First Texas Home

[philip964]

Congratulations!!

Is you new home in the country or is this located inside a City limit or in an urban County that might be fussy?

It's out in the country. Wild west rules... no rules.

Then super awesome!

[PUCKER]

That is AWESOME!! Congratulations! You're going to love that place!!

[powerboatr]

AWESOME it is

congrats
indoor range sounds like a good thing hint hint hint

[clarionite]

The appraisal came back today. It came in within value, so it's gone to underwriting. I should be able to close this week. Hopefully Wednesday or Thursday. I'm excited.

[clarionite]

Here are a few of the pics from the listing. I'll get some better ones after we close tomorrow.

[powerboatr]

tons and tons of potential
outstanding

you have a pretty blank canvas
one bg man cave area,
that big area with the foam insulation with the spiders...get it bombed and get rind of them...they will take over and say hi when you laying under a car

[clarionite]

tons and tons of potential
outstanding

you have a pretty blank canvas
one bg man cave area,
that big area with the foam insulation with the spiders...get it bombed and get rind of them...they will take over and say hi when you laying under a car

I'm no fan of spiders. But my primary concern is the rodent issues. It's been vacant for a long time, in the middle of cow pastures. So field mice are a huge problem. And where field mice are, snakes follow. During the pest inspection, he found a diamond back behind the water heater. I detest spiders. But I'd rather have a wolf spider come say hi and welcome to the neighborhood than a rattle snake.

I've bought some bucket traps for rodents. They're getting placed tomorrow. I'll progress up with some poison when the numbers start getting lower in the traps. (I hate the smell of dead rodents tucked away in the walls) and then I'll put out some massive glue traps to help with the snakes that don't decide to move when the food situation changes. I'll also do a lot of landscaping to keep them at bay. And fill any egress I find.

The amount of work I have ahead of me hasn't really sunk in yet. Thankfully I'm one of those that enjoys doing it myself. The entire place is getting a fresh coat of paint this month. Bought a nice airless rig with a 100' hose and reversible nozzles to help clear clogs. Now I need to find an inexpensive scissor lift with wheels for outdoors for rent.

Edit: The thing that looks like spider webbing, is actually blown insulation. There are spiders... a massive wolf spider has taken up residence in the jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom. It's been there all three times I've walked through the place. My wife was less than thrilled to see the current occupant. So it's getting eviction service tomorrow also.

[RoyGBiv]

Very, very nice. Congratulations!

[E10]

Congratulations!!

Is your new home in the country or is this located inside a City limit or in an urban County that might be fussy?

It's out in the country. Wild west rules... no rules.

Beware. Texas counties have ordinances concerning wells, septic systems, hunting (less than 10 acres), etc. Check with local officials. And HOAs could be trouble - our property in Kerr Co. Is bounded by two but beholden to neither. Just the same, congrats. It’s a great feeling.

[PUCKER]

Awesome!!!! Well, except for the Diamond Back!!

[powerboatr]

tons and tons of potential
outstanding

you have a pretty blank canvas
one bg man cave area,
that big area with the foam insulation with the spiders...get it bombed and get rind of them...they will take over and say hi when you laying under a car

I'm no fan of spiders. But my primary concern is the rodent issues. It's been vacant for a long time, in the middle of cow pastures. So field mice are a huge problem. And where field mice are, snakes follow. During the pest inspection, he found a diamond back behind the water heater. I detest spiders. But I'd rather have a wolf spider come say hi and welcome to the neighborhood than a rattle snake.

I've bought some bucket traps for rodents. They're getting placed tomorrow. I'll progress up with some poison when the numbers start getting lower in the traps. (I hate the smell of dead rodents tucked away in the walls) and then I'll put out some massive glue traps to help with the snakes that don't decide to move when the food situation changes. I'll also do a lot of landscaping to keep them at bay. And fill any egress I find.

The amount of work I have ahead of me hasn't really sunk in yet. Thankfully I'm one of those that enjoys doing it myself. The entire place is getting a fresh coat of paint this month. Bought a nice airless rig with a 100' hose and reversible nozzles to help clear clogs. Now I need to find an inexpensive scissor lift with wheels for outdoors for rent.

Edit: The thing that looks like spider webbing, is actually blown insulation. There are spiders... a massive wolf spider has taken up residence in the jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom. It's been there all three times I've walked through the place. My wife was less than thrilled to see the current occupant. So it's getting eviction service tomorrow also.

oh yeah a wolf spider hanging out in the jacuzzi would be an eviction post haste of that dude.

we got some sonic rodent and ground burrowing animal deterring devices from amazon a few weeks back to run off the ground moles, field mice, snakes, etc..it takes 7 to 10 days to be effective. lets say my neighbor now has new residents digging up her lawn. zero poisons and no dying in the walls.

inexpensive ,
the place looks like its going to be terrific to call home.

[powerboatr]

tons and tons of potential
outstanding

you have a pretty blank canvas
one bg man cave area,
that big area with the foam insulation with the spiders...get it bombed and get rind of them...they will take over and say hi when you laying under a car

I'm no fan of spiders. But my primary concern is the rodent issues. It's been vacant for a long time, in the middle of cow pastures. So field mice are a huge problem. And where field mice are, snakes follow. During the pest inspection, he found a diamond back behind the water heater. I detest spiders. But I'd rather have a wolf spider come say hi and welcome to the neighborhood than a rattle snake.

