Old Houses

Black ants (carpenter ants) can also be a problem. This was an old area of excavation, found when I was doing the remodeling. However, a new area was found in the new addition, over the sliding doors. Exterminator said, "there must be water leakage", sure enough, there was.

Yep, Carpenter Ants can be nasty. I've had problems with Powder Post Beetles, they burrow into the wood, a series of little holes. An exterminator told me to spray any timbers that I see the holes in with Thompson's water seal, it would stop the current activity (ya think?)

You can treat for powder post, using "Timbor", which is a borax compound, I believe. My guy said to raise the temperature to about 110* and that would also take care of them, however they like dampness, so check that first. They are in all wood and can remain dormant for years. (Probably kiln drying has eliminated them, in that wood.)

Dallas wrote:You can treat for powder post, using "Timbor", which is a borax compound, I believe. My guy said to raise the temperature to about 110* and that would also take care of them, however they like dampness, so check that first. They are in all wood and can remain dormant for years. (Probably kiln drying has eliminated them, in that wood.)

They are mostly in the old hand hewn timbers, I know they are active in the barn right now because I find sawdust on the cars.
I see the holes in the timbers in the cellar, but I don't see any signs of activity.

Another problem that I never heard until recently are Carpenter Bees, my neighbor had them around his garage.
They look and act like giant bumble/honey bees, same size and yellow/black but burrow into wood, normally under overhangs, etc...they can burrow back into the wood and cause structural damage, they leave a hole about the size of your pinky finger (1/4-3/8").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_bee

Those dam carpenter bees move right into pressure treated wood also. I found them in our banister on the back porch. The boreholes look as if they were drilled on a drill press. Unfortunately I had to evict them.

Are they also known as Borer Bees? I've seen them around here as well.

i have a 20" overhang on a 2 story house. the big bee's are here every year. probaly be coming for 100 years or so lol. i get bunch of them. they just finished siding the house today. next they are going to cover all the overhang and the trim board that goes down about 20". in the spring i'm sure they will be upset.

Just wondering how all my fellow old house owners are "weathering" the recent cold cold temperatures in these drafty old places.

Wood'nCoal wrote:Just wondering how all my fellow old house owners are "weathering" the recent cold cold temperatures in these drafty old places.

Boiler runs almost nonstop. Cold drafts everywhere, wife hates it. Time for new windows, siding and insulation. In the mean time I'll pray for a warm up....
Whats that I see coming for the weekend.... and into next week.... Your welcome!

No problem. I think our biggest improvement were the windows (Vinyl, custom fit, Double Hung, Low E, Argon) , I replaced 23 this past summer, the house was already insulated (another big help), new door gaskets, sweeps, etc....I didn;t even notice it was in the single digits the other night. We also had space heaters (oil filled looking radiator type) upstairs in a couple rooms to help last winter. Haven't had to use them yet. It's nice being able to see out the windows without all the ice build up we had last winter with the single pane ones!!!

It's maintaining 68 (setpoint) with no problem. Actually a lot warmer than I thought, it was 60-62 last winter with the older Keystoker stove cranking 24/7. This Hyfire (w/Coaltrol) is only running 50-70% of max and a lot warmer in the house! Wife is Happy!! (and so am I!).

2 completely different reports. Interesting.
This place is not well suited to the cold. I've really had the Harman cranking the past few days. It can't supply enough heat to overcome the heat loss, the 2nd floor is chilly. This room is 66 right now, but my desk is against an outside wall with a northwest exposure. My feet get cold when I'm here. Yesterday I placed a digital thermometer on the floor under the desk and came up with 56 degrees! I guess the cold air is washing down the wall and into the footwell of the desk. I may have to box in the footwell, a little "nest" area.
The Mark I really puts out heat, but it just can't keep up with this place. Looking back I realize that I should have gotten a Mark II or III. Once the temperature is above 30, it's fine in here.
We supplement the coal with the wood stove at the other end of the house.
Spotty insulation, at best, 24 windows (6 Anderson double pane-17 1930's wooden double hungs w/storm windows-one single pane/no storm window (in this room, of course)). The cellar was 52 when I went downstairs to fill the coal scuttle.
Once the stoker is finished and installed I hope to improve the situation somewhat.
Brrrrrr!

I have the one stove actually dumping upstairs under my desk around 100 degrees!! The office (above the garage) last year was a balmy 45-50 degrees (no heat)!! brrr. The windows didn't shut properly and we were freezing in there. Total difference this year.

so far , so good. i'm burning about 60 lbs in this real cold weather. usally i go through 40 lbs a day. the kithcen is at the other end of the house and i started the electric stove with the door open for a couple hours. the house is tight with good windows. i was talking to Keystoker about my stove the other day. i told him the stove i have. he told me the bay unit is only 75,000 btu , not 90,000 btu. bummer. it's keeping the living room , bedroom and dining room about 75. just can't seem to get the heat to the kitchen. when it's not real cold , the kitchen is about 70. so thats 5 degress diff over 60'.

Hi, My family has lived in this home for 6.5 years now. It's a 1855 Limestone home in the village of Schaefferstown, Pa. The frame addition was put on in 1917 - that addition was a formal dining room, a 'U-kitchen', and two bedrooms on the second floor. I have totally stripped the exterior of about 3 levels of oil base paint, and replaced it with the colors you see. I have been working on this project for more than 5 years now - a labor of love if you will. I heat with a small Osburn 1800i fireplace insert and a 157K btu oil burner. When the prices jumped 3 years ago, we paid about 3K for the insert and reduced our oil consumption from about 1100 galons to 350-400. We burn about 5 chords of wood a year in that little thing!

The view from the front porch is amazing - something I'm going to miss when we build our new home this summer - complete with coal boiler of course!!

The stone part of the house is outfitted with the old thin oak flooring with wide planks beneath that. The framed part has heart-pine flooring - not a hardwood, but still pretty.

I was going to say WE love the old houses, but my wife would rather have new. I do love this old place - if we'd stay, I'd treat her real nice to a coal boiler!! I guess my heating needs would be somewhere around 5 tons of coal a year... maybe more... it's only 1858 square feet, but the windows, although not too bad, should be replaced.

I do love an old home!

Pret