I know a house is never truly done (just ask my wife ) but I got the last big project I wanted to do on the house finished.

Watching mom lose her mobility the last few years she was alive was hard but I learned a lot from going thru it. One of the hardest things was getting her in/out of the house when she became wheelchair bound. Like most of the old farm houses hers’ was a couple of feet off the ground which necessitated a ramp (I tried to talk her into a chair lift but she wouldn’t have any part of it).

As our house is about 30” off the ground we would be in the same boat if Donna or I end up with mobility issues. New lifts are pretty pricey and the one I’ve been looking at went up $700 since spring plus the shipping costs going thru the roof. I’ve been keeping an eye out for a good used lift for the last couple of years and as luck would have it one finally turned up in Tucson.

These things are heavy and awkward but we managed to get it on the trailer and home.


WCL 2 by M Patterson, on Flickr


The real fun was redoing the stairs, adding a gate, and wiring to power it, but I finally got it in place and working. It works good and for what I paid for it I can live with a couple of scratches and dings.

WCL by M Patterson, on Flickr


Hopefully Donna and I will never need it (it sure would have been nice when we moved the furniture in though ). At least it’s there if we ever do.
All and all it’s been 3 years from start to “finish”. Donna and I have been living in the house for 2 years now and are happy in the new place. I’m finally comfortable that even if I’m gone Donna will be able to live comfortably there.

With the projects done I can get serious about finding a body to wrap the HEMI in



.