I've bought some bucket traps for rodents. They're getting placed tomorrow. I'll progress up with some poison when the numbers start getting lower in the traps. (I hate the smell of dead rodents tucked away in the walls) and then I'll put out some massive glue traps to help with the snakes that don't decide to move when the food situation changes. I'll also do a lot of landscaping to keep them at bay. And fill any egress I find.

The amount of work I have ahead of me hasn't really sunk in yet. Thankfully I'm one of those that enjoys doing it myself. The entire place is getting a fresh coat of paint this month. Bought a nice airless rig with a 100' hose and reversible nozzles to help clear clogs. Now I need to find an inexpensive scissor lift with wheels for outdoors for rent.

Edit: The thing that looks like spider webbing, is actually blown insulation. There are spiders... a massive wolf spider has taken up residence in the jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom. It's been there all three times I've walked through the place. My wife was less than thrilled to see the current occupant. So it's getting eviction service tomorrow also.

oh yeah a wolf spider hanging out in the jacuzzi would be an eviction post haste of that dude.

we got some sonic rodent and ground burrowing animal deterring devices from amazon a few weeks back to run off the ground moles, field mice, snakes, etc..it takes 7 to 10 days to be effective. lets say my neighbor now has new residents digging up her lawn. zero poisons and no dying in the walls.
https://www.amazon.com/USKICH-Groundhog ... Waterproof

inexpensive ,
the place looks like its going to be terrific to call home.

[clarionite]

Beware. Texas counties have ordinances concerning wells, septic systems, hunting (less than 10 acres), etc. Check with local officials. And HOAs could be trouble - our property in Kerr Co. Is bounded by two but beholden to neither. Just the same, congrats. It’s a great feeling.

The well and the septic system both are done correctly. I made sure of that during the inspection process. I'm putting in a 2000 gallon tank, and I'm going to follow the rules with placement of it too.

The plumbing on the other hand... it looks like someone gave a 5 year old some PVC and said here, make water come out there.
I spent the weekend replumbing the place in PEX. Since I'm starting from scratch, I'm doing it how I want. I have ball valves everywhere. I'm making sure I have the ability to shut down any section I want and purge it before a freeze. Instead of running hot water lines 100 ft from the water heater, I bought an inline heater for the master bath. That way I just had to run one 3/4 inch cold water line. All the lines they had running outside the house, laying on the ground... well that's all gone. The PEX is all inside the house, ran like it should have been in the first place. I did find that even though the upstairs has no bathrooms (yet) they thought about that and I have lines ran up there that are capped. And a drain pipe ran up there too. They didn't think to cap that one, can't imagine what it smelled like during the summer up there.

I have blisters on my hands from using a shovel to get the Johnson grass that's been growing in the seams of the concrete up. I grew up on a farm, but it's been many years since I've handled a shovel for very long. My hands have gotten soft.

[clarionite]

oh yeah a wolf spider hanging out in the jacuzzi would be an eviction post haste of that dude.

we got some sonic rodent and ground burrowing animal deterring devices from amazon a few weeks back to run off the ground moles, field mice, snakes, etc..it takes 7 to 10 days to be effective. lets say my neighbor now has new residents digging up her lawn. zero poisons and no dying in the walls.

inexpensive ,
the place looks like its going to be terrific to call home.

I didn't have to evict him, he expired naturally and I just had to arrange transportation. LOL

I ordered some of those spikes to give a try. Thanks for the link.

[clarionite]

On one of the several trips out to the property for inspections, I met two of the "neighbors". I put that in quotes because neither of them live close enough to see. But the guy who runs the herd of Brahma in the pasture next to me mentioned that at one time there was an easement to allow them to fill up a water trough for the cattle. He said that it had changed hands enough times though that nobody was honoring it. I told him that I grew up in the country. We didn't have to have any easement, if he needed to fill up a trough, feel free to do so. Just please don't drain my well.

Well, when we started doing the plumbing I found the original main line that runs under the foundation. I was curious as to why they'd cut that line and ran 3/4" pex out the wall, around the house on the ground and back in at the other end of the house. So I connected the line and turned it on, It came out where I was expecting. I let it run for a bit to make sure to flush the line. Then I put a ball valve on that end to see if it would hold pressure. I could hear water running out of the pressure tank, so I started looking for the leak. My buddy was walking around the perimeter of the house looking at the foundation. He came back to where I was and said, I found your leak and you're not going to like it. I asked him if it was bad. And he said you just need to come take a look at this. Across the drive, in the other pasture there was a stream of water shooting up about 5-6 feet. I went over to look at it and it's the spigot they put in to fill that water trough. And it was corroded open. about 15 minutes of time and a $4 spigot and I was able to use the main under the foundation again. When I finish with the replumb inside, I'll dig down and put a ball valve on the line going over to the pasture. But for now I don't think I'm in any danger of it freezing. LOL