Getting Cold...

We've been spoiled.  October, November and most of December were a delight.  The outdoor temperatures kept peaking at near 60 degree highs.  Recently, however, the night time temperatures have been falling.  We're now close to 20 degrees at night and gradually dropping.  For a "normal home" this wouldn't be much of an issue, besides, what's "normal" anyway?  

Normal is what everyone else's home is like and your's is not.  That is, insulated.

 I came home from work today to find that the first floor was relatively warm, and the heating was off.  My wife had closed the doors leading to the upper floor as well as closed off our bedroom and bathroom.  Going inside our bedroom was a shock to the system, like the Polar Bear Club... 

The temperatures in our bedroom and bathroom were dramatically colder than any other part of our home.  Where it was a decent 60+ on the first floor, our bedroom was hovering in the upper 30's.  Our walls are thin, yes, but what is much worse are our windows.  They do not align correctly where the upper sash and lower sash have anywhere from 1/8" to a 1/2" gap between them.  The outside air circulates quite well with this setup and lowers the temperature rapidly.

We purchased two boxes of Frost King's Window Insulation Kit from our local big name hardware store costing us $10.98 (plus tax) each.  The kit comes with nine clear plastic sheets and double sided tape.  The concept is simple enough.  Clean off the area around the window along the molding.  Apply the tape along the perimeter and stick on the clear plastic sheet.  You don't have to be very neat as this last part hides most of the sloppiness.  Take your wife's hairdryer and starting at one corner, work your way around the window.  Just watch that plastic film shrink and become as tight as a drum!

My wife is a great helper, by the way.  While I setup the next couple of windows, she heat shrank the plastic.  When taught, the plastic is barely noticeable, especial with the curtains back up.

I also grabbed two bottles of paint-able white caulk and went at it in the bathroom.  I caulked every seam and nail hole in our bead board wall. The wall divides the bathroom from the stair well, which leads to the attic... the Icicle Queen herself wouldn't stay up there....talk about a draft when you get out of the shower... We'll see how it is in the morning, if there is any effect.  I hope for the best, our latest heating bill came in :(

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Chimney and Stoves, Part I

My wife and I are looking on spending between $5,000 and $6,000 year heating our home with oil.  Our furnace is approximately 60 years old, and in fact on 12/2/2011, I had the oil tank filled costing us $694.33 for 185.7 gallons.  Last time we had the tank filled was on October 12.

On the weekend of 12/3/2011, I had the chimney inspected.  I was a little disappointed with the inspection.  I had to wait a month for the appointment and when the two man crew came in, they spent 15 minutes walking around as I took them to each fireplace.  After the walk through, the attic was seen, then the basement.  Finally, one man climbed to the roof and looked down the chimney.  That's it.  I was charged $150 for a visual inspection (Level 1) and all they told me was what I already knew.  That my chimney is unlined.  Yey, thanks for wasting my money...  Not only did I waste a month, waste $150 for information I already knew, I also received a citation from the chimney sweep that I have a code violation.  Now that's a WTF moment if anything.

I was also given an estimate for repair.  The oil furnace has a 7" diameter exhaust that is ducted to the chimney, but is also unlined.  For $2,500, the Sweep will install a liner for that exhaust.  It's important since the exhaust, like an automobile's exhaust, contains carbon monoxide.  Being un-lined allows the gases to potentially leak through cracks in the chimney.

The sweep also noted moss growing on the chimney cap's exterior bricks.  For $475, the cap can be cleaned and sealed.

Also, for $1,200 to $1,400, they will install a stove that I buy separately whose price includes a liner.

With this knowledge, my wife and I went stove shopping.  We ended up at a large showroom with several different styles, sizes and brands.  I found out that stove makers make exclusive contracts with distributors who are the only ones allowed to sell that brand within a set radius forcing a price point that is hard to beat.  No real competition...

Regardless of the above, we saw and liked a particular stove called a Lopi Leyden.  From the salesperson we found out that the unit is made in America, cast iron and a higher quality than average.  Reviews online show a 50/50 opinion in regards to quality of build.  You can fill the stove either from the front double doors or from the top.  It's roughly 500 lbs in weight and since it burns wood, requires a 6" liner.  The larger the liner, the more expensive.

We got a quote of $1999 for the stove itself and another $1000 for the liner plus $600 for basic installation.  I tried my best to explain to the salesman that we don't have your typical setup.  We have an antique home.... somehow, when I explain this to people, they don't seem to understand.  Photos are the only way to express a thousand words:

 I sent all these photos to make sure that the salesman knew exactly what it was that he was dealing with so that there were no surprises during the installation.  I also included a photo of the exterior of our home showing the chimney.  I wanted to get an appropriate estimate for the installation of the stove as well as the cost to install the liner for the oil boiler.  With all this information, he waited a week saying that he's trying to get information...

