My goldfish pond

[CometKeith]

Sissy i've been in construction almost 30 years. I've never lifted a hammer or used a screwdriver, saw etc on any job. The most physically demanding thing I've done is writting checks, making phone calls, shoping for materials, or working on my laptop. Always been on the management end. My day is 50% longer than anyone that works for me and probably a lot more stressful!
JW. I can hardly wait! The last time I rented an apartment was over 30 yeas ago and people get set in their ways and going from a large 4 bedroom house to a two bedroom apartment has been difficult to get used to. Also we went the budget route because we thought it would be just a few months but we have been here 5 months so far and at least two more to go.
We couldn't get the drywall first thing because there is a school across the street and there was a safety concern. The truck had to go back to the warehouse and came back about 12:30. I guess they finaly got it all in but there was still drywall outside waiting to be caried in 3 hours later.
Had to take out a large orange goldfish I bought end the end of last year. It was swimming very slow a few days ago and I was womdering if it was going to make it. Sad! The rest of the fish seem fine. The weather has been so warm the fish have been moving around quite a bit. It's getting cold again tomorrow.

 

[addy1]

Just a few sheets of dry wall!
I hate doing drywall and mud, but have gotten decent at it after all the repairs we have had to do on rentals.

 

[sissy]

I have remodeled 4 houses in my lifetime and it is not an easy job to do .Plus built sheds an insulated and drywalled them after I ran all the electrical .Built decks and porch's and pergolas .I just got done redoing both my decks last year and it was not an easy job .Hopefully not going to do anymore of it .Though my son is thinking about buying the bank owned house on 5 acres down the street from me .bank wants 28 thousand for it and it is 10 years old .He is just waiting for the bank to let him see it and finish the foreclosure papers on the owners .Hoping it does not need much work .

 

[CometKeith]

Here a few pics. There is a basement, 1st floor rental, and upper duplex we are going to live in so 4 floors total. The last pic is the pond. The fish have been living it up all week with the warmer weather but it looks we are going back to winter now.

 

[Lisak1]

We've had a nice spring preview, haven't we? Back to reality now as the snowflakes were flying last night.

Everything is coming along nicely it seems! Won't be long and you'll be in your own place again, enjoying your pond.

How did you decide to use the top floor for yourselves?

 

[sissy]

Hint best thing I ever did was put soundproofing insulation between all my rooms .

 

[CometKeith]

Lisak, the top floors give us more light and better views. Also it will be quieter with no one living above us. I'm very happy with that decision because we had to find a temporary apartment and our upstairs neighbors are very noisy at odd times when we are sleeping and I'm not enjoying that . The downside is we will need to walk up a flight of stairs to get to our unit so in probable 20 years we will need to move again. The nice thing is if we travel we don't need to worry about an empty house sitting around, and now the rents will cover all our housing expenses plus its an interesting place to live. It's not for everyone to go back to multifamily when you had a single family house but we think we will be happy. Our unit is going to be over 2200 SF for just the two of us plus a nice backyard and 3 car garage. We are picking out some very nice finishes such as walnut kitchen cabinets, quartzite counters, and 6 inch wide plank white oak floors so the end result should be very nice. Also we put in new casement windows in the whole building and since the building was virtually gutted everything inside is brand new except for the Graystone exterior. My pond is larger than the old one so that's a plus and we will be close to the lake so I can go bike riding more easily.
Sissy. I ended up sound proofing between our two floors. My wife didn't really care about it but I think it will make our place quieter if we both have tvs going on different floors.

 

[Lisak1]

It sounds wonderful! You've picked a place that affords you all the things that matter to you both - that's all you can ask for!

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks Lisak. Since we became empty nesters with our youngest graduating last year, mostly my wife decided she wanted a change and I went along with it. It's not like we are moving to Montana or something. (Sorry Mitch!) I think a lot of people talk about downsizing but it takes quite a bit of effort to actually pull the trigger and do it. We had accumulated a lot of "stuff" over years and is was a little weird getting rid of things we still liked. It's not like we are in our golden years and we are still very active. Some of our friends thought it was a little different for us to give up our nice house and move out of our community but it made sense for us and we are only 15 minutes from our old house. Overall it will be good but it has been a hard process getting everything picked out. We built our last house 18 years ago and it was much easier back then because there weren't so many choices for everything. If it were up to me things would be picked out much faster but I'm sure my wife is doing a better job than if it were just me doing it.

 

[CometKeith]

The pond is practically overflowing with all the rain we have had. I have lost a few fish I think because of all the dust and grime from our project falling in the pond. Most of the fish seem to be doing fine. I think this weekend I'll put my filter in and see if that will help. Drywall is basically done and we will be starting flooring soon. I'll be glad when our project is over!

 

[addy1]

Our pond got a huge wash out, a inch fell yesterday!

Sorry you lost some Keith. Glad you are getting done there.

 

[claire58]

Nicely done! I just registered and it's so good to get so much inspiration for my future pond.

 

[MoonShadows]

Hi @claire58,

Just want to say Howdy!

 

[CometKeith]

Hey Claire. Thanks and good luck with your pond. Everyone is here to help so feel free to ask any questions you need help with. One bit of advice. I think the one thing everyone on GPF will agree on is to make your pond as big as possible right from the start. Okay. I took this picture today. With all the rain we have been having the pond is definitely overflowing and ready to flood the whole neighborhood! At least I can say with absolutely certainty there are no leaks! The rocks and stone are all from the last pond and have been sitting there all winter. At some point I'll start to finish the edges but I know my wife wants us to finish our construction project first. Some people have crazy priorities!

 

[claire58]

Hey Claire. Thanks and good luck with your pond. Everyone is here to help so feel free to ask any questions you need help with. One bit of advice. I think the one thing everyone on GPF will agree on is to make your pond as big as possible right from the start. Okay. I took this picture today. With all the rain we have been having the pond is definitely overflowing and ready to flood the whole neighborhood! At least I can say with absolutely certainty there are no leaks! The rocks and stone are all from the last pond and have been sitting there all winter. At some point I'll start to finish the edges but I know my wife wants us to finish our construction project first. Some people have crazy priorities! View attachment 98252

Thank you! I'm having a look around reading several threads and collecting info, will sure have questions!