Warren drove out to the farm to plan some renovation. (He hadn’t closed on the farm and it wasn’t the Sanctuary yet.)  She greeted him with “I used to live here.” The former owner was camping out in the house. Among several things she shared was the fact that there was no heat or air. She said she’d be leaving that afternoon. A week later it was “I got scared sleeping at the rest station.” It took two weeks before she decided to go back to Florida. Warren changed the locks. Just before she “camped,” her former husband showed up during an event and also pointed out that there was no heat or air. A few days later he had dropped off quite a few items in the garage when I wasn’t around. I didn’t even own the place yet. Later I uncovered more items that were “being stored.” We were friendly, learned about the “dog park” and how to turn on the water fountain, but the former owners were certainly pushing reasonable limits.
      As people began to move in we confirmed, it was a fact, there was no heat or air and it was hot. Another concern was no washer or dryer.  By the time Warren moved in we had discovered a myriad of electric issues. We only had one working toilet. The garage door was cockeyed and wouldn’t open. Every time it rained water would run over the gutter and pour onto the porch.
      After analyzing the 30 year old geothermal system and the hot water tank, Warren cut a deal with Tony to install a new air and gas furnace system plus a hot water tank. H20 Tank – done a few days later. Trouble was we didn’t have gas. After evaluating gas vs electric and getting Columbia Gas to agree to cover the cost of installing gas we began the process. First step was to identify where the water, cable, electric, sewer and septic were. Sewer and septic are private, so the homeowner pays to determine the location. The private tracer came out and put pink flags at “anomolies” all over the front yard, but couldn’t identify the sewer or septic. The gas company did their due diligence, found the clean out and traced the sewer in the back yard, but the septic was still unclear and the gas company had to know before they would dig. A call to the tracers was less than helpful. Warren bought some green flags calculated the maximum size of where the septic had to be and identified the septic, consulting with a geologist neighbor and a very cooperative Columbia’s new service person.
      The gas line installation manager was ready to install, but the order had been changed and installation would only be to a point across the street at the top of our front yard, not all the way back to the house. I showed him the stake. Told him I had moved it to a point which would not make it necessary to tear up the ceiling in the anticipated “Health-Wellness” area. We talked. He learned about what we were doing. He investigated, got the order changed back to installing next to the house and work began to install the gas line. It took more than a week to get all the pieces coordinated – digging holes on either side of the street and two more halfway across the yard and beside the house, calling welders twice, pulling the line between the holes with a line digger and backhoe, then pulling the gas lines between the holes, welding and sealing, installing the meter and pressure regulator and following all the safety protocols. A few days after the installation the tracer company called apologetically saying they would come out. “It’s already done.” I chuckled. During this time the weather had turned. We had several “cold” nights. Shortly after “done” it became really cold and we were grateful, really grateful to have heat.
       In the meantime Tony had gotten the hot water, furnace and air installed. Home Depot would have been approximately $15,000. We bought the furnace and air for $3500. Supplies cost $650. The electrician was $650. Tony got a car and agreed to help on other projects as we needed help. The furnace installation was a major undertaking, but we will spare you the details. For the most part it went smoothly.  Thanks Tony.
      While doing the furnace we discovered that touching the 30+ year old 3″ brass drain pipes created a hole in the pipe. We covered the weak pipes with furnace and duct tape and said a little prayer. We also recognized that the extension cord supplying electricity to the trailer was inadequate and dangerous. The hose supplying water to the trailer had frozen as well.  The electrician installed a 50amp circuit for the trailer. Warren found a hose that could be electrified to keep it from freezing. We found a plumbing friend who installed 3″ pvc pipe and fixed that plumbing issue. One very small, but messy leak was cleaned up a little later.
      Of course, that’s not really true, because we had to deal with the squirrels, the electric, the kitchen, the painting, the Health-Wellness area, the Addition and maybe a hundred other large and small projects. We caught a lot of mice. At first we turned them loose 3+ miles away, but when it was freezing we kept them briefly. When we turned them loose the mother had six babies growing up with her. You are welcome to be part of these ongoing projects. After the small messy leak was fixed several other leaks were discovered and fixed.