Hi Steve, spoke with Matt my installer. He's thinking by looking at the pics and doing a quick drive by that your chimney opening is 48 x 48. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks(name)
Sent from my Samsung Captivate

 That's nice, but this was emailed a week after the photos were submitted.  I replied with:

Great, so where does that leave us with an estimate for the installation of a 7" diameter liner for the oil furnace AND updated installation costs for the wood burning stove? 

A couple days pass and no response:

(name),
I hate to pester, but I am still waiting to hear from you regarding the installation costs.
I also apologize for using your personal email, as I do not have your work email.
Thanks, Steve 

A response, finally:

Its no bother at all Steve. Monday i was playing phone tag with (name) a couple times. Either he was in the middle of an install or I was unavailable. Yesterday i was off. Im going to ask him if he could leave a approx figure should i miss his call again. Take care. I'll talk to you soon with an update. 

Ok, so I'll wait for him to get in touch with his installer......

Good morning Steve
I wanted to give you an update. I spoke with (name) briefly yesterday. He advised me that he wouldn't be able to do the job for you because he's so backed up with installs on stoves. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

This salesman is just wasting my time...

(name),
This is really disappointing.  Waiting for information for two weeks only to read that your installer's opinion on cost is that he's too busy?  That's F'd up, to be blunt.
I suppose I should take my business else where, if this is the level of service I am to expect from Dean's Stove and Spa.  We like the stove but putting a serious buyer on the back burner and showing nothing for it is ridiculous.  You could have been more professional about it and gave us a proper quote but added, "unfortunately, our installer is not available until...". No, instead you blew us off for two weeks, then had the balls to say, in essence, that your installer is too lazy to figure out a quote.  I put great effort in creating a detailed plan with photographs, I can see I only wasted my time.

A review of this business will be made.

Quite disappointing.  Good luck with your future endeavors.

Steve 

I am still planing on installing a wood stove, but not from Dean's Stove and Spa.  Perhaps I will buy one from them and have the chimney sweep install it.  After emailing the above, still annoyed, I wouldn't want to give a commission to this salesman.

There is a tax rebate of 10% for wood stoves of over 75% efficiency for the 2011 tax year.  Hence, why my time is being wasted by this salesman.

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Water in my electrical panel

My wife and I are getting ready for a trip back to our parents homes' for Thanksgiving.  After packing the car, I wanted to secure our home for our extended leave.  I locked the back door, then went into the basement to check the basement door.  We previously worked on the breaker box which was left uncovered from when we were installing the vent fan in our bathroom.  I wanted to re-attach the cover, so as I was re-attaching it, I am supporting the panel with my left hand, screwing in the second of six screws when all of a sudden water started to squirt out from the breakers!  I quickly unscrewed the two screws, pulled off the panel and was quite surprised to see most of the breakers covered in water.  First things first, the main was switched off.

"Honey, what happened to the power!" calls my wife.

With the main off, in the dark, I remembered that I had the business card in my wallet of the electrician that came to our home that day of the power outage in October.  I called him up.  I explained the situation, and he said, "If this were any other day, I would be right over, but unfortunately, I am with family and have a bird to take care of."  I understood, but he did a repeat of our first encounter.  He described to me how to correct the water issue:

1. Turn off the main and each individual breaker.
2. Take out each breaker by pulling it out from the center of the box towards the side it is on.
3. Unscrew the wire leading into each breaker so that now the breaker is completely free.
4. Get a can of WD-40 and saturate the breaker.
5. Wrap the breaker in a thick towel and gently beat it.  The oil in the WD-40 will disperse the water in the breaker bringing it out of the casing.
6. Get a can of compressed air and spray off any residual water/oil left.
7. Repeat the towel beating and compressed air cleaning until there is no more water.
8. The WD-40 will dry in about 30 minutes.  Re-attach the wire and plug the breaker back into its location on the panel.
9. Repeat for all the wet breakers.

Took me a couple hours, but I completed the task and with my hands shaking, I turned on the main, then breakers 1... 2... 3........23.  Power was up and running.  We waited about half an hour to make sure everything was stable, then packed up the last of our belongings and left for the weekend.

The electrician said that water can get into the electrical box through the main conduit leading from the outside line.  It would trickle down the conduit into the home and directly into the panel.

A week later, before the next rain event, I took a look at the main power feed entering our home. The line attaches to the exterior wall at the roof line. It enters a conduit that then travels down the exterior wall to the meter.  From there, the conduit leaves the meter and goes further down the wall to the basement level where a bracket is installed.  Looking closely at the bracket, it is loose, rather unattached to the wall.  I found the source of my water leak.

