The GF is going to have the mortgage paid off on our house in about a year, so we are looking at a bunch of different sorts of home improvement projects that we will be able to afford given the lack of a mortgage payment. Mostly we are in the "data-gathering" stage right now, looking at different ideas and options. We have decided on a few things as absolute priorities, but aren't sure about just how we would best meet them. Thus I have a few questions that I'd like some opinions on...
Baseline - the house is about 30 years old, walls appear to be 2x4 stud w/ fiberglass bat insulation, probably not done all that well... Windows are double pane, some original, some replaced about 5 years ago, no storms. The style is contemporary, sort of a "ski chalet" style w/ a 12/12 pitch roof, full basement 2.5 bath, 3 BR, living room, and combined kitchen/dining room. The VC Cat Encore in the living room, running pretty hard, but within it's limits, keeps us barely around 65* on the first and second floors, with a little help from the gas HVAC system, but does nothing for the basement.
1. One of our given's is that we want to significantly improve our insulation values - To help figure this out, I'm using the Slant-Finn "Heat Loss Explorer" program they offer as an aid to boiler sizing. This works but a lot of their factors are very approximate - does anyone have a suggestion for a better program, or a way to better calculate my insulation factors for our exact wall construction, etc. I want to get as exact a set of numbers as I can, so that I can best evaluate what impact a given change would have on our heating comfort...
2. We have a severe allergy to maintainance - at least when it can be avoided by appropriate product selection... The house currently has vertical shiplap siding, pretty, but it leaks on the vertical seams, I have no idea how much rot may be under it. We want to replace this with vinyl siding, and add as much insulation as we can at the same time. We've been told there isn't much that can be done with the fiberglass batts in the walls, so our only real option is to go with either a foam backed siding, or a regular siding with a special foam insulation board under it, neither will add more than about R-3 to the total, if that... Are there any better options?
3. While we are reasonably happy with the Pella windows that we put in a few years ago, (Aluminum exterior, wood interior) we have several others that are in need of replacement - the wooden bits aren't in good shape, visible seal failures, etc... We have been talking with people like "Renewal by Anderson" about their higher quality composite wood windows, vs. others selling higher end vinyl replacements - The vinyl replacements tend to be triple pane, Kripton gas filled, with much better U-values than the double pane, Argon filled wooden windows - but the wood composite people claim their windows hold up much better and claim rapid seal failure on the vinyls and other quality problems... The pricing was about the same on both... Assuming that we were comparing top-quality vinyl windows (not Home Depot specials) and the high end composit wood windows, is there any reason to avoid going for the triple pane vinyls?
4. The basement is about 4' above grade, w/ bare concrete walls on the exterior, most of the interior is insulated with 2x4's, fiberglass batts, and wood plank panelling. Is there anything cost effective we can do to improve the insulation on the exterior of the basement walls?
Lots of other questions, but that is a starter...
Gooserider
Baseline - the house is about 30 years old, walls appear to be 2x4 stud w/ fiberglass bat insulation, probably not done all that well... Windows are double pane, some original, some replaced about 5 years ago, no storms. The style is contemporary, sort of a "ski chalet" style w/ a 12/12 pitch roof, full basement 2.5 bath, 3 BR, living room, and combined kitchen/dining room. The VC Cat Encore in the living room, running pretty hard, but within it's limits, keeps us barely around 65* on the first and second floors, with a little help from the gas HVAC system, but does nothing for the basement.
1. One of our given's is that we want to significantly improve our insulation values - To help figure this out, I'm using the Slant-Finn "Heat Loss Explorer" program they offer as an aid to boiler sizing. This works but a lot of their factors are very approximate - does anyone have a suggestion for a better program, or a way to better calculate my insulation factors for our exact wall construction, etc. I want to get as exact a set of numbers as I can, so that I can best evaluate what impact a given change would have on our heating comfort...
2. We have a severe allergy to maintainance - at least when it can be avoided by appropriate product selection... The house currently has vertical shiplap siding, pretty, but it leaks on the vertical seams, I have no idea how much rot may be under it. We want to replace this with vinyl siding, and add as much insulation as we can at the same time. We've been told there isn't much that can be done with the fiberglass batts in the walls, so our only real option is to go with either a foam backed siding, or a regular siding with a special foam insulation board under it, neither will add more than about R-3 to the total, if that... Are there any better options?
3. While we are reasonably happy with the Pella windows that we put in a few years ago, (Aluminum exterior, wood interior) we have several others that are in need of replacement - the wooden bits aren't in good shape, visible seal failures, etc... We have been talking with people like "Renewal by Anderson" about their higher quality composite wood windows, vs. others selling higher end vinyl replacements - The vinyl replacements tend to be triple pane, Kripton gas filled, with much better U-values than the double pane, Argon filled wooden windows - but the wood composite people claim their windows hold up much better and claim rapid seal failure on the vinyls and other quality problems... The pricing was about the same on both... Assuming that we were comparing top-quality vinyl windows (not Home Depot specials) and the high end composit wood windows, is there any reason to avoid going for the triple pane vinyls?
4. The basement is about 4' above grade, w/ bare concrete walls on the exterior, most of the interior is insulated with 2x4's, fiberglass batts, and wood plank panelling. Is there anything cost effective we can do to improve the insulation on the exterior of the basement walls?
Lots of other questions, but that is a starter...
Gooserider
