At Home In The Woods

[brin]

Obed...Just a thought...keep in mind the noise you will have in the summer from your air conditioner unit with your deck right there and whatever rooms back up to the unit..they can be real annoying..We put ours clear at the other end of the house ...away from bedrooms, decks and our screened porch.

 

[ding2520]

Obed
Hardwood floors don't shrink/expand much along the length of the boards, the width is where the shrink/expand takes place. If your sheetrock is 1" above the subfloors then you can have the hardwood installed up to the sheetrock and have the thickness of the sheetrock for expansion of the floor. If you don't have this space for expansion, then your forced to use thicker base board molding to cover the room that you need for the floor expanding/contracting. Thicker trim costs big money compared to 1/2" base board molding. I installed 1440 sq ft of black ash flooring in my home. I also installed the 1770 ft trim it took to finish, the trim was about 1/2 the cost of the floor. If I would have had to go to 3/4" thick baseboard trim the cost would have been about the same for the trim as the flooring. Something to consider. I did the install myself and hired a professional to sand and apply the finish. Here are a couple of shots of the flooring.

 

[bdeboer]

There is still dust in the air. I'm hoping it will settle. We'll put down more sweeping compound. The wife is planning to look tomorrow at the work of one of the painting subs who gave us a bid.

Damp sawdust sprinkled around and swept up with drywall dust also helps.

 

[firefighter9208]

Obed
Hardwood floors don't shrink/expand much along the length of the boards, the width is where the shrink/expand takes place. If your sheetrock is 1" above the subfloors then you can have the hardwood installed up to the sheetrock and have the thickness of the sheetrock for expansion of the floor. If you don't have this space for expansion, then your forced to use thicker base board molding to cover the room that you need for the floor expanding/contracting. Thicker trim costs big money compared to 1/2" base board molding. I installed 1440 sq ft of black ash flooring in my home. I also installed the 1770 ft trim it took to finish, the trim was about 1/2 the cost of the floor. If I would have had to go to 3/4" thick baseboard trim the cost would have been about the same for the trim as the flooring. Something to consider. I did the install myself and hired a professional to sand and apply the finish. Here are a couple of shots of the flooring.

Good looking "Hoosier" cabinet you got there. Is it a Hoosier brand or some other brand? Is it original? Or did you restore it? I have a white one "offbrand" that I bought and refinished and my mom has an oak Hoosier brand cabinet that she bought and refinished. It had 8 layers of milk paint on it. It took forever to get it all off.

Chris

 

[PAGUY]

Obed - You should take into consideration the location - N<W>E<S. East side would be best. Less exposure to sun and heat of the day in summer and winter weather. By the pics I am not sure what the overhang is across from the retaining wall. I would be ideal to provide overhead coverage. Like it was stated 2' or 3' from any wall and don't plant shrubs within 3' if you plan on trying to hide unit from view. Where were you planning to install evaporator? It usually goes in the attic or basement.

PAGUY

 

[hankus]

HVAC Question
Is there any problem with locating the outside H&A unit that far away from the house?

Obed

I can appreciate your concern with distance and noise, but last year we upgraded our old gas furnace, to a high efficiency gas furnace, and had an AC unit included. The condenser is located about 50' from the furnace / air handler, and is setting just outside the window of my den, which is where me and my PC are located. Never thought about a noise issue, and there hasn't been one. Our's is just a wood framed home ( not sound deadening brick ) and I don't here it when it's running. The condenser sets on a pad about 16" from the house. The furnace and AC are Trane.

 

[tony Cecil]

Obed

You should strongly think of two a/c units, one for say the bedrooms, and one for the rest of the house....I say this from the experience of having the one break on a very hot day, and the repair not being able to be done for a couple of days....Well worth the peace of mind... and further the savings by not cooling the entire house at night .Tony

 

[CurlyDave]

Probably goes without saying that you're going to want to complete your finish grade there before setting any pads for the condenser. I would avoid setting it on gravel, i've been in my house for three years and have to re-level the thing every spring. Prefab pads will keep it plumb and look better.

I set my heat pump units on a pad that I poured myself instead of a prefab pad.

I spent several hours with a plate compactor compacting the earth under the pad and used several inches of decomposed granite (sort of like very coarse sand), under 8" of concrete with 1/2" rebar on 12" centers. I compacted the decomposed granite for about an hour after I put it down.

The pad has not changed level, and is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar.

Site preparation is key and a much greater thickness of concrete than a contractor would use.

 

[Obed]

If it's going to be acting in any kind of heat pump capacity, you'll also want to consider how you're going to keep it clear of snow, including any drifts coming down from the retaining wall. I'd say keep it 2-3 feet off the wall, will also help reduce intake of air warmed by the retaining wall in the summer, and reduce the harshness of the reflected sound.

I believe we are going to have a combination gas furnace/heat pump.

Probably goes without saying that you're going to want to complete your finish grade there before setting any pads for the condenser. I would avoid setting it on gravel, i've been in my house for three years and have to re-level the thing every spring. Prefab pads will keep it plumb and look better

The H&A guy said to use a 4'x4' pad. That just seemed very large to me. Do you have any idea how much these things weigh? How would I get it to where I want it installed? I was considering forming and pouring the pad myself.

Obed

 

[Obed]

If your sheetrock is 1" above the subfloors then you can have the hardwood installed up to the sheetrock and have the thickness of the sheetrock for expansion of the floor. If you don't have this space for expansion, then your forced to use thicker base board molding to cover the room that you need for the floor expanding/contracting.

I'm not sure we have that much gap. We are planning on using quarter round anyway.

I did the install myself and hired a professional to sand and apply the finish. Here are a couple of shots of the flooring.

Your floor looks great.

Obed