Just of note, this is the same location where investigative work was undertaken several weeks prior by the structural company working in the basement.  They did such lousy finishing work on the exterior. Not only is that bracket not secured but there is also a lack of caulking.  I purchased a box of paint-able white exterior caulk from Lowes and went at that bracket. This could have been disastrous!  Imagine if my wife and I left and water continued to leak onto live breakers.  A fire erupts after a spark is created and my 250 year old wooden home burns up like a Thanksgiving bonfire.  I may sound like a "drama queen" to any contractor, but when it comes to my family and my investment, it's nothing to blow over. I have to watch future contractors like a hawk. I have to scrutinize their work as we'll be the ones living with their oversights.

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Structural Repairs, Part I

As I sit here writing, I am torn between being brutally honest and abiding by my word.  You see, I made an agreement with the contractor who completed the structural repairs on our home.  My original idea was to document all the work being done with photos depicting the staged repairs.  I always believe in being honest with people and explained to the owner that I have a blog and would like to have his permission to post pictures of his equipment, etc.  My thoughts were, well, it's my home, I am vicariously paying for it and it's absolutely free advertising for their company.  I was a bit shocked to hear his response.  I'll paraphrase:

1.  Anything on the internet is there forever.

2.  We don't know how you'll depict our work.

3.  Our methods are proprietary.

4.  ...so is our fee schedule.

These are all valid points (I guess).  I responded to the owner saying that I agree with them 100% on the proprietary part.  They worked for 'X' number of years "perfecting" their methods, who am I to post pictures of their secret ways?  It was quite understandable, however, my goal with this blog is to be honest with all costs involved with the work on this antique home.  So, I made a compromise.  I countered saying that I will not post the name of the company or pictures depicting their means and methods.  The owner grudgingly agreed, with the exception of wanting to review my post as a courtesy on my part, which I can only gather for editing purposes. Like I said, I want to be honest about everything that occurred, but for reasons which are to follow, I will forfeit that courtesy and post away with my first amendment rights.  Mind you I will stick to my word.  The name of the company, the crew and their methods will NOT be discussed.  Regardless, brace yourself, this will be a long post.  I will try to break it up over a couple of posts.

On July 24, 2011, I came into contact with this contractor through a quasi government related group listing (really advertising) contractors working to rebuild and repair historic structures.  In the initial post, I described the issues with the seller; how she was unwilling to hire a proficient contractor specializing in post and beam repair.  When she finally caved in to hiring a qualified contractor, we split the cost for this particular contractor to come in costing us a combined $345. The contractor came in to produce an estimate of structural repairs in the basement.  This estimate would be used to negotiate with the seller.

The contractor was on site for a couple of hours where they and I went over the basement pointing out the locations indicated in the report from our inspector.  The support structure in the basement was covered with insulation but the contractor viewed what he could and took measurements.  I took him to the attic as I wanted him to produce a secondary estimate for vents to be installed (that I asked to be kept separate from the sellers estimate).

On August 13, 2011, the evening after the visit, the following was submitted:

1.      Remove and replace up to 12 linear feet of front left sill.

2.      Remove and replace up to 14 linear feet of left side front sill.

3.      Remove and replace two joists in this area that run parallel with the street (6x6x~12’).

4.      Remove and replace up to 9 linear feet of beam in this area (running perpendicular to the street).  Install footing and vertical where the new beam joins the old one.

5.      Set up supports and remove two existing screw jacks in the cellar near chimney. Dig new footings and install concrete filled lally columns.

6.      The beam on the back side of the chimney has sagged and there is separation between it and the beam it intersects with. Install 2x6 oak underneath it.  Dig two footings and install concrete filled lallys.

7.      The chimney beam on the right side is rotted and broken over the opening. We will attempt to replace but if it becomes apparent that this will cause damage, we will put a horizontal and verticals underneath it. 

8.      The diagonal members supporting the hearths have damage. Either sister or install verticals as needed.

The cost of labor for the above work is $10,680.00.  Materials and supplies are extra and should be about $2,640.00.  A deposit of $1,100.00 is required to be scheduled.  Payment is to be in two parts with final payment due in full upon completion.  See conditions.  Any damage to the chimney/hearths is not included and is the responsibility of the homeowner.

This work totaled $13,320.  A second estimate was given for the work in the attic:

1.      Install square gable end vent on each gable end of the house as discussed.

2.      Sister two tie beams in the attic. 

The cost of labor for the above work is $835.00.  Materials and supplies are extra.  Payment is due in full upon completion.  This estimate is only valid if done in conjunction with the structural work. 

Since we were dealing with the seller's money, I was unable to personally provide the full $1,100 deposit.  I suggested that instead, we use the labor cost of $835 for the attic work as the deposit since that work is coming out of our pockets.  They agreed and we were scheduled for an October start date.  Since we sent in our deposit before a set date, we were given a $250 coupon.

