Return of the A/C Guys

We also ran some electrical wire

Last Saturday Phil and I went to town to meet John Morey. He is the Electrician and he knows a lot about electricity, protons, electrons, harmonics, keeping conduit cool and what keeps the Earth on it’s axis. I just acted like I knew what he was talking about and nodded my head. I get the feeling he is going to save us some serious time and money. We ran all of the new metal clad wire in the dining area so that Ray Ross can sheetrock the ceiling in the near future.

The A/C guys showed up this week to test the units. And guess what, THEY WORK. They heat, they cool, and they make Slurpies. I had a long discussion with the A/C guys about ductwork. We decided that the best course of action would be to stage both units and run one plenum and Y the ducts through the rafters to allow the ceiling fans to hang in the middle without obstruction. Staging both units will allow the larger unit to act as primary and as the building heats or cools, the other unit will kick in. More efficient.

Trey and I (mostly Trey) tore out the walls between the bathrooms and the outside walls to create a hallway to the kitchen and the office. Then reframed for the bathrooms. We (Phil and Trey) also tore out the commodes, sinks and associated pluming. There has been a lot of ‘patch-work’ construction in this building in the last 60 years.

I have included some pictures of the cross ties that will be the new ceiling, the wire we ran, some framing that Phil did where we will carry the walls up to the new ceiling and some wall tear down. I hope that in the next 2 weeks we will have some pictures that will show some real progress. We’ll get there now that Crazy Nail Guy is out of the picture.
By the way, I’ve enjoyed reading the posted comments. Keep them coming!

A Torx Screw is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Crazy Nail Guy

First, let me say I thought I took some pictures this week but after looking through the camera card, I guess I didn't. I'll try to get some on here early next week.

This week we finished putting up the cross ties that will be the new ceiling and tearing down the old ones. The old ones did not come out without a fight. Back in 1948, there was a man assigned to nailing in the boards on the south side of the building. We have named him Crazy Nail Guy. He decided that 16 nails on each 2x6 were not enough to hold this building together, so bending the ends of the nails would do. I’m not a friend of Crazy Nail Guy, but I do admire his thoroughness. He is still with us in spirit as we called out his name several times this week (*&#@! $%@^!* Crazy Nail Guy).

If you are familiar with a slotted screw, then you were probably born before 1982. If you are not, then let me tell you about a little device that can cause you more torment than tearing down a board installed by Crazy Nail Guy. There were many slotted screws in this building and I hope we have eliminated them all.

When we began putting up the cross ties this week, it went well. We had nice torx screws and screw guns for installation until Tuesday morning. That’s when we ran out of screws. Trey and I ran from the hardware store to Get-N-Go trying to find more torx screws but had to settle on Phillips. When installing the first board with the Phillips screws, we stripped the screws and the bits. We ran back over to the hardware store and purchased 2 shiny new double-headed Phillips bits. We promptly broke off both ends of each bit. This wood we’re talking about is not your ordinary pine timber. It is 60 years old, well seasoned and does not take kindly to a screw. When dropped from 14’ it not only breaks, but splinters and shatters into shrapnel. We used the stripped Phillips bits to finish the job and that’s when Phil showed up from Uvalde with a large box of torx screws.

We also pulled out the A/C units this week and set them behind the candy shop so the A/C guys can come test them. The A/C units were actually in the neighbors yard and occupied by Kujo the dog. Moving the A/C units was fairly uneventful except for Kujo the dog. I’m not going to take up space on this entry to talk about Kujo. I get the feeling he’ll come back into play when we put up the privacy fence. He scared me.

Lesson for the week:

1) There is no place on this planet for a slotted screw.
2) Phillips screws are great, but only under low torque.
3) Torx screws are great.
4) Hex screws (AKA Allen wrench and Ikea furniture) and Robertson screws are superb.
5) Crazy Nail Guy invented slotted screws.

If you want more info on this go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_Head
If you’re a female you probably don’t care, so go here http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/default.asp?order_num=-1&

The Dust has Settled..a little.

Monday started off with Trey heading to Kerrville to get some cedar timber. The plan was to get the old ceiling out along with most of the old joists and crossmembers, and replace with 3 4x6 cedar timbers along the entire dining hall. As you can see from the pics, all went well, no one got hurt and we are all breathing a little easier.

Trey likes to play with the cutting torch, so he fabricated some nice steel plates to join the rafters. There is a common understanding that if the job involves the welding machine or cutting torch, just stand back and let Trey work. He starting cutting the plates with the cutting torch which worked well. But, he decided a metal cutting blade on a cicular saw would work better as the torch only cuts a straight line if you can hold your hand steady for 7 straight hours with people standing over your shoulder giving all sorts of advice.

The A/C guys came by this week for some heating and A/C advice. We were happy to find out that the 2 A/C units outside have heat strips. We weren't sure what to expect since there were several gas heaters in the building. Hopefully the units work, the A/C guys will be back to test them. One of the A/C guys saw Trey cutting the steel plates and said, "Hey, you know you can turn a wood blade backwards on a skill saw and cut metal with it." We didn't try.

Trey was talking to the Ag teacher from the High School Wednesday night and the metal cutting issue came into the conversation. He said, "Hey, you know you can turn a wood blade backwards on a skill saw and cut metal with it." We didn't try.

The dirt guy came by this week too. He's going to do some excavating and grade the slope in the back to pull the water onto someone elses property so it's not our problem. He's also going to improve our parking situation in the back and on the side of the building. He didn't mention anything about cutting steel with a wood blade turned backwards on a circular saw.

Well, we got a lot accomplished but there's still more to do. The dust has settled for now, but like a Rocky movie, I'm sure it will be back.

Future Projects...

Here are some pics of things as they are now. The 'Pirate Stage', bathrooms and kitchen need some serious attention. Check back soon and we'll keep you posted. Hopefully we can add to this once or twice a week!

Some Clean Up

Nothing beats a bubble bath after a dirty job.

Ripping out the Ceiling

We decided that the ceiling needed to be raised. This was by far the dirtiest job. All I really wanted to do was make BBQ. I didn't realize Trey, Phil & I could have been on an episode of 'Dirtiest Jobs'. I think there was nearly a 1/4" of dust on top of the sheetrock ceiling. We've been blowing black snot-rockets for days.

The Tear down

We finally got to work and started tearing stuff down. When the airforce base closed in Hondo, TX in the 1940s, the wood from the barracks was donated to the American Legion to build the hall in Camp Wood. So the original boards in and outside the building are over 100 years old! We are tearing out the groovy paneling to get to the original wood. They poured the concrete in front of the building before there were stock laws and evidently cows wandered across the wet cement. Their hoof prints are visible in front of the building! After hosting many American legion meetings, dances, and banquets, it served its last call of duty as a bingo hall.

Snow Delay

We settled in to our new home and were ready to go to work, but then came the snow. We were without electricity for about a day and 1/2 and the kids missed school for 3 days! Work on the restaurant would have to wait since it is a cold dark building without electricity.

Picture of building in Fall of '06

Ok, we had this crazy idea of opening up a BBQ restaurant in Camp Wood, TX.

It's a small community in the SW portion of the Texas Hill Country. The old American Legion Hall Post 562 came up for sale and thus became our venture. We moved to Camp Wood on December 28th and started tearing stuff down. This picture is of the building when it was purchashed. Whew...lots of work to do!