Welcome to our channel! We are Justin and Lil, plus four kids and one on the way! We have been living full time, off the grid (no public utilities), in a 28ft RV while pursuing our dream of building an offgrid homestead on 18 acres of raw land. Our goal is to DIY as much of the house build as possible. We are also striving to build the house debt free through the entire process. Between the RV, vehicles, homestead, Solar power system, and the house build, there are always a million things that need to be done and never enough time. The art of DIY has become lost in this consumerist world that encourages buying, trashing, and replacing instead of living simply, creating things, and repairing them. Also, DIY saves tons of money! Our hope for this channel is that by sharing our journey, it will inspire and encourage others to pursue their dreams!
I had a similar "defect" on my 6000EX. The display panel wasn't working correctly, I was told they couldn't get a replacement part and would have to replace the entire unit or... upgrade to the XP for $700... which of course I did. (And an SO much happier) I think they are def phasing out the ol' yellers in favor of the XP line of products. I suspect tech support labor on the old versions is getting costly to S.S. hence all the upgrades. Sounds like they've already got you dialed in for a free upgrade on the 6000 XP's curious why you chose two of those rather than just an 18K XP. I'm guessing because the price was right. 😉 Watching you go through the antiquated programing and firmware upgrade process triggered triggered my ptsd, I will NOT miss that! Plus you'll LOVE the new monitoring software. The app is ok by the desktop version is 1000 times better. Enjoy!
I have watched your channel for a while and love your positive attitude. Some things may challenge you folks but you continue to make progress on your home build. Justin, the templates sure save you much time. Keep on making good progress and blessings to you all.
Planning and forethought makes everything work correctly. Also, you have to have patience and not get in a rush. God bless your family and the work of your hands. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Lifting the boards with the tractor is a great idea. May I suggest temporarily attaching two 2x4s with screws that stick out away from the house at the top so that you can put the boards between them. Yuo can space them apart 4 feet or so. This can stop them from falling left or right when you lift them up. It might help speed up the process a little. Great video!
😅 you got it, I like this method because it is manageable for me to do solo, one board at a time! No cranes, no crew, just me and my somewhat trusty dewalt nailgun and my hoarde of ladders 🤣
Great Video!! Glad y'all made It threw the storm!!! Smart idea to help you set in ridge beams!! With all the rain much more to come in your future, I would think you put down a seal on the flooring to prevent early stages of sagging or rotting. (Seen that happening in my nieces home). Y'all take care, hope and Pray y'all will have better weeks ahead.
Hey Thomas, thanks for joining us! We painted our floor before we started the framing and we are so thankful we did because it has helped weather all this rain. Definitely a must for self builds that won't be dried in for the rainy season
Who knew you needed to pay attention in geometry class 😅. Who needs a buddy when you have clamps? 😂. Been working on a deck replacement project. My son has been helping on/off. When not there to help...lots of clamps being substituted.
One thing that suddenly caught my mind, about trees, and if you cut their neighbors. When trees grow, they build strength to handle the conditions they experience. If you cut trees close to them, they can get more exposed to wind, and if the conditions change too much, there's a risk of them falling. I remember 15-20 years ago, the electric grid authorities changed their guidelines for free distance on each side of power lines, and widened by 0.5-1m ((~2-3 ft) on each side. The following year there were a significant increase in blackout, because previously protected trees, suddenly couldn't handle the increased stress, an fell on the power lines. After a year, it was more or less back to normal. Just thought it might be something to think about, if you decide to cut down trees close to your house, that they were possibly protecting their neighbors than can become more vulnerable and fall no your house, if you are unlucky.
That is a very good point! All the trees around us are very young and healthy still. We cut down any dead or unhealthy trees. We will keep an eye on them as they grow and remove them as necessary
@@DIY_or_DIE I don't know anything about the trees on your property, like how they stretch their roots. We had a few trees falling on our property within the last year, and all of them seemed healthy, but their roots were pulled out when they fell.
Well, our pine trees have huge tap roots that go at least 6-8 feet down in the ground. It is very rare for a pine tree to be uprooted and fall over. For that to happen it needs to be rotted out at the base of the tree. More likely for the top of the tree to break off or branches to fall.
Hey folks, hope you're all doing well. Glad you made it through the weather ok, sorry to hear not everyone in the area did. Great start to the roof, the time to get your templates right was for sure well spent and looks like it "should" go pretty smoothly (no doubt famous last words right there!). It's good to see that your nemesis nail gun is now behaving itself properly with other brand nails and after your previous good clean out, got to be way less frustrating! Fingers crossed that the coming week goes as planned and that you don't get hit with another storm. Stay safe all.
Hey Paul, thanks for joining us! Yes, we are happy to have the storm behind us. Hopefully we will have beautiful weather for the next couple months so we can get this roof up!
Doing the roof work by yourself seems so daunting but, you figured out a way to make it work. You guys are awesome and hard workers. Have a great week.
Wow! 4/12 pitch? That is a very low pitch roof! I thought you'd go steeper to shed the water and to allow you to use the second floor space in the future. Huh. Nice use of jigs and such! I was surprised by the ridge beam and no collar tie truss assemblies. No joist hangars to make putting the rafter up easier? I wonder if you are going with a metal roof? The outtakes are cute!
Yes, 4/12 was for me to keep the rafter length to manageable size and keep the framing as simple as possible. Didn't want to do trusses because I would have needed a crane to lift them. This method is nice because it is manageable for me to do by myself one piece at a time! Yes we are planning to do metal roof.
Brother and sister, glad you weathered Debby and back to work. Yes,the tractor can be an asset and you have it so use it. Yes those 2x10 are heavy. Just hope you get it dried in before the next storm. I have DeWalt tools also but no nailer just a hammer. Keep up with the liquids going in and be safe. God bless your family.
Hey Rick, thanks for joining us this week 😊 since Lil is taking it easy for a while, im not sure what I would do without that tractor! Goal is to be dried in by the end of the year, but we have a lot going on with a lot of moving parts 😅
@@DIY_or_DIE really my husband and I live around the airport. If you ever need help let me no. My husband is retired. He built homes for a living and remodel historic home. We both retired we loved and help you
Couple months ago I said I was impressed with how you used the pulley system for walls and said I’d of done the same. When I asked about your plan for rafters you said, just wait that you had an idea. Well color me impressed because can see your concept now. I would have done them complete and lifted up. Much harder. Can teach an old dog new tricks. Like your idea, like the safety of it. Well done.