A couple weeks passed and I hadn't heard much from the contractor.  I took a couple photos of the home's exterior and emailed it asking if they wanted me to trim back the bushes or tree allowing them more working area.  Their response was simply that if we did not want to, they don't mind.  And only that the EPA requires a 10 foot plastic ground cover around all areas exposed to construction for lead protection.

By this point, however, I still haven't heard anything about a start date.  I was beginning to get worried that their schedule wasn't keeping in mind that I have checks made out in their company's name that have an expiration date.

(Name),

I may be mistaken but I don't think you told me when (company name) plans on starting.

Due to the negotiations and to make the bank happy, as well as to allow you full access to the property, (company name) has priority. And because of that, we'll have two other contractors waiting to start after you finish. All contractors are being paid via checks issued by our lawyer. Checks expire... So, please kindly advise me as to your anticipated start date.

Thank you,

Steve

I relayed this to them on October 12 and I did not hear back until October 17, when they wrote:

Hi,

We will be there Thursday morning. We will be bringing our trailer which will be staying there for the duration of the project. Please leave room for us to back it into the driveway. Thank you. (name)

I guess money talks...

Here are photos of the condition of the beams in the basement prior to the contractor's work:

1.  Overall view of the floor structure below the future library, viewing southeast.

2.  Overall view of the floor structure below the future library, viewing south.

3.  Closeup of rotten and insect damaged joists, viewing east.

4.  Closeup of rotten and insect damaged joists, viewing northeast.

5.  Closeup of rotten and insect damaged joists, viewing east.

6.  Closeup of rotten and insect damaged joists, viewing northeast.

7.  Closeup of rotten and insect damaged joist connecting to the sill, viewing northeast.

8.  Closeup of rotten and insect damaged joists, viewing southeast.

9.  Closeup of rotten and insect damaged sill, viewing east.

10.  Closeup of rotten and insect damaged sill, viewing south.  Notice the rat poison white bag peaking out by the wire, behind the brick.

11.  Closeup of a prior repair showing the lally column supporting a hearth support beam and joist with the mortise and tenon visible, viewing east.

12.  Diagonal support for the old kitchen fireplace above, viewing south.

13.  Overview of chimney foundation showing existing lally columns, viewing northeast.  The black columns to the right are temporary supports.  Temporary really means non-existent.

14.  Overall view of the old kitchen fireplace supports, viewing northeast.

15.  An old exhaust flue or perhaps even a makeshift fireplace.  The wood beam above it runs through the brick/stone foundation as one solid piece of wood.  The beam is weakened and is sagging.  Viewing south.

Click HERE for Structural Repairs, Part II.

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Curious Electrical Issue

I just received my new bathroom vent fan!  I cut open the box and studiously read the manual.  The directions said that I needed a "dedicated 20 amp breaker".  I have no idea what breaker is assigned to the bathroom.  Ok, a trip down into the basement is needed.  I open the electrical box and behold:

No lables?!  That just makes things a bit complicated. My wife and I spend the next hour going over switch by switch.  I delegated her to turn on all the lights and carry around an old plug in alarm clock for the rooms that have no hard wired lighting.  We each had an iPhone that we used in Facetime mode.  As I flipped each breaker to off, she would go room to room to find what was still on and what was out.  This method solved several of the unknown labels (especially when I kept accidentally turning off Breaker No. 4, turning off our WIFI, no WIFI = no Facetime) but a few of the breakers are still unknown.  And more alarming is that with all the breakers off, half of the lights in the kitchen were still on.

Here is what was figured out:

Breaker

1.  20 Amps - Unknown.
2.  15 Amps - Unknown.
3.  20 Amps - Unknown.
4.  15 Amps - Second Floor: South Two 
              Bedrooms.
5.  20 Amps - First Floor, Library.
6.  15 Amps - Oil Furnace.
7.  15 Amps - First Floor: Rear Stairs, 
              Dining Room, Living Room.
8.  15 Amps - First Floor: Half Bath, 
              Kitchen Addition, Porch; 
              Basement: Lights.
9.  15 Amps - Second Floor:  Full Bath.
10. 20 Amps - First Floor:  Kitchen Light 
              Over Sink & Dishwasher?
11. 15 Amps - Unknown.
12. 20 Amps - Unknown.
13/15.  80 Amps - Cloths Dryer.
17/19.  60 Amps - Oven and Range.
14. 20 Amps - Microwave.
16. 20 Amps - Radon Pump.
18. 15 Amps - Attic.
20. 15 Amps - Master Bedroom.
21. 15 Amps - Unknown.
22. 20 Amps - Main Entry Lighting and 
              Exterior Front Lights.
23. 15 Amps - Basement: Electrical 
              Socket (Dehumidifier).

I guess I have to figure out a solution for the bathroom vent.  I wonder if I can use one of the "Unknown" 20 Amp breakers?  Since they do not control anything (assuming that is) then perhaps I can just feed a wire down from the attic and plug it into the breaker box.  I'll have to look into that.

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