My Current Huge Project With Radiant In Floor Heating

Lookin' so good Greg! I love the railings. Worth the wait. I'm sure the price hurt a bit, but years from now when the rails are still just as sturdy and still look great, the price won't seem so bad.
Knees & back recovered from the tile? No worries, another 12 to 14 months and that memory will start to fade.

Happy 4th!

Gonna send you a link to a fine Orthopedic Surgeon. The craftsmanship and beauty remain, however like the rest of us, the parts of the old master wear thin....and even fail. A laminectomy...or two, and both knees replaced, probably a hip or two, rotator cups, Harrington rods.....you'll be as good as new! A personal question: Did you make the new structure 'handicap accessible'?
Hopefully you can be at home with your family and friends as we celebrate our country's birthday!

Thanks guys, yes, the doors, hallways, bathrooms and potential elevator corner are all wheelchair accessable.

My knees are definitely improving,, they are not throbbing or aching anymore, and I'm off the Aleve/Motrin/Tylenols

I'm slowly getting a little here, a little there done..

The kitchen cabinets are getting setup, I'm figuring out where I want everything. And I'm trying to find where I hid everything when I moved out of the old kitchen... I'm still missing several boxes of stuff..

Greg

Have a safe 4th celebration.

A few photos of the slow tedious progress on various bits and pieces of the project.

Smoothed out the dirt next to the deck, finished the steps and railing on the deck,, re-laid the patio pavers.

Stained, finished and installed the half-bath door and laundry-room door. Trimed the doors and windows.

It has been a very hot miserable week to work outdoors, but it had to get done..

Greg L

LsFarm wrote:It has been a very hot miserable week to work outdoors,

Sure has!

The slow work on the trim, painting and other detail and finish-up work hasn't been all that photo-worthy over the last few weeks. What I mean is that a second coat of white paint looks just like the first coat of paint.. at least in photos on the internet. So it's been a few weeks since the last photos..

The hand rail and 'newel post' top cap on the stairrailing is now installed and finished.. The carpet is installed on the stairs and balcony, and the foyer got a final coat of slightly blue-grey off-white paint.. this was to give slightly more contrast between the walls and gloss white trim. I like the results..

The breezeway got the firewall drywall barrier installed in the 'attic' area above the ceiling, this was required and a common sense item by code.. then the breezeway got insulated and drywalled.. some work still to be done here, but lots of progress.. I'm going to put some of the remaining slate down on the floor here too, since the floor is heated like the rest of the house.. But this slate will be plain, boring, standard square pattern. Nothing fancy this time..

I have a busy flying schedule, this is the busy time of year for the airlines, vacation time.. the planes are full, and extra flights are created to carry the increased passenger demand.. so I'm flying more this month than normal. So the progress on the house is slowing down.. I need to get some grass seed planted so it can germinate and sprout before grass goes dormant for fall and winter.. Fall and winter,, I need to get some maintenace done on the AA boiler, and get another load of coal brought in..

That's ok - the house will still be there when you get back ... so rake in the cash while you can.

Looks mint!! Better every time!

Put a 'finish' sealer on the slate, which made it look 'wet', and now has much more shine.. actually a lot more shine than I thought I wanted, but I really like the new wet look. The slate is showing it's colors much better than when the finish was dull.

I've started moving furniture. The cleaning and dusting of the furniture is taking a lot of time, the construction dust is everywhere and very thick.. I'm haveing to vacuum and brush up the dust first, then follow with damp towels. But I don't want to bring all that dust and dirt into the newly cleaned new house..

I've some landscaping to do, and need to paint the breezeway. Some wiring in the basement and hook up the hot water floor heat for the basement and breezeway before winter. The list is getting shorter.

Greg L

It's been months since the last update, life has got in the way of finishing off many details on this project.

I got slate put down on the breezeway floor, and grouted.
I've moved furniture into the family room
I'm using the kitchen all the time.
The slate/concrete floor also helped moderate the heat in the summer months

The big 'chia pet' project, getting grass to grow during our hot and dry season went well
it cost some watering time, but at least I have grass and soon a yard.

I'm planning on having family Christmas here, so I have to empty out the old part of the house,
and get the formal dining room functional..

Greg L. .

Looks great!

What kind of foam did you use? Was it sray foam in a can? That stuff isn't cheap. $$$$$$$$$$$$$

It's the same closed cell foam I used on the walls and heels of the trusses. It comes in two cans, mixes in the spray nozzle. It's R-7 per inch.

Yep it's expensive, but insulation is the best investement you can make in a building. It continues to pay back your investment forever. For expample, I was able to cool the entire main floor level with a 5000 BTU window airconditioner. I'm hoping that now that the place is pretty much done, that my heat use is a fraction of previous years. It seems like it is way down.

The foam costs $1 per board ft.. yep it's expensive, but nothing compares to foam for it's ability to fit and fill any shape, and seal as well as insulate.

Somewhere earlier in this very long thread there is about a page discussing foam insulation.

Take care, Greg L

Thanks Greg. I read up on it and seems to be well worth the price. Can't say that I've heard of any contractors in my area that do this.

Take care,
Bob

Yeah, I've been wanting to do closed-cell foam for the last 2 years since I discovered it online. Every time I think I'm ready, the dollar signs scare me away. I've all but given up on this place, so we're just going to use it up until there's nothing left. No kids to leave it to anyway.

But, after spending hours online reading about the stuff, it makes you wonder why anyone would bother with any other type of insulation. Just can't beat an R-7 per inch, PLUS a vapor barrier, wind barrier, sound barrier, and structural reinforcement all in one! I also wonder why Obama & his merry men haven't jumped all over the green aspects of this? They'll give you tax breaks for fiberglass, but not foam???? Looks like Owens-Corning voted Obama ....

House looks amazing Greg! WOW!!

This product can be applied by the homeowner or DIY'er. This is why I went with it. There are contractors in my area that bring in a big truck, and do a whole house in one application, but I needed a product I could use for one room or area at a time.. so I went with this DIY product.

There are two main sellers that I found.. Tiger Foam, they are somewhere in Pa. and Green-it foam, in Chicago. I went with Green-it. They sell 200 bd ft and 600bdft kits.

It's pretty easy to use. It is invaluable for sealing up an old farmhouse when ripping out plaster, leaving the open stud spaces with 4" lap siding. The foam sprayed on the back of the lap siding makes a perfect seal with r-7 per inch insulation value.. I have 2x6 walls, so I sprayed in 1.5-2" of foam, sealing the studspaces, and then used unfaced fiberglass in the remaining space. my walls are R20-r24.

Greg L