Hello from WV

My wife and I purchased our house, a 1959 1-1/2 story on 6.5 acres, back in May.

In its current configuration, the main structure of the house is 4 bed (2 upstairs and 2 downstairs), 1.5 bath (both downstairs) and is approximately 2000 sq. ft. There is also a 300 sq. ft. 1-story addition serving as a family room.

The ultimate goal is to convert the house into a 3/2 with the two adjacent bedrooms on the first floor becoming a master suite with a walk-in closet. The current 1/2 bath is located in a rear utility room and will be removed to create a more spacious utility/mud room.

We are fortunate enough to have a gas well on the property with free gas. We are currently set up with a gas furnace, gas hot water, gas dryer, and gas range. We will eventually explore a gas generator and solar as we are interested in homesteading.

We want to DIY as much as possible, but will happily involve a licensed electrician, plumber, etc. where needed.

I look forward to participating in this community and hope to learn and share my experience along the way. I've already created a thread about insulating the walls, so I hope some of you will give it a read and let me know your thoughts.

As I mentioned, we want to DIY was much as possible, but we don't want to DIY ourselves into a situation that will require a professional to fix later.

-J

J to House Repair Talk! Sounds like you have a game plan to start with. When posting question, pictures always help.

Welcome to the site. Sounds like some good plans and will be interested with your gas well plans going forward.


Nice mixture of Pros and DIYers here I think you will feel right at home.

Sounds like you are a pretty good Diyer already. I've been following your thred. so welcome to the site you will enjoy it.

I appreciate the welcome from everyone.

As far as plans for the gas well, I'd like to eventually install a generator for backup power, but I don't have any plans to utilize it for prime power as I'm not sure how many years of service are left and I am not currently connected to the local NG provider. I have 20 lbs at the well head, which is plenty to run my current appliance setup.

Thanks Tuffy. My wife and I flipped our first house with no paid for labor or services, but it was a simple rehab. We want our current home to be our forever home, so the work here will be more extensive. We'll DIY as much as possible, but I've already discovered metal outlet boxes. A call to an electrician will be money well spent.

Sounds like you're got a good plan! I'm right across the River in Ohio.... howdy neighbor!

Thanks for the welcome!

Hi, I'm wondering are you anywhere near that bridge that people do the bungy jumping from. Over that gorge.

At any rate, WVa is a beautiful state. Lots of ups and downs there.

Welcome, Quentin!

Angie, I'm about an hour from the New River Gorge bridge. I grew up about a half hour from it and know the area fairly well. Aside from bungee jumping, whitewater rafting is also a major attraction for that area.

If you ever find yourself in that area, there are some great places to each such as Pies and Pints (pizza and craft beer) or the Secret Sandwich Society (multiple visits required to fully appreciate their sandwiches).

For many year we crossed the New River Gorge bridge going back at least 35 years. We always make it a point to stop at the overlook area. Early on it was a set of wooden stairs that would wind down the gorge a ways with a breathtaking view of the gorge and bridge. Now they have a great visitors center that doesn’t require all the climbing.


On one of my early visits to the bridge I saw an old guy standing looking at the bridge and struck up a conversation with him about isn’t that bridge something. He told me it sure is and his mark is on every piece of that bridge. He worked at U.S.Steel in Pittsburgh and was retired as an inspector. He told me the bridge is all made from Core 10 steel and he was surprised I knew what that was. It is a grade of steel that forms a layer of oxidation (rust) and then seals itself from more rust, eliminating the need for painting. He talked about how he looked and inspected every inch of weld etc and said that bridge is made to last forever.


I spent a lot longer than we planed there talking to him much to the displease of some family members that wanted to make SC that day. It was amazing how much pride he had in that bridge and the, We did it made in USA ideal.


Things like that seem to get harder to do in this country every year. They are national treasures IMO as reminders of what can be done.



I have rafted down thru there before as well but most of our whitewater we did up in the Youghiogheny River. Do they still have bridge day? You would never in a million years catch me jumping off that thing connected with a rubber band.


@joleat is correct there is some mighty fine eating down that way as well.

Bud, that's a great memory to share and you are correct about it becoming harder to find the made in the USA pride.

Bridge Day is alive and well and seems to grow each year. Fayetteville, the town most closely associated with Bridge Day, was voted one of America's coolest small towns several years ago. It is the home of the restaurants I mentioned earlier.

Welcome