Sweet setup!
Also home to the 5 course meal at $98 per plate
Guess you don't take the entire family! Sorry kids...1840 Farmhouse Reno
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Also home to the 5 course meal at $98 per plate
Guess you don't take the entire family! Sorry kids...
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
We are renovating a 70's house that's been used as a vacation home for decades. It wasn't supposed to be a renovation. There's a hole in the south side of our house covered with plastic and insulation. Not as bad as your place, not by far, but this is an unexpected renovation for us and I'm medically retired army.
Actually it does not look that bad. It would not even faze me, but I'm half crazy.
The concrete block chimneys should be lined with clay or terra cotta.
After gutting mine to the studs last week, every wire & pipe gone, I decided it would be better to remove an entire 36' exterior wall and reframe it rather than to try fixing it. I only mention this so that you are aware that you may open up something and gasp in horror at what a prior owner had done.
The concrete block chimneys should be lined with clay or terra cotta.
After gutting mine to the studs last week, every wire & pipe gone, I decided it would be better to remove an entire 36' exterior wall and reframe it rather than to try fixing it. I only mention this so that you are aware that you may open up something and gasp in horror at what a prior owner had done.
Heat for this? All depends on how much you want to spend on insulation, windows siding etc.
It's going to take a lot of work, and it won't be cheap, but with good sealing, tight windows and good insulation the house will be much more comfortable and a lot easier to heat. I would still advocate for restoration of at least the main floor hot water system. It's good to have a primary heat system for fall back and supplemental heat. Insurance companies like this and you never know when you are going to get sick, called away or just want to take a vacation in the future.
In a lot of ways this is about expectations. I am probably older than most of the posters on this site. I grew up pretty rural. We did not have an over abundance of anything. Grey water was recycled to the toilets. If the roof did not leak, and your nose was not frostbitten in the morning, you thought you had the world by the tail.
I did homework by oil lamp or candle if I was unable to get it done by dark. TV was something that other kids had at home. Keeping warm was often achieved by keeping moving.
I imagine that when your house was built, the people living there thought they had the world by the tail. Most likely they did not have city water, power to run a pump, a telephone yada, yada, yada. And for the most part they probably were happy, able to laugh, and enjoy what they did have. Their expectations were much lower than what most expect today.
A few years ago, our power went out for a little over a week. I was perfectly content, but the female unit made this comment after a couple of days, "You are not on a camping trip. This is not fun, and you and not supposed to be enjoying yourself." Her expectations of how life should be are completely different than mine.
You may look at your place and think it is a disaster, but I can guarantee that there are people in third world countries that would think it was the grandest palace. If you can look at it, be pleased that you have the opportunity, enjoy working and seeing things get better around you and especially it the people around you have the same attitude, you will prosper.
I did homework by oil lamp or candle if I was unable to get it done by dark. TV was something that other kids had at home. Keeping warm was often achieved by keeping moving.
I imagine that when your house was built, the people living there thought they had the world by the tail. Most likely they did not have city water, power to run a pump, a telephone yada, yada, yada. And for the most part they probably were happy, able to laugh, and enjoy what they did have. Their expectations were much lower than what most expect today.
A few years ago, our power went out for a little over a week. I was perfectly content, but the female unit made this comment after a couple of days, "You are not on a camping trip. This is not fun, and you and not supposed to be enjoying yourself." Her expectations of how life should be are completely different than mine.
You may look at your place and think it is a disaster, but I can guarantee that there are people in third world countries that would think it was the grandest palace. If you can look at it, be pleased that you have the opportunity, enjoy working and seeing things get better around you and especially it the people around you have the same attitude, you will prosper.
Sawset
Minister of Fire
A fantastic way to visualize both for yourself and others. I have a question. What is the area to the left and back of the kitchen. Porch area? We've found with a semi open floor plan that we can heat up to about 30ft away to a comfortable temp, but beyond in extended rooms and upstairs the temps remain about 7-10deg cooler. Heat close to where you want to spend time. Take the radiant heat from the stove into account. Warm air will travel beyond that but will take a temperature differential to do so. Bedrooms a lot of times can be lower and not be uncomfortable. Moving wood in - we have a small cart and hardwood floors, so we're able to bring wood in with little upset and effort. Just saying, because now you have the opportunity to choose. We camp near cassville in the summer, not far from you, beautiful area.
I will check out the ductless mini heat pumps... have to say I have never heard of those before! Thank you...
Ok, so the area to the left and back of the kitchen is a covered interior wraparound storage area that has plagued wood ceilings supporting the upstairs rooms and cinder block walls. I estimate this was put up between 1920 and 1940-ish? There is a door that leads out to the front yard of this area but the rest of it is like a prepper bunkers dream. I’m on able to open that up because windows would just go to earth. I agree about bedrooms not needing as much heat as the living spaces, I’m happiest when it’s about 60° and I have plenty of blankets around me. One of the people on this thread suggested I consider a wood cookstove, a kitchen queen for example, and I have been burning my Wi-Fi looking into that. Using fans to push warm air down and up. Cassville is beautiful!
Sawset
Minister of Fire
Look more into trying to push any warm air to lower levels. Some are successful, most are not. Convection up is a lot of times very easy, and could take place all on it's own. It looks like the stairs leading up would be very near the stove in the living room, leading to a direct path for warm air to go up, and for cold air pooling on the upstairs floors to travel down and directly to the stove. It also means that the chair closest to the stairs would be cooler. I get comments from visitors sometimes stating that the place isn't warming up very much - but switch chairs and the difference is clear. Just the opposite if it's getting too warm.
