At Home In The Woods

nhkabotab7800 · Mar 5, 2010

Obed, lookin' good, REAL good!

I know there are usually some restrictions on venting as far as how many elbows in the pipe run and the length of the run, sometimes these restrictions can be overcome with the use of some type of blower to keep the gasses moving. Your on the right path lookin' to talk with gas company about it, most times it is a matter of just knowing the right questions. Good luck let us know how it worked out.

Rick

scoutcub · Mar 5, 2010

Obed -

Coming along beautifully! You might have mentioned it before, but how large is the house? Looks like some decent square footage! That will be quite a transition from your current digs.....not to mention a few trips to the furniture stores!

Obed · Mar 5, 2010

The wife has been meeting with subs. She gets me involved when there is a subject that needs my input. Yesterday the wife met with a plumber and got a bid. That's the 3rd plumbing bid we've gotten. We met with a roofer yesterday evening.

Today the wife met with the H&A company that we are leaning toward using. They found a way to run the hot water heater gas flue a way that we can live with. It requires a forced are venting hot water heater which is more expensive than the passive venting hot water heaters. This H&A sub seems to be very accommodating about where to run the ductwork and gas flues. That's important to us. We are trying to get as much stuff run inside the floor trusses as possible so we don't have to lower the basement ceiling. Ideally everything would get put inside the trusses but that is yet to be seen. The floor trusses are 9 ft above the basement floor so we have another foot available if needed and would still have an 8 ft high ceiling.

The wife also met with the brick and stone guys. The brick guy recommended that we install the back deck by bolting a ledger board on the outside of the brick and bolting it to the house framing similar to what was suggested in this thread.

We've gotten bids from 2 electricians and have one more to see.

dcyrilc · Mar 5, 2010

Siding and roof would normally be the next steps. The other stuff can happen at the same time, but it's important to get the shell sealed as soon as possible.

Obed · Mar 5, 2010

scoutcub said:
Obed -

Coming along beautifully! You might have mentioned it before, but how large is the house? Looks like some decent square footage! That will be quite a transition from your current digs.....not to mention a few trips to the furniture stores!

2100 SF plus unfinished basement and unfinished attic. The wife really wanted the living space all on one floor. In her line of work in the medical field, she has seen lots of older folk who can't manage stairs very well. That's also why we tried hard to get the garage slab the same level as the house floor with no steps from the garage to the house. The best we were able to do was one 7" step. In theory, we may finish the basement for a mother-n-law apartment. The upstairs will probably remain an attic as long as we live in the house. If we decided to sell the house, we would very likely finish the upstairs for resale.

Yes, it will be quite a transition from the 350 SF camper. Not looking forward to the furniture shopping ($$$). We saved a lot of money living in the camper. You don't need to buy much furniture for a camper.

dcyrilc · Mar 5, 2010

Obed said:
Yes, it will be quite a transition from the 350 SF camper. Not looking forward to the furniture shopping ($$$). We saved a lot of money living in the camper. You don't need to buy much furniture for a camper.

Not very easy to rearange the furniture though.

buckeyefarmer · Mar 5, 2010

dcyrilc said:
Not very easy to rearange the furniture though.

Which is a good thing...

polo1665 · Mar 6, 2010

Obed said:
Today the wife met with the H&A company that we are leaning toward using. They found a way to run the hot water heater gas flue a way that we can live with. It requires a forced are venting hot water heater which is more expensive than the passive venting hot water heaters.

This is what we had to do when we switched from an electric hot water heater to natural gas. The forced vent gas water heaters were substantially more expensive. If the price is prohibitive you can always go electric. Our decision paid for itself.

Mark

Obed · Mar 6, 2010

More pictures.

Duffster · Mar 6, 2010

Why are guys installing hot water heaters?

dcyrilc · Mar 6, 2010

Duffster said:
Why are guys installing hot water heaters?

It takes less energy than heating cold water.

buckeyefarmer · Mar 6, 2010

dcyrilc said:
It takes less energy than heating cold water.

Which is what the geothermal desuperheater does, it preheats your water going to the hot water tank, so it hardly has to work.

Mike058 · Mar 6, 2010

Duffster said:
Why are guys installing hot water heaters?

Shhh, I got it from this guy, that a friend at work's brother knows.

Obed · Mar 8, 2010

More pictures.

Obed · Mar 8, 2010

For new construction, who normally installs the windows? Does the framer normally install them or do professional window companies usually install them?

Duffster · Mar 8, 2010

Obed said:
For new construction, who normally installs the windows? Does the framer normally install them or do professional window companies usually install them?

Framer.

EddieWalker · Mar 8, 2010

Yes, the framers do this. Be sure they do it right. I've seen way too many just nail them up and not seal them or use tape. Be sure the wrap is cut and the flap goes on the outside of the window, then seal with tape.

Take a picture of what the do, it's real easy to see if it's done correctly.

Eddie

mikefromnh · Mar 9, 2010

Obed said:
For new construction, who normally installs the windows? Does the framer normally install them or do professional window companies usually install them?

Around here the framers used to do it all the time, kind of a freebie thrown in the last day.

However, leaking windows is a potential nightmare of mold and rot. So it is now more common for either the general or a window company to handle the install. To do it right can cost a fair amount in sealants, window pans and flexible tapes etc. But it is money well spent.

shane · Mar 9, 2010

Yes, it's usually the framers job to install the windows and exterior doors. And, most of them do a really lousy job of it. Make sure they do as mentioned with the seal tape, caulk, etc. Go behind them with a level and square. Make them fix anything and everything now before the brick/siding goes on. This is one of those items that can haunt a house from now on if it''s not done correct now.

Also, make sure the exterior doors are shimmed and long screws are used through the hinges into the framing. Use the levels, squares on them as well.

You are doing a great overseeing your house. I wish all the contractors I work for had the same desire as you to get things done properly.

EddieWalker · Mar 9, 2010

I went to a home show last week and spent some talking to the James Hardie rep about thier siding. While talking, he told me that they now sell house wrap. I didn't know this and he gave me a sample and explained why it is supperior to Tyvek and Dupont. Both are fine, but are fairly open weaves. The Hardi wrap is a very tight, thicker product that by looking at the two, I think is vasty supperior. He said it is about the same price as Tyvek, but I haven't bought it yet. The only supplier is an hour away, but I'll make the drive when I need house wrap to buy this over Tyvek in the future.

Eddie