Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT The Allen Street Project.

[zimman]

Good morning. After traveling for three years in a 21' Forest River Travel Trailer we've decided to settle down. Yeah, it's been wonderful but I need to get my land legs back. We landed in Southern Missouri close to the Arkansas border and on the edge of the Mark Twain National Forest. I discovered this place after working for the US Forest Service back in 2023. We'd come over to the town to get groceries and the like. Beautiful area. Looked for a house for ever. A year and a half later one showed up and we jumped all over it. Big problem was no garage but we took the leap anyway with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads. LOL.
Originally advertised as a 5 acre farm/home on a Friday, we did not want to pay the money they were asking so we blew it off. On Monday the ad was gone and later in the day suddenly appeared as one acre and the home for 64k. They subdivided the house and one acre and SOLD. We took it. We have sent out a family "Operational Situation" for the other 4 acres. LOL
House was built in 1910. Solid Oak, pine wood flooring, floor joist on 24" centers and no sub floor. Ouch.






The missing garage.



And the rest of the property.

 

[zimman]

Has a cool back porch and a 10x10 room attached to it. Work shop maybe?



Barn is small and the miniature Donkey will go here. LOL.



First order of business after the sale was to remove the two huge dying trees on the South side. At least 80' tall the tree guy was extended to the max with the boom truck. $650 to the ground. Leave the wood there, I'll handle it. That was a mistake but saved me another $500.





I'd like to point out at this point I'm going to be 70 next year. This wood event was a *$)#* dragger. Oh and I cut most of it up with a Milwaukee chain saw (not the huge stuff)

Zim

 

[zimman]

Porch and room off the back is wonderful. For now it's my shop and tool room. I've got a 10x30 storage unit with a 1990 Fox Body and three toolboxes yet to come to the house. I like tools. LOL













More updates later.
Zim

 

[Wubicon]

The screened porch is great but what odd layout having this other room on the other side of it. Like if it's cold you walk across this open porch area to get to another enclosed room.

 

[zimman]

The screened porch is great but what odd layout having this other room on the other side of it. Like if it's cold you walk across this open porch area to get to another enclosed room.

Yup, cold as hell. I think it was a hobby room or something. I'm turning into an office eventually. My BIL gifted me a heater for it and it's the bomb. Bluetooth so I turn it on from the living room, wait a few minutes and it's warm when I get there. Amazing.
Zim

 

[zimman]

We're pretty close to pulling the trigger on an Allen's Garage, 24'x30' and it will be placed in the same position as the old garage. I've got a mustang that I have to finish for my Grandson soon. He turns 16 in a few years. Hopefully we'll go on few Drag and Drive events and then I'll let it go. I'm done building race cars.
Zim

This was a previous rental house and garage we had a few years ago.

 

[nadogail]

Everything looks great

 

[Uncle murph]

Has a cool back porch and a 10x10 room attached to it. Work shop maybe?



Barn is small and the miniature Donkey will go here. LOL.



First order of business after the sale was to remove the two huge dying trees on the South side. At least 80' tall the tree guy was extended to the max with the boom truck. $650 to the ground. Leave the wood there, I'll handle it. That was a mistake but saved me another $500.





I'd like to point out at this point I'm going to be 70 next year. This wood event was a *$)#* dragger. Oh and I cut most of it up with a Milwaukee chain saw (not the huge stuff)

Zim

Looks like a nice place to retire,congrats on the purchase and try not to work too hard. I can’t imagine tackling the tree with a electric saw.

 

[zimman]

Looks like a nice place to retire,congrats on the purchase and try not to work too hard. I can’t imagine tackling the tree with a electric saw.Than

Thank you. I appreciate that. No I had a real tree guy take down the tree. I used the electric saw to clean up the mess. It ain't that good. LOL
Zim

 

[zimman]

So the property has a storm shelter and we've had to use it. Several storms this year and the worst one was a tornado the passed just to the Southwest of us. Lost power for almost three days. Missouri has always been a target for bad weather.
Zim




Then the second bad storm brought flooding and it litterly divided the town in half. We didn't get any flooding at the house fortunately.



