I like the idea of the craigslist stove and swap later. I tend to get very frustrated on things like this. But alas I'm trying to work the system properly to succeed. I will happily let you know the town, just give me a few weeks to get it all resolved. I don't want us to be bad mouthing my inspector while I'm still trying to get it done. It's a suburban Boston town just on 128 near rt 2. Thing about the inspector is that I respect the guy for trying to make sure all is safe but auto ons and grease clear outs on ductwork and the wanting my MUA install validated by building sciences energy raters has all come back ok, but at the end of the day he just has a nasty gut reaction I think to a really big btu stove in a residence and all the conundrums that come with it. Trevor I will give you a call, you and Eurostoves have been great but I haven't engaged you with this issue yet because I didn't want to be too much of a bother, but seems like it's time to get some reinforcements.

I hope so rookie! School starts tomorrow then I'm "free" to spend all of my time on house-building instead of running the kids around. Shingles and the rest of the stone go up this week, HVAC and electrical start as well, and hopefully the rest of the windows will go in. We were waiting for Hurricane Earl to chart his course before more was done. Thankfully we only got cloud cover and a little wind. I'm hoping to have more pictures by the end of the week. Feel like we're crawling!

"Brick Veneer" and "stone veneer" properly defined is a single wythe of real brick or stone that must be supported on a foundation or other structural element and must be tied back to the "back-up" wall with ties that allow for differential movement between the masonry and the wood building frame. This kind of cladding is often called "masonry veneer cavity wall construction" to distinguish it from a solid masonry wall. "Brick/stone veneer" has been a common construction term for about 60 years. About 30 years ago brick manufacturers began sawing the face from their bricks to be used for interior decoration. The name they adopted was "thin brick". The same was true to a lesser degree for stone. Probably in the last 20 years thin brick/stone has been adhered directly to the face of wood framed house sheathing and called thin-brick/stone veneer. Since the manufacturers don't like to use words like "thin" to describe a product they often call this cladding system "brick/stone veneer" which understandably can cause confusion in specifications and even casual communication. Then manufacturers started making this thin cladding material out of cast stone and synthetic materials and calling it by too many names to list. The OP called the material in question "stone siding" so I can only guess what it is. This directly adhered cladding system was so late in developing because it had to wait for the EIFS (Exterior Insulation Finish System) industry (Dryvit, Sto, etc.) to develop (through a process of costly mistakes) a directly adhered cladding system system with a modern inexpensive drainage plane to replace the time tested brick veneer cavity wall system. So, before choosing the style and appearance of the cladding ask to see the installation details showing how water drains to the outside instead of into your house. If you are unsure of how that is properly done post the details here.

That bit of dry rot--and any that might be covered above-- certainly wouldn't deter me. As long as the price was right, i.e., you factor in the cost of repairs, hassle and lost time before you have full use of the home. The off-plumb wood post in your other thread is a minor correction. Whenever I buy an old house I automatically assume replacement of lots of service components--furnaces, plumbing, roof. And moreso if there have been the usual array of incompetent "improvements" over the years. A contractor friend of mine likes to say that there should be a licence before anyone is even allowed to buy a nail!