Monday, March 16, 2015

SOL for Day 16 never done building.

We have added to our current house since we built in in 1986. My husband's family has a lumber & hardware business. He and his 2 brothers have worked there all their lives, each with their own responsibilities. My husband started working for his grandfather, then his dad. He served as a contractor for years, building houses for their customers. Even though he never got a degree in architecture, he often designed the houses. For simple additions, he might draw the floor plans to scale. For more challenging jobs, he would pay a friend to draw up the plans. He recently stopped building for others because he needed to slow down. He still gets requests and will offer sound advice, but no longer contracts to build.

I don't remember what we first added to our house but it was probably a shed for my husband to store his tractor. He kept it in the basement for a time before the basement was finished. Since that first shed, he has added to it 3 times and built 2 more structures. He collects car parts and old vehicles. They require space. He has a 45 year collection of motors, parts cars, and parts. He even bought a 38 ft. Motor home that took up quite a big space.

He sold one of his cars to build a pool in our back yard. That was 15 years ago. The pool needed a patio, later that was added on the back of our house, small restroom included. Last year he felt we needed a pavilion to host family gatherings. It is built on the other side of the pool.

Four years ago he needed/wanted a space to store his show cars so he built a barn with a loft. We chose red metal with a white roof. We are so proud of how it looks and spend an average of one day per month to keep it clean inside. It does require maintenance as with every house.

You can get a glimpse of the red barn in this picture.



4 comments:

  1. I am in awe of folks like your husband who have the talents required to be builder. To be able to visualize and complete these projects requires incredible skill! What a blessing his skills have been not only to your family, but also to the others he has helped over the years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Now that's a handy man! You are so lucky that when there is a need for a structure, someone has the talent to design and build to fit your needs. Love the photo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! He had many talents. And always very supportive of me.

      Delete

Summer Reading List