Creating a budget, finding vendors, and buying tools are all key parts of preparing to build a house. So logically, we started with none of those things.
The U-Haul that Almost Killed Us
I’m pretty sure packing and hauling four bookshelves filled with books is one of Dante’s rings of Hell. Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic, but it was a lot!
Moving out of our old apartment was hard. After three years in the same location, it felt like home. The drive from our old apartment to our lot is about forty minutes. There’s nothing worse than making that drive only to realize you left a required tool at home. It didn’t take us long to decide we needed to move closer.
When I was requesting the U-Haul rental, it was only a $20 difference to get the largest one. I half expected an interrogation or at least a few questions regarding my driving capabilities when renting a truck three times the size of my Corolla.
Nope! They just hand you the keys and away you go. I will forever give U-Haul drivers the respect they deserve: a healthy two-car following distance. On our way to the new rental duplex, there is an on ramp that requires a short merge. The U-Haul died on the ramp. Luckily, we were able to maneuver onto the shoulder before it completely gave out.
One call to an unconcerned U-Haul representative later, we were back on the road fueled by a prayer that the check engine light is just a dashboard decoration. We made it to the new apartment without a problem.
We made a couple of additions to the duplex within the first two months to make our space more usable. The kitchen is fairly small with limited counter space. We added a cheap IKEA island to make meal prep easier.
We installed shelving units and shop lights for the garage. We do a lot of our own car maintenance, so having a usable indoor workspace is important to us.
Building an Off-Site Hoarding Location
We decided against building our own shed, because we had yet to procure the power tools needed to undertake such an endeavor. The village where we are building also has a rule that there cannot be a permanent structure on a lot without a house. That means no concrete foundations. As a result, we found the largest and cheapest shed we could find at a big box store. Unfortunately, that did not translate to “easiest to assemble.” Figures.
We purchased a metal shed and built a foundation out of 2x6s and OSB. The back of our lot was not level. At all. We did a lot of shoveling. This was before we got the Kuboda. Pfft noobs.
About four days after we finished building the shed, a strong wind storm came through town. This reassuring sight greeted me when I stepped outside:
Surprisingly, the shed weathered the storm without a problem!
No More Shoveling – Purchasing the Kuboda
After digging the foundation for the shed, we decided it would be nice to have a subcompact tractor on hand to do the heavy lifting. Michael perused eBay until he found a Kubuda BX25 loader/backhoe that was within our price range and in decent condition.
We had it shipped on a flatbed from a used heavy equipment dealer in Pennsylvania. Our first project was to use the backhoe attachment to dig a trench to lay drainage tile.
A Valiant Effort 