Mike's Big Building/Garage/Workshop

It's picture time for our new building.  Mike and I thought about building it ourselves which would have taken us a long time.  We still have so much more to do on this property and decided to have a metal building put up instead.  The process between ordering it, having it built and having the concrete work done took a few weeks but here is it in one post to show you start to finish.

First Mike had to clear trees and do the grading work.  After he did that our concrete man came in to do the forms for us.  The pad is 16x60.

The wire mesh has been placed on top of the dirt.  Just a little FYI about wire mesh.  "Wire Mesh. Using wire mesh is a common method to reinforce poured concrete. ... When the concrete has set around the wire mesh the concrete will end up with a reinforcing material inside that helps to prevent cracking during temperature changes and while the concrete is setting."  

Pouring and spreading the concrete mixture.

Using a float with an extended handle to smooth it out.

Mike talking, oh I mean supervising, lol.

That's it.  The concrete is poured and ready to dry.

After the concrete dried they came back to cut the expansion joints.  And a few weeks later the contractors came to install Mike's new building.



They start with the base and the frame metal.

The roof frame.  It's 14 feet high....room enough for our RV.

This is a roof I would never help with, lol.  The roof is first to be installed.  Screwing the metal panels on.

It's coming along.

They are holding a side panel up while screwing in the bolts.

The roof and back side of the building are finished.

It took the crew two days to complete this building.  So much faster and easier than Mike and I doing it.  This gave us the time to do other projects that needed to get done:)



And Mike's new building.  He is all excited to move his things over since they are all inside where we are living, lol.

Ooh fancy.  Everything looks so nice when it is brand new:)

And the garage door....high enough for the van.

That's all for the building.  Next up, our new farm animals:)

Our New Goat Pen

Good morning.  And the fun begins.  The plan is to have a small farm here with some animals.  The first animals we want to get are miniature goats.  Mike had goats once before in NC but now I get to enjoy this new adventure:)

But first we need to make sure they have a safe enclosure.

Clearing and burning is an ongoing thing.  Just a couple of small piles to burn....and two years later we are still clearing and burning, lol..

The plan is to make a 90' x 90' pen for the new goats.  We are using Redbrand No Climb Horse Fence in the 100 foot rolls.  We will use wood poles on the corners and for the gate.  The rest will be t-post every 10 feet.  We used a string line to keep it all straight.  Mike using the t-post driver.

Mike and his fires.  Of course we cannot live without this tractor:)

For those who know us, you know we have done fencing before and usually we use a post hole digger.  We tried that here and with our soil/gumbo/clay or whatever you want to call it, that is not happening.  All that happens is you hit that mixture of soil and the post hole diggers stop and you can't get the clay stuff off.  So it's time for a new toy:)  We like toys.  This one is an auger made for our tractor.  Mike making sure we attach it right:)

Ooh this will be so much faster to dig a hole:)

We are going roughly 3 feet to set each wood post.  Eventually Mike and I worked out a system.  He controlled the auger from the tractor seat while I held onto the yellow bar to make sure it stayed straight while digging out the hole.  The worst part about this auger is if you catch a big root you better pull out.  There is no reverse on this so if you get stuck you need to manually and forcefully get it unstuck.  Ask me how I know, lol.

Our gate:

Our fencing came in 100 foot rolls, easier for Mike and I to handle.  This first round we unrolled one section on the outside of the t-posts and lifted up while temporarily tying to the t-posts until we stretch the fence tight and then clip each 10 foot section to the t-posts.

Using the tractor to pull the fence tight while Mike clips the fence to the t-posts.

This is the idea Mike came up with the pull the fence tight.  Since then we have improved but this was the first time Mike and I used solid wire fencing.  Since then we have improved:)

Stapling the fencing into the corner posts.

Of course a couple of trees are in the way and need to be taken care of.

Pulling the last corner and them Mike will staple it to the pole.

Our pen was 90 x 90 with one 6 foot gate.  Next the goats and eventually building the barn, at least the first one:)

I don't have a full picture from then of the whole pen but you will see it many more times when the goats get here:)

More to come tomorrow:)

Running Electric From The Meter and Into The House and Building a Barn Door

All in a day's work.  And it was a rough one for Mike.  We rented a Ditch Witch to trench a line from the electric meter to the house.

Clearing the gravel off of the driveway so Mike can make the trench.

The beast, lol.

Mike is starting at our meter and working his way back to the building:

It's a slow process.  He needs to go down about 2 feet so we can bury the electric line:

He needs to make a cross at this point.  One line for the well and one for the electric meter.

Just a close up.

Almost to the building:

Now to make the turn to the building:

We made it to the box for the wire ot go inside the building.

Once the trench is done I can finally help Mike.  I help him add the wire to the trench and we cover it back in with dirt.  Then it's back to hard work for Mike.  Time to connect all the wiring.

He has already wired the living quarters inside the building and now he is adding the big main wire that runs to the electric meter outside.

Hooking up the main wire to our meter.

And into the meter.

The wire is completely protected as Mike pulls it through and gets ready to hook it up:

 

I don't envy Mike having to work and maneuver these wires into the slots and spaces.  You need strong hands and fingers to do this kind of wiring.

We are hooked up.  No more using extension cords inside the building.  We can now use outlets:)

And for an oddball project since we will be moving out of the RV.  We need a door for the bathroom and space prohibits using a regular door.  Mike is building a barn door fr us to use.  He is making it out leftover wood from the building.

Staining it:

That's all for now.  It was a big accomplishment and we are getting closer to our new life on the Florida Farm.  Tomorrow I will post building a big pen for our future miniature goats:)

Installing a Mini Split AC Unit

Now that we have some inside living quarters ready we need a few more things before we can move out of the RV.  Air Conditioning in Florida is a top priority, lol.  We are gong with the same unit that Mike sued on our Off Grid house in TN.  He is going to install a 9,000 BTU 21.5 Seer 115v Ductless Mini Split A/C and Heat Pump System.  This is the unit.  Energy Efficient A/C and Heat Pump

Making sure the inside bracket is level:

Drilling the hole through the interior wall and the exterior wall:

Putting the AC lines together:

and:

Bringing the AC lines outside and through waterproof pipe.  Not an easy task.

Outside mounting brackets:

Putting the condenser on the brackets:

Cutting the copper tubing and getting ready to make the flare to seal the copper pipe to the fitting:

Making the flares:

This is a flare.  It seals the line to the condenser:

Blowing out the lines with canned air to make sure there is no junk in them:

Running and outdoor electric outlet for to the condenser:

Almost finished with electric:

Installed and ready to use:)

That's as much as I have.  Sorry this is not like my regular stories but it was back in 2018 and I missed a lot of pictures.  It picks up when we get our farm animals.

Next up will be trenching and running electricity to the building/house.