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another option is Radiant Heat Cove heaters (https://www.radiantsystemsinc.com/) that are much cheaper than the electric baseboard to run. I have had a few friends that have put them their places, and we are installing some in our new build in a few weeks.
I didn't read through all of the details, but in 1 picture it looks like there was a basement with a wall that was partially framed? you might want to look at tearing this out and making it a floating wall so your drywall doesn't crack, and you don't end up with moisture issues from water seeping through the concrete.
The project looks awesome btw!
I didn't read through all of the details, but in 1 picture it looks like there was a basement with a wall that was partially framed? you might want to look at tearing this out and making it a floating wall so your drywall doesn't crack, and you don't end up with moisture issues from water seeping through the concrete.
The project looks awesome btw!
Looks a bit like what a previous owner started with our house, and we're continuing now! The original portion of our home is circa 1840 as well. We have a whole-house forced-air system on a thermostat set to 58, but prefer to primarily heat with wood. We have two woodstoves - one in the central living room, one in the annex (a converted attached garage). Ignoring the annex, our home would only be about 1400sq ft, mostly 1 floor, with one 400sq ft room upstairs.
We light the main woodstove every morning when we wake, tend to it all day (we work from home) until we go to bed around 10. Keeping bedroom doors open, this keeps every room at least 65 throughout the day, with the central living room even warmer. In the winter (upstate New York, 20 degree days for a few months) our furnace consistently kicks on around 1 or 2am. We keep a few bedroom doors closed at night (teen kiddo wants his door closed, as do we, so he doesn't wake us or baby in our room up) and if we didn't have the furnace going those rooms would be in the low 50's in the morning. Our attic was recently re-insulated, and we know we have a bit more work to do on insulating crawlspaces under the various additions that were made throughout the years, but we are SUPER grateful we have the forced air system.
We light the main woodstove every morning when we wake, tend to it all day (we work from home) until we go to bed around 10. Keeping bedroom doors open, this keeps every room at least 65 throughout the day, with the central living room even warmer. In the winter (upstate New York, 20 degree days for a few months) our furnace consistently kicks on around 1 or 2am. We keep a few bedroom doors closed at night (teen kiddo wants his door closed, as do we, so he doesn't wake us or baby in our room up) and if we didn't have the furnace going those rooms would be in the low 50's in the morning. Our attic was recently re-insulated, and we know we have a bit more work to do on insulating crawlspaces under the various additions that were made throughout the years, but we are SUPER grateful we have the forced air system.
I hope @HomeFireGirl will continue to post update pics!
We also did a 1840 renovation--beginning 24 years ago. The entire house was unlivable so we
got one room and the orig kitchen 'usable' and hubby, me and 3 littles lived in those 2 rooms for 1.5 years while we
worked on the rest of the house. Like @MTY said, camping without ever leaving home! LOL
We also did a 1840 renovation--beginning 24 years ago. The entire house was unlivable so we
got one room and the orig kitchen 'usable' and hubby, me and 3 littles lived in those 2 rooms for 1.5 years while we
worked on the rest of the house. Like @MTY said, camping without ever leaving home! LOL
Thank you, ispinwool, for the comment... yes, I have a feeling that we will be using sections of the house for daily living while the "adjustments" are being made.
But wow, the comments on this thread so far have been so helpful! Definitely changed my thinking and plans for this old house. It's looking like move-in will be in late March, early April... decided on the Kitchen Queen for heat and cooking, maaaaaybbeeee the Enerzone for the living room on the other side of the house. Will try one winter season with only the Kitchen Queen to see how she does for whole house heat.
But wow, the comments on this thread so far have been so helpful! Definitely changed my thinking and plans for this old house. It's looking like move-in will be in late March, early April... decided on the Kitchen Queen for heat and cooking, maaaaaybbeeee the Enerzone for the living room on the other side of the house. Will try one winter season with only the Kitchen Queen to see how she does for whole house heat.
Good to know. My primary concern with the heat is that there is no ductwork - and the one stairway is on the far side of the rather long rectangular houseprint, the furthest point away from the kitchen, where I am now thinking the Kitchen Queen will be located. I work from home some of the time, and try to travel NEVER, but the upstairs electric baseboard heat can be used to supplement heat (occasionally). Haven't even seen the attic yet, not sure what's up there...I am anticipating the caulking gun will be actively used once I get in there!
My house was built in the 1860's(ish), and then added onto every decade after that. When we bought it, we gutted parts of it, but kept some of the ceilings and lower level drywall. I regret that decision every time I have to get in there and fix something, and have to move what seems like every piece of furniture. 4 Years later, I am still crawling in tight spaces so I can repair the issues I found 
I love seeing the progress by the way!
I love seeing the progress by the way!
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My house was built in the 1860's(ish), and then added onto every decade after that. When we bought it, we gutted parts of it, but kept some of the ceilings and lower level drywall. I regret that decision every time I have to get in there and fix something, and have to move what seems like every piece of furniture. 4 Years later, I am still crawling in tight spaces so I can repair the issues I found
View attachment 240188
I love seeing the progress by the way!
Oh my! Well, look on the bright side...at least you can FIT in those teeny spaces! LOL My hubby and I quit trying to fit into tight spaces about 15 years ago!
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
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