a farmhouse journey

GOLO member, "Rocknhorse" and her family embarked on a major mission in 2007: Physically moving and restoring an old farmhouse that has been in the family for decades. She has shared this journey from the very beginning and has been blogging on GOLO for over a year. Here you can revisit her troubles and triumphs, view the progress through image galleries and stick with her as the end is finally near.

Sep 15, 2007

building a home
OK, so on a lighter note, we have embarked on an exciting adventure.  We have purchased some acreage and will be moving the "family farm house" onto the property to rennovate and live...
Jul 19, 2007

we have footings!
BOY do we have footings.  We also have a sense of humor, thankfully!  For those who don't know, when you are moving a house onto a property, the footings need to be double-size to allow for...
Jul 24, 2007

image gallery: restoring old farm house
Jul 24, 2007

hurry up and wait...
I think I'll make that title my new logo.  Hurry up and wait.  That's the way I feel about our house project.  We are told to 'hurry up' and get this part done, so we do, then we have...
Aug 13, 2007

house project-slow, steady, forward
Well, we met with the house mover today and we have finally finalized some more plans.  After waiting more than 3 weeks for Progress Energy to give us an estimated cost to drop/raise power...
Aug 28, 2007

house project - disassembling
I've always heard people say that older houses are built so much better/stronger than modern houses.  That statement was proven in fact yesterday.  Our job is to remove the stair railings...
Aug 30, 2007

image gallery: disassembling house
Aug 30, 2007

if walls could talk
As we began this house-moving project, I thought to myself, what fun it would be to find something exciting, like you'd see on that show, If Walls Could Talk.  Of course, logic told me that this...
Aug 31, 2007

house - history lesson
It shouldn't surprise me when I learn how much a house means to a community!  I have always had a love of older houses, but to many, it's not the house, but the people who once lived there, who...
Aug 31, 2007

house project; the next step
As exciting as this project is, it does have some sad moments!  I knew Friday morning that the moving crew would be there demolishing parts of the house.  It's a necessary part of the...
Sep 4, 2007

house project: "official" schedule
First, I would like to tell everyone, "You're welcome!"  See, I knew it would happen!  I was absolutely certain!  If you believe in fate (or more like Murphy's Law), I was certain...
Sep 5, 2007

house: the final frontier
OK, bad title!  But hey, I love the original Treks!  So, the latest and greates is that the beams are now through the house.  WOW!  What a site that was.  There are two...
Sep 7, 2007

house: all jacked up
We're on!  We got our permits from DOT today and we are officially scheduled for this weekend.  I saw the house this afternoon and it's jacked up and the wheels are being put into place as...
Sep 12, 2007

going mobile
*hanging head*  I had a blog all written up and lost it!  UGH!  Well, the house is officially mobile.  It's completely off the foundation and on at least one set of wheels. ...
Sep 13, 2007

house: one more small step
I try not to blog too often so as not to become redundant.  But I was floored (pun completely intended) when I drove past to pick the kids up for school.  With everything that has taken place...
Sep 13, 2007

house: it's. still. standing...
The song, "I'm Still Standing" by Lionel Richie keeps running through my mind.  (yeah, yeah, yeah). ...  Nothing says indigestion quite like eating supper in Fuquay, listening to...
Sep 14, 2007

image gallery: cutting the house apart
Sep 15, 2007

house: now a sprawling ranch
WOW!  That's about all I can say about today.  It was incredible in many different ways.  Things were going very smoothly as the crane was situated and the beams and straps put...
Sep 15, 2007

house: on the road
Today was a big day!  The house, albeit in two separate pieces, is now at it's permanent home site.  The lower half has not been situated above the footers and the upper half is waiting on...
Sep 16, 2007

house: back together
I never imagined it would be this easy!  Of course, I can say that now that this part is over.  But honestly, I would not have begun to think that when they went to put the top back on that...
Sep 17, 2007

image gallery | house: re-assembly
Sep 17, 2007

house: the work begins
Good morning to all!  Long time, no post.  Things sure did slow up a bit now that the house is at it's new home.  We've been very busy, though!  Lots to do now, but nothing as big...
Oct 2, 2007

house: a solid foundation
We still making progress.  To go along with our oversized footings, we are now getting a solid foundation.  No, we're not going with cinder block foundations.  We are having brick, but...
Oct 5, 2007

image gallery: building a solid foundation
Oct 5, 2007

house: approved foundation
After one minor setback, we finally have our foundation inspected and approved.  Because of the slope of the land, we had to lift the house an additional 2 feet in order to complete the foundation. ...
Oct 24, 2007

house: the gutting begins
Now that the house is down on the foundation and all of the support beams have been removed, we can now begin the process of gutting the walls and repairing any damaged framing.  We knew there...
Nov 7, 2007

house; daily progress
Things are really moving right along at the house.  The brick masons are almost finished with the additions.  The only part left is the foundation for the front porch.  A HUGE thank you...
Nov 15, 2007

image gallery: making progress
Nov 15, 2007

house: framing begins!
We used the long weekend to frame in the addition on the side of the house.  It was a bit more intensive than I thought at first, but we managed to finish it before the rains came.  Check...
Nov 26, 2007

image gallery: framing
Nov 26, 2007

a little r&r
I'm finally taking a day "off" from the house project.  It's not even funny how much one house can fall into disrepair while you work on another.  And here we are at Christmas and...
Nov 27, 2007

things happen for a reason
Do you ever wonder, "WHY?" when things don't go according to your plan?  Well, today we got an answer to that exact question.  I'm an optimist and always view obstacles as opportunities. ...
Nov 27, 2007

house: face lifted
While you guys were having fun meeting each other, we worked hard on the house this weekend.  We have the concrete poured in the garage.  We also spent the weekend removing all the kitchen...
Dec 9, 2007

house: garage and porch
Framing began on the garage today!  It's amazing how quickly it can go if you actually know what you are doing!  We broke down and hired a framing crew for the garage.  I figure that...
Dec 14, 2007

house: garage
The framing crew is moving right along with the garage.  In just a few days, they have it this far.  While they have been working on the garage, we had the concrete poured on the front...
Dec 21, 2007

house: the walls still talk
It is still so much fun uncovering clues from the past.  Since we began this project, there has been some speculation as to whether my husband's grandfather actually helped build the house. ...
Dec 22, 2007

house: my first argh!!!!!
Well, everything has gone so smoothly with the house that I suppose there HAD to be a glitch somewhere.  It's precisely the reason we have wanted to do all the work ourselves.  It's just so...
Dec 26, 2007

house: i think my floors will survive
Well, after my last blog, I was obviously very upset about my floors.  They were completely saturated twice, worse the second time.  Now that they've had a chance to dry out for the most part,...
Dec 29, 2007

house: still moving forward
We've finally reached a point where everything seems to be moving forward.  Now everything we do is "building" rather than demolishing/repairing.  It's definitely a good feeling! ...
Jan 17, 2008

house: slow, but still making progress
It's been a while since I've posted an update on the house, so here it is.  Things slowed down quite a bit through Christmas and January.  Work is beginning to pick up, so we've been busy...
Feb 8, 2008

house: windows
We have begun installing windows.  This picture shows the garage w/windows installed.  What a job.  It's taking longer than I thought, but it's not too bad!  We ordered our...
Mar 18, 2008

house: a few more windows
Coming right along.  We were able to get some more windows installed this week.  I told my husband that I think he was trying to tease me.  Every time we'd be at the house working,...
Mar 21, 2008

house: productive week
First, I would like to say thanks to those who posted comments on my profile interview!  It's always nice to see a friendly comment, especially after a long, exhausting week!  For those who...
Apr 24, 2008

house: inspection
*whimper* I had this blog all typed out and ready to post, hit the wrong key and lost it.  *sigh* Long story short, we had our rough-in inspection and exterior inspection yesterday. ...
Jun 11, 2008

house: we passed!
We had our re-inspection today for electrical, mechanical and exterior.  All three passed.  Our siding was delivered today, so installation will begin monday.  We got our logs...
Jun 13, 2008

house: we're completely baffled!
Bwahahaha!!!! Sorry, I just couldn't resist that.  I think I'm getting a bit punchy between the house, work, trying to find family time, ....    One of the things we were...
Jun 25, 2008

house: closer every minute
OK, so I couldn't stand it.  I had to post this picture.  I wanted to wait until that last little bit was finished around the oval.  That replacement window was supposed to be delivered...
Jun 25, 2008

house: insulated!
We got the OK from the Jo. Co. Inspection that we could begin insulation.  We'd thought about doing this ourselves, but changed our mind.  Boy am I glad we did!!!  We hired Tatum Insulation...
Jul 1, 2008

house: oh my aching back!!!
For those who may be interested, let me be the first to extend a hearty GOOD JOB to those who do dry wall.  This has been the biggest challenge yet, BUT I'm happy to report that it's coming along...
Jul 16, 2008

more updates
It was a very tiring weekend, but we have almost all the dry-wall installed in the ceilings upstairs.  Not bad since we only had 2 adults, 3 kids on Saturday and 3 adults working on Sunday. ...
Jul 21, 2008

house: kitchen is coming together
This is the one room in the house that we didn't see eye-to-eye!  It wasn't that we disagreed (much), but just that I could see in my mind what I wanted.  My husband just could not see it. ...
Jul 31, 2008

house, dry wall nearing completion
For those who are interested, here's the latest progress on the house. While we did change the outside appearance pretty drastically, our goal all along was to keep the inside looking and feeling...
Aug 17, 2008

house: dry wall almost complete
We continue to make our baby steps toward completion of this project.  With the exception of the garage and around the tub and shower, dry wall is hung and we have two coats of tape/mud applied. ...
Sep 20, 2008

house: floors
For those who have followed this project from the beginning, you may remember my frustrations over the hardwood floors.  For those who have only recently learned of this monstrous project...
Jan. 25, 2009

house: full circle
Well, we have finally made it full circle!  When we began this house project, the first order of business was dismantling the stair rails to prep the house for the grand move.  This past week...
Feb. 21, 2009

doors and trim
Feb. 7, 2009

profile of rocknhorse
I've been a GOLO member for some time now and thought maybe it was time to update my profile.  As stated before, I'm a happily married mother of two wonderful kids.  Life doesn't...
Jul 18, 2007

meet "rocknhorse" | the golo profile
This week we learn a little more about GOLO member, Rocknhorse. She's best known for her monumental house project and fondness...
Apr 21, 2008