New old guy

Roostre · 10-15-15, 06:33 PM

Been lurking here a bit and reading everything I can absorb. Your forum really has an incredible depth of talented and sharing people. Cannot thank you enough for all of your efforts!

I purposely skipped reading anyone else's intro posts, because they seem to get a bit formulaic and I'm susceptible. Just wanted to introduce my scattered self. I'm married with a couple kids that have flown the coop. Actually saw the ultrasound pictures of my first grand-child to be last Saturday. He/she will be with us in April or so!!

I mention this because I seem to be at a stage in my life where I want to leave things better for those to come.

We live in a ranch style house that was built in 1947-48. Absolutely NO thought went into efficiency. It is fairly small at about 1300 sq ft. Plenty for the wife and I. (Often not enough for our hobbies...) The house is clad with brick and when we bought it 11-12 years ago I believed it to be fairly standard construction...

Boy was I wrong!! One of first projects was to replace the 60 year old windows with modern double panes and better insulation. The first few winters the wind would blow right through the existing glass and frames. When we tore into the place to replace them I discovered the houses secret. Under the brick was a 1" air gap and the brick was tied to narrow cinder blocks; there was no space to insulate as the plaster on our interior walls was simply slapped onto the inside of the cinder block!!

We spray foamed the gap between the brick and cinder (as best we could) and put in the new windows, which made a great deal of difference- no more breezy winter days, plus we noticed a significant decrease in sound level from our neighborhood.

Over the years we've also moved our boiler room and water heater to open up the floor plan and remodel our kitchen. Doing this gave us a larger space for the dining room and our bathroom area (which still needs to be done). Pex tubing was used to replace all our old mix of copper, lead, and galvanized piping. The kitchen and dining area have staple up radiant under tile.

The boiler and baseboard heaters in the rest of the home were installed sometime in the early 80's, with a newer boiler fitted in about 2002. (The plumber that did the work lives at the end of the street.) These are natural gas and probably way over-sized.

Attic insulation was upgraded from r-9 to r-34 this last year. It was a hard call to make on such an old house, but we looked at all our options (which included a tear down and rebuild new) and came to the conclusion that it would payback before we moved/died/won the lottery, etc.

So anyways... I joined to jump into some of the discussions, but more importantly to help add to the collective knowledge as I prefer to take action and try things. The GSHP thread is currently absorbing all my free time! (Made it to P. 86 so far...)

Any ways. Hello all!

MEMPHIS91 · 10-15-15, 08:25 PM

Howdy! Though old houses are a pain, they make up for character. Plus small changes can make BIG differences.

Bookmark as you go through the manifasto. That saved me having to go back and search through ALL THAT DATA for just one little piece of info.

Glad you decided to make your voice known! I look forward to your post and helpful insights.
Shalom

Daox · 10-16-15, 01:37 PM

Welcome to the site. We look forward to your sharing.

Roostre · 10-16-15, 01:57 PM

Thanks!

I need to get a few posts in so I have full functionality.

Daox · 10-19-15, 04:11 PM

Feel free to post a few times to get there, its just to easily identify spammers which we often have issues with.

Roostre · 10-19-15, 04:26 PM

OK. I'll do that!!

Been up in my attic all weekend. Just about finished adding a layer of poly-iso. Now it's time to build a new attic access. Looked at the attic access ladders at Orange and Blue box stores, but seriously not impressed with their build quality.

How would an ecorenovator do it?

Fordguy64 · 10-19-15, 07:04 PM

Those ladders are scary! My attic access is in me garage. I have a wall built around the openin of mine to hold back the insulation and I just have a board with insulation a that slides down in that opening. As far as ladders I just use my 8' step ladder to get in and out..

Roostre · 11-19-15, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HVACrepair

hello i'm new here

Hi!

Welcome.

10-15-15, 06:33 PM	#1
Roostre EcoLearner Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Rocky Mtns Posts: 113 Thanks: 107 Thanked 26 Times in 19 Posts	New old guy Been lurking here a bit and reading everything I can absorb. Your forum really has an incredible depth of talented and sharing people. Cannot thank you enough for all of your efforts! I purposely skipped reading anyone else's intro posts, because they seem to get a bit formulaic and I'm susceptible. Just wanted to introduce my scattered self. I'm married with a couple kids that have flown the coop. Actually saw the ultrasound pictures of my first grand-child to be last Saturday. He/she will be with us in April or so!! I mention this because I seem to be at a stage in my life where I want to leave things better for those to come. We live in a ranch style house that was built in 1947-48. Absolutely NO thought went into efficiency. It is fairly small at about 1300 sq ft. Plenty for the wife and I. (Often not enough for our hobbies...) The house is clad with brick and when we bought it 11-12 years ago I believed it to be fairly standard construction... Boy was I wrong!! One of first projects was to replace the 60 year old windows with modern double panes and better insulation. The first few winters the wind would blow right through the existing glass and frames. When we tore into the place to replace them I discovered the houses secret. Under the brick was a 1" air gap and the brick was tied to narrow cinder blocks; there was no space to insulate as the plaster on our interior walls was simply slapped onto the inside of the cinder block!! We spray foamed the gap between the brick and cinder (as best we could) and put in the new windows, which made a great deal of difference- no more breezy winter days, plus we noticed a significant decrease in sound level from our neighborhood. Over the years we've also moved our boiler room and water heater to open up the floor plan and remodel our kitchen. Doing this gave us a larger space for the dining room and our bathroom area (which still needs to be done). Pex tubing was used to replace all our old mix of copper, lead, and galvanized piping. The kitchen and dining area have staple up radiant under tile. The boiler and baseboard heaters in the rest of the home were installed sometime in the early 80's, with a newer boiler fitted in about 2002. (The plumber that did the work lives at the end of the street.) These are natural gas and probably way over-sized. Attic insulation was upgraded from r-9 to r-34 this last year. It was a hard call to make on such an old house, but we looked at all our options (which included a tear down and rebuild new) and came to the conclusion that it would payback before we moved/died/won the lottery, etc. So anyways... I joined to jump into some of the discussions, but more importantly to help add to the collective knowledge as I prefer to take action and try things. The GSHP thread is currently absorbing all my free time! (Made it to P. 86 so far...) Any ways. Hello all!

10-16-15, 01:37 PM	#3
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Welcome to the site. We look forward to your sharing. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-19-15, 04:11 PM	#5
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Feel free to post a few times to get there, its just to easily identify spammers which we often have issues with. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-19-15, 04:26 PM	#6
Roostre EcoLearner Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Rocky Mtns Posts: 113 Thanks: 107 Thanked 26 Times in 19 Posts	OK. I'll do that!! Been up in my attic all weekend. Just about finished adding a layer of poly-iso. Now it's time to build a new attic access. Looked at the attic access ladders at Orange and Blue box stores, but seriously not impressed with their build quality. How would an ecorenovator do it? Last edited by Roostre; 10-19-15 at 04:27 PM.. Reason: clarify

10-15-15, 08:25 PM	#2
MEMPHIS91 Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oxford, MS USA Posts: 496 Thanks: 69 Thanked 87 Times in 61 Posts	Howdy! Though old houses are a pain, they make up for character. Plus small changes can make BIG differences. Bookmark as you go through the manifasto. That saved me having to go back and search through ALL THAT DATA for just one little piece of info. Glad you decided to make your voice known! I look forward to your post and helpful insights. Shalom

10-16-15, 01:57 PM	#4
Roostre EcoLearner Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Rocky Mtns Posts: 113 Thanks: 107 Thanked 26 Times in 19 Posts	Thanks! I need to get a few posts in so I have full functionality.

10-19-15, 07:04 PM	#7
Fordguy64 Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Cincinnati ohio Posts: 338 Thanks: 40 Thanked 35 Times in 31 Posts	Those ladders are scary! My attic access is in me garage. I have a wall built around the openin of mine to hold back the insulation and I just have a board with insulation a that slides down in that opening. As far as ladders I just use my 8' step ladder to get in and out..