Thank Goodness for Great Brothers

Well, we all know how cold it can get in Michigan. This first week of March has been "typical". The temps have been in the twenties and has made it extremely difficult to work in a house with no heat or water. We power through it...

 

Here's the guy who is making magic happen. My brother Bob is an amazing "jack-of-all-trades" kind of guy. He built his own house, from the ground up, so I knew he was the one to call for this particularly difficult challenge. The house has been empty for two years, with a sixty year old boiler system. The boiler does not work, the radiators are all cracked, and all of the copper plumbing has been stolen from the house. An estimate from a licensed plumber was $20,000, to get the boiler up and running.

 

 

Enter Bob. He comes in and takes control. He draws up a plan and makes things happen. He decides, "Screw this boiler, we will put in a forced air system", and he's going to make it happen for $5,000 (which is a quarter of the quoted price). We need to purchase a new water heater, copper plumbing , ductwork, furnace, air conditioning unit, and humidifier. He's got connections, friends in the business, and the know how...

 

But first things first...

 

We had to tear out the ceiling in the basement. This is the first important step because all of the new ductwork will run along the basement ceiling, also all of the new plumbing. Unfortunately, we found two ceilings; drywall, covered with ceiling tiles. So this is what me and my partner in crime worked on over the weekend. The tear down was easy but the clean up was back breaking and time consuming. There are now about fifty industrial strength garbage bags full of building material sitting in the garage. My next challenge is to find a dumpster company...