Home, Work and The Rehab

So I got home a few days ago and had a whole 24 hours to myself and my family before the email came in for me to work across town. Given the state of the oil and gas business, I wasn't complaining. Come to find out, the company I audit for is putting a fairly large job out to bid. Two of the companies that are bidding for the job are located in Houston and one is in Huntly, Scotland. If either of the Houston companies get the job, I could be working from home for the next 3 to 6 months. That gives me a paycheck and gives me the  ability to work on my real estate so cross your fingers. The bid is awarded around the 18th.

I went to the house today to do a little demolition. After setting my music up and getting my safety gear on; gloves, mask, safety glasses, I started tearing down the wood paneling and the sheetrock. Underneath the first wall I found quite a bit of termite damage. The damage was old and I know the house was treated at some point, but I am pretty sure I'll have to rebuild the wall.

I started doing the demo myself because of two reasons. Reason one was I need something to keep myself busy during the day. Which means to stay out of my wife's hair while she ran her company. The second is the quotes I got for demolition on the house ranged from 3000 to 6000 dollars. Now seeing what's under the sheetrock, I'm glad I'm doing the work myself. I'm able to use the money for something else. I did three hours of work today and ripped down the walls in the living room and one of the bedrooms. I'll work on the house again next week after my paying job completes across town.

The second bedroom shares a wall with the living room and after tearing out the sheetrock, I noticed that the wall was relatively new. The other thing I noticed is that instead of floating and mudding the sheetrock, they duct taped the joints. So another worry of mine is the wall wasn't permitted when it went up. I'll know more when I have it stripped to the studs and have the inspector come in to take a look.

I went to the permitting office before I started work so I knew what I could and couldn't so without a permit. Deer Park, Texas requires permits for 4 things. Moving walls, Electrical HVAC, and plumbing if you are adding lines or drainage. Plumbing is a one to one, which I learned means that if you remove a toilet, you can add one. Remove a tub; add one. No permits are needed for demolition (unless tearing down a wall), sheetrock work, painting or floors. But once the walls are bare, I will have to have an inspector come in and check things out to make sure things are done properly. 

I worked for about 3 hours today before I ran out of time. I wanted to get to the store to buy stuff for dinner tonight. I made chicken and sausage gumbo. Turned out fantastic.