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Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT The Texas Barn in PA

Workspaces between 705 and 1200 squarefeet.
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madison069

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Nov 5, 2010
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4,384
Location
Monroeville, PA
The shelves came in yesterday and I got them assembled and installed in the shed. I condensed the smaller gas cans down to one can as they were two cycle fuel and I needed multiple cans for different properties back in the days.
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Now to organize the lawn tools on the back wall, bring the lawn stuff from the bunker into the shed, and continue to purge.
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
Looks like your boy is definitely a “Tidy Cat” man! 😂
Funny thing is I collected those buckets from recycling days from the neighborhood before I got my boy. But he does use Tidy Cat, but from a cardboard box style while I transfer the litter into a plastic bucket just because I like the bucket more than an open cardboard box and the cardboard box style is cheaper!

Those Tidy Cat buckets are nice cause they are square and easier to store, I think. Along with those buckets are the ones I used for removing the bunker dirt, so they earned the right to hang around a little longer.
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
After doi ng some small jobs, I got more yard stuff out of the bunker and in the shed. Now atleast I have it so in one place and I can organize it.

After that task I got two mowers fixed and cleaned to post for sale.
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I got this 2 cycle lawnboy next as it’s my last mower to fix.

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I haven’t repaired a 2 cycle mower before, so it will be interesting to see how this goes.
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
I’m sorry future self if you ever have to get this door sill plate out.

I called up the metal shop close by and was able to get a 1/4” plate cut to the dimensions of the bunker door sill.

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I decided I would do anchors to hold the door sill in place. So I welded some big bolts and put nuts and washers on the end of the bolts.
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Weld looks ok.
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Heat got through too.
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Prepped the door sill, cleaned it and chipped any cement mortar that was on the surface. Then taped the top flat surface.
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Here we are filled in. I left the holes that got the anchors a little low for displacement when putting the anchors in them.

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Then removed the tape and applied loctite adhesive, overkill? Probably. I just hope I never have to remove it.
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Just like that, the door sill is in place and pressed down with wood and a high lift jack.
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Hopefully this doesn’t come back to bite me.

Once it’s cured I’ll work on the side frames, decided to just use pressure treated wood. Once I have it all framed out I’ll measure the opening and start designing the door and find the hardware for the door.
 
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madison069

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4,384
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Monroeville, PA
Got to love old cable installer jobs. Instead of removing the junk, they just put new on top of old.

Here is what I started with.
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After pulling all of this cable off the wall, it was looking cleaner.
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Here is the finished results.
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When I get ready to run new electrical wires through this attached garage I’ll also clean up the walls and patch all of the holes with cement patch.

For now, this will hold over.

Why did I even do this now? Well the internet connection was really crappy on the other side of the house and the garage. So I wanted to run a new cat6 line from the router to the new location of the WiFi extender. Not much to write about there except I got a new wire fishing stick set for the job. Went with the Milwaukee 15ft glow in the dark sticks, works pretty slick!

Oh and I did get the air compressor switch wired up and working now since the WiFi was stronger in the garage. The switch that the remote relay uses can’t go far in the garage, guess it’s due to the concrete and ground. I can use it as long as the switch is above the air compressor location. But the app it comes with is pretty nifty and it works great once I got the internet network split into 5ghz and 2.4ghz instead of the Self Organizing Network and also turned on the internet of things network too.
Here is what you see on the app when using it to turn on the air compressor.
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This will allow me to see if the air compressor is on from the house and can be turned off without going to the bunker!

Tomorrow is cleaning day since it’s trash day Tuesday. Hope to toss more stuff to the trash guy.
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
Much cleaner.

Did you retain the surge protector and ground at the cable entrance wherever it was relocated?

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It wasn't even connected to the ground. Along with the RG6 cable isn't being used throughout the house since they installed the fiber optic line. When they did the fiber optic install, they disconnected all of this stuff and just left it on the wall.
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
Much cleaner.

Did you retain the surge protector and ground at the cable entrance wherever it was relocated?

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I should have also added that the TV and internet in the house have gone away with the RG6 cable, they are all connected via Cat6 cable or WiFi now. Hence why I relocated the WiFi extender to the side of the house close to the garage. So, if I even left the RG6 surge protector on the wall and actually hooked it to the ground rod outside, it wasn't going to do anything.

I'm trying not to be a hoarder, but I'll keep the surge protector and ground cable in my box of data/RG6 cable parts and nick knacks as a just in case deal.
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
Today I did my usual meet up with a customer to sell a lawnmower at the Harbor Freight parking lot. While there I figured I would finally get a 1000lbs hydraulic lift so I wouldn’t have to keep picking up lawnmowers by myself or anything heavy and big out of the truck.

When I was talking to the clerk and getting ready to ring up, the clerk told the manager what I wanted. The manager said I got a lift marked down, come look at it.

So off I went to the back to look at it and when I saw the price I was surprised! All that was wrong was the box was damaged and a small dent/crease in the corner of the lift table.
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So I told him I’ll take it!
So he loaded it up along with the 5 drawer tool cart I wanted also and we got to the register to ring them up.

Well when he rung it up, the 25% coupon was being applied to both units and he said he couldn’t let the lift go any lower in price. So we figured out if we made the price $182 it would ring up close to $146 but it actually came up as $136 and so I said give me a minute and I’ll do the math to allow his system to hit $146. He said” it’s close enough” and let me have it for $136 instead of!
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So I basically walked out of the store with the lift and tool cart for the original price of the lift!
Unless there was a coupon to make the 5 drawer cart $199, I also think they dropped the price on the tool cart some more cause I only knew of a 25% coupon for the cart! So instead of $74 off they made it $90 off!

So back at the Texas barn I got it all unloaded and started assembling them.

Here is the dent/crease on the lift.
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A little hammer and dolly and it was gone almost.
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Here is the cart on the lift.
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It was nice to assemble the cart on the lift instead of getting on the floor or bending down.
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Now to make a platform on the lift for lawnmowers and sort some commonly used tools inside the tool cart! I’ll sell the plastic cart I’ve been using since I’d rather have the footprint of the shop free instead of using it for the cart.
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
Nice deal on the lift. All lifts and carts are 25% off this week for inside track members and starting Friday will be for everyone. It seems they might have just advanced those for you if you don't have inside track.
Yep, I got inside track membership due to the amount of stuff I’ve been buying from there. Plus my store is currently 2 miles from the house so it’s close for quick needs.

I told my wife about this deal and she said, too bad you can’t get that kind of deal on the car lift. 🤦🏻‍♂️😂🤣
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
HF being close is so bitter sweet, when you said 2miles, I had to look, mine is 2.2 miles! :p
I double checked on Google Maps and apparently it’s 1.2 miles from my house. Downside to it is Walmart just recently bought that mall property and so now everything is to be demolished. My understanding is Walmart has to pay for everyone’s relocation, so not sure when it will happen but harbor freight will be moving in the future.

So pros and cons to living so close to those stores.
 

Cdubu52

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Sep 4, 2014
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653
Location
Pittsboro, NC
We just got one close to me as well. Its been there about 6 months now and its 7 miles from me. I live between 2 towns, 6 miles from one and 7 miles from another. In other words, its right next door. We stopped by this weekend and my wife asked what did we do before HF opened. I reminded her that Lowes is 6 miles the other way and Amazon still delivers, but this has definitely been more cost effective! And it gives me a good excuse to stop by her favorite lunch spot to grab take out on Saturdays.
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
Some updates on projects around here. The bunker door sill is holding place and is a lot nicer then stepping on those cinder blocks.
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Will have to wait to put the side boards in place and then I’ll paint it all with black rustoleum paint.

Also took everything off the plastic cart. I put the plywood on the lift and used j-bolts with star nuts to hold the board to the lift top. It works pretty good and is easily removable if needed.
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Took all of the tools off the cart, I need to sort this stuff and add more to the tool mechanic cart.
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I spent a good bit of time cleaning and sorting the attached garage as it became a catch all lately. Need to do some more work in there but it’s semi cleaned and I hauled 2 contractor bags of trash out. If a tool was broke, it got tossed, if it was goods that Home Depot has and I didn’t need it for any upcoming projects I tossed it too. Feels good to keep tossing stuff.
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
Some progress in the Texas barn, this area between the camaro and the wall was full of stuff like siding, metal, wood, left over project materials and so on. I was able to get this area cleared out and got the material relocated to their semi home. Still need to build a vise stand for this vice.
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Here’s the state of the rest of the garage. I got a wall cabinet coming that matches the wall cabinet that is on the bench right now. They will go to the right of the tv wall. But I need to sort through this stuff and toss what’s no good and group it into piles to be stored together.

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Yes it’s a mess, but it’s been a process of sorting, trashing, and relocating everything.

To end the thread here’s a night shot of the shed with its solar light.

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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
It's time to flip the Calander!

Enjoying the build and the Camaro.
Thanks! It seems like I haven't gotten a lot done, but I look back and realize I have only been in the house for 7 months along with was still taking care of another house and repairing everything. I have to remind myself that for one person, I've done a lot in those 7 months. My wife and kids want to do a bunch of cosmetic stuff in the house, but I keep reminding them that I need to do the wiring and most likely there will be demo going on in the basement and walls of the house soon. They are not happy about waiting.

I'll try to remember and do that tonight!
 
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madison069

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Where'd you find that solar light?
Amazon is where I got mine. It’s nice and bright enough for the area in front of the shed. The photo makes it brighter then it is, but I think it’s perfect in person.

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It also has a little switch on the inside of the hood so you can turn it off if you don’t want it to come on every night but I like that it’s on when I go in the house. I don’t know how long it’s on though as I haven’t been outside before sunrise since I’ve installed it.
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
This weekend was all about a white coat ceremony for the middle daughter. She’s getting her PhD in Pharmacy at West Virginia University. With this white coat ceremony begins her Graduate Study and she will graduate in 2030. The college photographer took this photo of me taking a photo of my daughter and her friend. She’s the blonde while I’m the guy in plaid.
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In Morgantown there is a statue of Don Knott since he’s from Morgantown. I’ve been getting photos of the youngest with the statue since 2018. Here is the 2018 photo.
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This is from Saturday.
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Got back home on Sunday and used the day to clean the Forester since it’s been awhile since it’s been cleaned.

First thing first we got to fix the calendar for @JSGAuto .
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While cleaning the forester I found the wheel lock key in the severe weather kit that Subaru gives with the car. Too bad the locks are gone now. But I got 4 extra lights now!
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Today I cleaned the barn up and got the cabinet hung up. Also the shelf came in the mail as it didn’t have one when I bought it with the bench.
Another cabinet is coming and I will put it to the right of this cabinet.
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I installed a power tool holder for the most used drill and impacts on the side of the tool cart.
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I kept cleaning, sorting, and trashing stuff. Eventually I got the benches semi cleared off. Along with got the deer skulls hung on the wall.
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The barn is getting more organized and cleaned. Still got a lot more to go, but there’s been some good progress today. Tomorrow is another day!
 
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madison069

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Monroeville, PA
Congratulations to your daughter, and nice progress on the barn!
Thanks! I am proud of all she has accomplished so far! It's strange to think there is going to be a doctor in the family when before me there was not a single college graduate. My parents got their Diploma, but I was the first to go to college in the family. The oldest daughter is in her last year of college and will become an elementary school teacher. She's currently balancing a lot as she's working, going to school, studying for the certificate tests, observing teachers for her requirements, and doing all of this in a 1hr range location as all three activities takes place in three different places. I'm proud of the determination and can't wait to see where she starts her career. Hopefully it's close to home, but I know how it is with starting a new career and sometime have to move away as I did the same thing when I started out.
 
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