Ed Soehnel

A few crazy-busy months, with a slew of travel for work, closing on a new house, selling our old house and making the move.

Travel

I did not track my travel as completely as I would have liked, but have posted what I have below:

• March 18-19, travel to Minneapolis, MN: View in Google Maps.  View in Google Earth.
• March 26-27, travel to Boston, MA:  View in Google Maps.  View in Google Earth. View images.
• March 30-April 1, Travel to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, PA:  View in Google Maps.  View in Google Earth. View images.
• April 10-13, travel to Alta Loma, CA:  No GPS tracks. View images.  This was a personal trip with Sue to visit my parents.  My mom came down the 24-hour flu, then Sue, then me.  Both Sue and I recovered pretty fast, but my mom took longer.
• April 28, travel to Dallas, TX: No GPS tracks and no images.  This was a 1-day trip in and out.
• April 30, travel to Pittsburgh, PA.  NO GPS tracks and no images.  This was a 1-day trip in and out.

Buying and Selling Property and Moving

We closed April 6 on our new house and property (13.5 acres) located in Sedalia, CO.  We closed April 24 on our old house in Aurora, CO.  Within that span of time, we had quite a bit of work to do with contractors to get the new house live-in ready before we had to be out of our old house.  The new house is a foreclosure and is pretty rough around the edges.  The structure is in good shape, but heating does not work, there are electrical, plumbing and other issues. We got the contractors working on the new house pretty quickly after we closed.  The new house is a large A-frame with 3 levels and an extension to the south with a great room, 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.  Here is a list of things we are having done on the new house and the property:

Interior

1. A-frame loft:  remove the bathroom, remove the closet, replace the door to the balcony, frame-in and finish open walls where the bathroom was removed; install new carpeting.
2. A-frame main floor: gut the 1/2 bathroom and install all new fixtures and flooring; redo the kitchen with new floor, new appliances, new counter top and kitchen sink and paint existing cabinets; install new carpeting; repair the doors to both the east and west balconies and seal up the west balcony from leaks into the house.
3. A-frame basement: gut the bathroom and install all new fixtures and flooring; gut the main living area and frame-in a walk-in closet; fix cracked windows; its a walk-out basement, so replace the doors to the outside.
4. South-side extension:  clean-out the attic; blow in new insulation; perform minor plumbing and electrical repairs.
5. Heating system, both sides of house:  repair, which is extensive in the A-frame section of the house.
6. Other:  electrical repairs and re-wiring as needed; new water heater in A-frame section; install laundry tub, washer and dryer in basement mechanical room of the A-frame (same floor as the master bedroom).

Exterior

1. Replace the roof and gutters on the house and the garage.
2. Make electrical repairs to the well pump house and install a new heating system.
3. Some minor electrical work and installation of outside lighting.
4. Install a new gas tank and gas line to supply the appliances in the house.
5. Clean up the junk strewn throughout the property.

This is the contractor list.  There is a list of things Sue and I can do in the coming months so that we save money by not paying contractors.  They include:  new fenced-in area off the east side of the house to let the dogs run around; general interior and exterior painting; re-grading of areas around the house for erosion and water control; and, cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.

Later this year, or maybe next year, depending on how fast we move on other top priority items, we will do some re-grading of the driveways to control water run-off and some re-grading of areas of the property to help return it back to a more natural state.  Next year, for sure, we will have to address some dry rot going on in the main barn by fixing some of the structure and controlling water run-off around the barn.

The contractors were able to complete required items on the south-side extension of the house in time before we moved in on April 23.  We also had our new refrigerator and the microwave hooked up so we can at least do some cooking and eating at home. The roof was also done.  Since then, the kitchen has been completed and we have unpacked all our kitchen items, but the remaining contractor items are still in progress.

Move-in Week

The week of the move went smooth, but was extremely busy.  I took the week off from work.  Here is how it went:

• Saturday, April 18:  Packed up things at the old house; made 1 trip down to the property with stuff. We got a decent sized snow storm that rolled in earlier in the day, so had the challenge of a foot of very slushy snow to contend with at the new house on a dirt driveway.
• Sunday, April 19:  Packed and made 2 trips to the new house with stuff.
• Monday, April 20:  Packed and made 2 trips to the new house with stuff.
• Tuesday:  Main moving day with the movers and the majority of our stuff.
• Wednesday:  Still living in the old house - made 2 trips with stuff that the movers would not take (electronics, plants, food); met the satellite-TV installation crew in the afternoon at the property.
• Thursday:  Made final 2 trips with stuff and cleaned the old house…we were officially out; met the new appliance delivery crew.
• Friday:  Sue went to the closing on our old house while I stayed at our new house to take delivery of our new Kubota L2800 tractor.
  

Images of the move-in week and shots of the construction work below: