Lake House goes up for sale

I have spent more than 4 years of every available, waking hour creating the passion project that is my lake house. It was truly a labor of love. I truly enjoy having coffee on a deck when it is cool outside or enjoying the sunset with a drink on the roof top deck overlooking the […]

Roofing (or reroofing)

Roofing is not one of my favorite things. Better than drywall, but not by much. That is especially true when I have already done it once. I have some old posts here about how I handled the original roofing, with a coating material. At the time, it seemed fine, but nothing I was super impressed […]

ESS installation

One of the best additions and purchases to the Houston project was an ESS (Energy Storage System). It is essentially a battery backup for the whole house or partial backup of important things. Mine does the whole house. Over the last few years, I have saved a ton of money by choosing an electricity plan […]

Primary closet completion

I am really bad about making timely posts. I only seem to realize this after someone comments on something older and I go back to look at the site. I finished the primary closet at the Houston house months ago. Even though it is being used for climate controlled storage, the end game is that […]

Houston house progress

Partly because I’ve gotten towards the finish line at the lake house and partly because I have been neglecting the Houston house – I’m back working on it. On the agenda: finish out the primary closet, redo the roof (the previous coating product was garbage), add solar, and eventually frame / insulate all exterior walls. […]

Final pics.

Part of the reason I haven’t posted recently is because I have been working two jobs during the week, since the last post. But that means that I don’t have an urgent need to put the house on the market. I will keep it for now. Why not keep working on it? As with most […]

Finished project

The house has been a passion project for a little over 3 years now. I have spent countless hours on it, along with blood, sweat, and tears. I started the project because I was planning to hang on to it forever. It has been a haven from the city and I have met some wonderful […]

Outdoor deck and roofing are complete.

It was quite a challenge to get much work done during the summer heat. But working under the covered deck sure helped. Arguably one of the scariest moments was renting a ladder to go up on the roof from the outside to secure the last panels. I did it in the morning before the roof […]

Second floor deck progress

Since I got the roof and the deck roof 99% complete, and it was definitely helping with the heat, I decided it was time to insulate the roof under the deck. The deck roof already cut the temps by 5-10°, but I knew all along it would need actual insulation. I bounced around several ideas, […]

Complete main roof and nearly complete deck roof

It definitely took more time, effort, and material (I think I’ve said that many times before) but the roof and deck roof are complete – and just in enough time. The day I got the deck roofing half finished, there was a storm and a downpour. But let’s back up. I knew I wanted a […]