Neighbors driveway is over a cave so this happened. Lots of caves here too.

 

[zimman]

This 115 year old house only has two closets and two bedrooms. Door knobs are cool but the closets are small. I guess folks back then didn't have many clothes. I decided to, at least for now, to build a wardrobe for me. The better half is a simple gal and doesn't have a lot of clothes. Just a lot of Church Dresses. I've built race cars for decades but have no knowledge of woodworking. Bought a table saw and a miter saw and started creating this.






Learned a lot of lessons along the way like everywhere glue goes, stain don't. LOL

 

[zimman]

Been very hot lately so not much done. Even the deer had to take a break. Got a good fan to make a breeze on the porch and knocked out some napkin holders to make a few bucks. I'm conditioned to keep working no matter the obstacle. LMAO.
Wheels on the table saw (don't laugh at this disaster, it works for me) LOL
Zim

 

[zimman]

It's been a few weeks so updates as follows;
Hot and Humid. LOL
So taking suggestions on how to economicly fix this garage pad. I say drop dirt and gravel, pound it solid and pour concret over it.
I'm 69 and whoever gets this place can deal with it at that time. Ahahahahahahhaha.
Zim

The concrete block in the back will go away. Keeping the left side there to define the path beside it.

 

[zimman]

We had another cave in at the neighbors driveway. This time broke the water line. His son dug the hold and he decided that at 85 years old he would get into the hole and fix the pipe. Bad decision. Looked out the window and and saw his golf cart and wondered why he was calling me. Blood pressure went up, he passed out and we almost started CPR. He came around tho and all is well now.
Lesson learned. You can't do it all.
Zim
This is his son helping to fix the pipe.

 

[zimman]

We're blessed to have our own Owl. His name is "Herald" He comes around almost every day.
Zim

 

[driftpin]

Congratulations on your purchase. Are you going to try to acquire more of the property from the owners?

I suspect the house has many air gaps, and little in the way of insulation. Figuring a way to stop those, and to insulate will pay dividends when the winter comes. Less in the way of heating bills, and comfort without being able to call-out the location of leakage points, because you can feel the cold draft as you walk past.

 

[zimman]

Congratulations on your purchase. Are you going to try to acquire more of the property from the owners?

I suspect the house has many air gaps, and little in the way of insulation. Figuring a way to stop those, and to insulate will pay dividends when the winter comes. Less in the way of heating bills, and comfort without being able to call-out the location of leakage points, because you can feel the cold draft as you walk past.

Yeah the place still has the "wavy" glass from 1910. Amazing. We do have storm windows tho. The problem is the wood floors have no subfloor and are sitting on floor joist at 24" centers. LMAO. The house is made out of oak so it's standing proud. For now.
Zim

 

[zimman]

So now a little about my work and play. Retired from the US Navy and immediately went to work for KIA as a service technician. Loved the job and did well but got offers from parts stores, other dealerships so I moved around a lot. Worked for FORD, Autozone, O'Reilly's, Parts City and several tire shops including Firestone.
Did all this over the last 23 years and finally retired for good last December. Collected a good deal of tools along the way and built many cars to support my habit. Lots of good habits. LOL
Here's some.
Zim

My first hot rod in 2003. Bought it almost stock and rebuilt it three times cutting it deeper each time. Ended up as a full chassis car with 31x18.5" fat tire and then just sold it. LOL

 

[zimman]

I started building other cars (chassis work) for other folks shortly after 2003 with a friend I met in Georgia. He was the welding supervisor on the Submarine Base I retired at. Yeah, he was a Real Nuclear Welder, not a wannabe. LOL.
We made a lot of cars and trucks over the years and I finally closed shop in 2011.
Zim

 

[zimman]

I probably missed a bunch but I was busy as hell and needed a break. So I decided to go overlanding. Ahahahahaha. I needed a truck so I bought a Toyota Tacoma and started down that rabbit hole. Coundn't afford a topper or camper so I decided to build my own. A project done outside on a car port during all seasons. Temps from -2* all the way up to 105*. I still had fun.
Zim

 

[zimman]

I absolutely love this camper. It attracted a lot of folks and I was proud. I had the whole deal with solar, Aux Battery, Air system and enough charging ports to keep us alive for a few days at least. It was awesome.
Zim

 

[zimman]

Just a few more.
Zim

 

[M.Brane]

Nice work!

