What are you all planning this summer? We're getting bids now for a major remodel. The goal is to tighten up the house and address basic issues like a bad crawlspace so that progress can go forward on all the things we've wanted to do in the house. It will start with getting a proper foundation on the house. This is a 1924 farmhouse with a patchwork, post and pier + some later gap filling with shallow walls. Rodents have long since figured how to get into the crawl space and there isn't enough room in there to insulate the floor, ductwork or work on mechanicals. So the house is going up in the air for a month and a new foundation will get poured.
This made us face the dilemma of the central fireplace. The house lifters can raise it with the house, it'll cost about $4000 extra by the time all is said and done. It's the original chimney that has a SS liner and the mortar is pretty bad. So we are thinking of removing the entire thing and changing the whole scheme of house heating. Once the house is back on the new foundation, I want to replace the warm-air propane furnace with a heatpump system. I still haven't decided what type, but am leaning towards geothermal. The pellet insert would go. (watch for a sale coming soon?) We'll be replacing several windows with more efficient ones and tightening up insulation. I am expecting our heat load to go down and the heatpump to do the work of the pellet stove. Removing the fireplace assembly will free up an entire wall that has a 3 foot bump out to accomodate it. We'll move the couch and easy chair there and will move the Jotul into the living room in a corner hearth. The kitchen entry is getting rebuilt and area where the Jotul is currently installed, will get converted to a sink for washing veggies from the garden and storage for bird seed, recycling, etc.
My wife has asked if it would be possible to have the stove back vented instead of seeing a stove pipe going up through the ceiling. That would mean an insulated exterior chimney (argh). What I would like to know is what will work best? A dual-wall pipe in an insulated surround? Also, how do they get the clean look, no trim ring, with a pipe going straight out the wall? Does this work in reality or is there a darkening of the wall above pipe?
This made us face the dilemma of the central fireplace. The house lifters can raise it with the house, it'll cost about $4000 extra by the time all is said and done. It's the original chimney that has a SS liner and the mortar is pretty bad. So we are thinking of removing the entire thing and changing the whole scheme of house heating. Once the house is back on the new foundation, I want to replace the warm-air propane furnace with a heatpump system. I still haven't decided what type, but am leaning towards geothermal. The pellet insert would go. (watch for a sale coming soon?) We'll be replacing several windows with more efficient ones and tightening up insulation. I am expecting our heat load to go down and the heatpump to do the work of the pellet stove. Removing the fireplace assembly will free up an entire wall that has a 3 foot bump out to accomodate it. We'll move the couch and easy chair there and will move the Jotul into the living room in a corner hearth. The kitchen entry is getting rebuilt and area where the Jotul is currently installed, will get converted to a sink for washing veggies from the garden and storage for bird seed, recycling, etc.
My wife has asked if it would be possible to have the stove back vented instead of seeing a stove pipe going up through the ceiling. That would mean an insulated exterior chimney (argh). What I would like to know is what will work best? A dual-wall pipe in an insulated surround? Also, how do they get the clean look, no trim ring, with a pipe going straight out the wall? Does this work in reality or is there a darkening of the wall above pipe?
I can't wait for the warm weather
