduled, tentatively, to come out next week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

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Fini! Well, almost…

It took a bit longer than I expected to finish this build, partly due to activities but mostly due to weather issues. If you follow the blog, you saw me start this over two months ago (Press on…Press off). Here are some photos as the build progressed.

And the finished product, after I added rubber matting on top of the flooring.

Next step is electrical, once that installation is done (I hope by the end of July), I can move my big compressor out of the house garage and into its new home.

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Neither here nor there….

The next step in the garage build was originally to be concrete, but earlier this year I made the decision to get power done first. That means I won’t have to run things on extension cords from the house.

First thing was to get recommendations for local electricians that were qualified to do the work. We asked a couple of local friends and got a name and number. I called and he came out the next day. Good talk and he said he’d get back in a couple of days. A week+ later, after several texts asking for the quote, I heard back. The price was within my budget but we still needed to wait till spring was well under way. He said he’d bring a print copy of the quote by the house, never did. When it came time to start work, no call backs. After multiple attempts, I left a message and told him to forget it. I’d find someone else.

Next we built a list of recommendations from others in a local Facebook group and sent off emails to four or five contractors. I heard back from one. He came out, we had a good chat, and he came back with a great quote in a couple of days. We set June for the project start and all was hunky-dory…until it wasn’t. He contacted me and said he needed to back out of all projects for the summer due to some personal issues.

I asked if he could recommend someone and he did. That electrician came out the same day, agreed with the price quoted by the last guy (who recommended him), and we are now set for a July start date. Keeping my fingers crossed….

But I did some work based upon the recommendations of the first electrician, things that are required to pass the electrical inspection. I ordered a set of 12 LED light fixtures, similar looking to 4 ft fluorescents. 4 of them can be wired together for 16 feet of light. These are hung from the horizontal brace on the steel trusses. 3 sets for now, additional sets later after all the electrical is completed. I have temporarily rigged them to a power strip in my work area. Now I have some decent light when the sun goes down.

This is my temporary workbench area as well as some storage. I do attempt to keep any current project materials and tools here for ready access. Alas, I still make a few trips back to the garage and wood shop for those items I forgot or didn’t know I needed.

Still keeping my fingers crossed…

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Press on…Press off

There are several items in our current two-car garage that will get moved to the pole barn when all is said and done. One of those is my big compressor (press on-press off). Rather than have it inside where the noise will echo and disturb (me and the birds), I decided to build a shed off the back for it.

The work is slow, weather has to be good, and although I got a lot done, there’s still more. Like a roof and siding. Hopefully we can get the electric installation done soon as well, then my neighbor will use his tractor to move the compressor into it’s new home. And we will welcome the extra space in the garage.

Here are some photos of the progress. I am heading off for a two-week trip to Florida and when I return, I will have a week or so to work on it before my grandgirls arrive for a ten-day visit. So what isn’t done by the time they come, will have to wait until after they leave in May.

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No, it’s not done yet…

While 2020 wasn’t a complete bust, nothing major was accomplished. No wondering why, right? Here is what did get done…

Fence Line Moved

Why? To better allow access to the #2doods when I’m working in the garage. They love the freedom after the fence line was moved to the front of the property.

CLICK HERE to see a video of the doods checking things out…

Here’s some pics of the work in progress…

I also added a walk-through gate from our front yard into the pole barn yard.

Dusk to Dawn Light Installed

We discovered our local electric co-op would install a dusk to dawn mercury light at no charge with a small (very small) monthly fee. That was a no brainer. We filled out the form and BOOM! It was done. We were fortunate a convenient pole was already in place on our property.

Water Line Installed

While the weather was nice, not too hot and not too cold, I decided it was time to get the water line extended and stop using a garden hose. A lot of the digging had to done by hand, then I brought in a trencher. So, with a little help from our neighbor (yes, he helped with the fence move, too), we got it done over several days.

What’s Next?

I’m still running a few things on an extension cord so power is the next big item to be tackled. I’m waiting on an estimate from a local electrician that was recommended to us, then I will be saving my pennies to get that part done.

Hopefully by fall I can get the concrete started. I’ve decided to only do half initially. Why? $$$ This thing ain’t cheap! I also need to get wood for my office space and I’m hoping the pricing on that will start coming down soon. Right now it’s insane!

Stay Tuned!