 

[Old Man Roger]

Couldn’t afford a topper

What ever gets you through the night.lol You knew what you wanted and knew you wanted to build it.

 

[zimman]

Well it's been a day or many. Still waiting for money for this garage build. Interest rates are all over the place. Had the electrician over and found several problems. Got the kitchen outlets fixed and put in a GFI. All good.
He's coming back today to put in a RV outlet at the garage site. Only temporary.
Zim

 

[zimman]

Well it's been a while since I posted. Getting closer to some financing on the garage and rewire of the house. Had several meetings with the electrician and concrete guys. Can't wait to get started. Getting the pad poured is probably the most important. Then the house. We've still got things in storage.
Had the electrician put in a RV plug where the garage is going. This is temporary but needed to get some air flowing in the trailer.
Built a new charging station on the F250. I do lots of photography and drone video so having some charging ports is handy.
More updates soon.
Zim

 

[M.Brane]

Well it's been a day or many. Still waiting for money for this garage build. Interest rates are all over the place. Had the electrician over and found several problems. Got the kitchen outlets fixed and put in a GFI. All good.
He's coming back today to put in a RV outlet at the garage site. Only temporary.
Zim

We had our old **** panel from '73 replaced recently so I can relate. Also installed an inlet/interlock for the genny. We use it a lot this time of year since SCE cuts our power whenever the east wind blows. We are not in the wildfire zone, but on the same circuit.

 

[captain14]

Interesting projects you have going on. I’ll standby for the garage build and see what’s going to happen inside.

 

[zimman]

Interesting projects you have going on. I’ll standby for the garage build and see what’s going to happen inside.

Thanks will be soon I hope.
Zim

 

[zimman]

It's been a few weeks since I posted. Always something going on. Went back to work at a parts store. Got settled in pretty fast. This year will be 22 years in the parts business after retiring from the US Navy. It's been fun.
Started adding a fire pit. Horseshoe boxes still need some clay and good clean fill is hard to find. We have a lot of rocks in Missouri. Added a cat to the mix. She's a welcome kid for both of us. Still waiting on the Mortgage paperwork to start the garage work. Holy **** these people are slow. That's about it for now. Updates coming soon.
Zim





Hit a snake with the weed eater. Wish I would have seen it. Round eyes so non poison.



Got the power center done for now. Lots of battery charging now.





And finally got the two stumps ground in the front yard. Took a few months to get the schedule right. $150 for both.

 

[Jacko264]

Loving your place and home keep on posting please
G

 

[zanyad]

Nice place! Following....

 

[zimman]

Nice place! Following....

Thank you. Lots of work to do buy we got to keep busy at my age.
Thank you again.
Zim

 

[zimman]

Loving your place and home keep on posting please
G

Thank you for that. I love pictures so that's a promise.
Thanks again.
Zim

 

[Jacko264]

You are right about keep moving Im 69 too stop moving and you will lose it 🫣

 

[Prospecter]

Yup. 68 here. Gotta keep moving. Though I am not sure I am up for starting a house project like yours at this stage. Wow!

 

[zimman]

Started a mockup of the brick today. Then went back for more and they sold the remaining 2 pallets. ****! So I bought some brown and will finish it like that. Got some leveling to do but wanted to see how it would work. I'm happy.
Zim





Cat is living her best life so far. Great cat, affectionate and we're happy she's with us.

 

[Jacko264]

That’s a lovely looking cat am going all goofy now

 

[NUTTSGT]

I've moved this to the Garage Gallery section as it would be more suited for here.

Got anymore pics of the Mustang ?

 

[zimman]

I've moved this to the Garage Gallery section as it would be more suited for here.

Got anymore pics of the Mustang ?

Thanks for that. Yes, I have more pics and will post them up later. After this garage gets built I'm doing a build thread.
Thanks again.
Zim