I was on the phone this morning with Jotul wood tech on another issue, and we got into the ZC issue with stoves. Come to find out that Jotul has a blanket listing for ANY of there appliances to be installed in a ZC. The problem he said, that hardly any were ever installed properly. He stated that to get a 8 inch flue up to UL1777 listing is almost impossible with the insulation. He also said that rarley are the ZC chimneys tall enough, and that the clearacne that has to be maintained results in a long horizontal run that rarley has enough slope. Intresting stuff, from a previous thread here, i was under the impression that no stove was listed for ZC, FWIW, the manual doesnt state that it is, its kind of a secert because of the miss use of the listing. So for the readers out there, Jotul is one manufacture that allows it, but read the data again as to why they dont recommend it. You would have to call your dealer to verify That they have a blanket listing for there appliance, and would be willing to provide the documentation for the inspector. #1 it has to be insulated and lined, that means you have to fit a 7.5 inch tube down a 8" hole. That can be a challenge #2 you have to maintain clearacne to the firebox like it was a combustable wall #3 you MUST have 1/4" of rise per foot on the horizontal run. Intresting.

I've got the answer for you... If you're planning on finishing the interior walls and you want the house to be real tight, you should consider using icynene foam. Icynene does have to be installed by a contractor, but I recently insulated a 3000 sf 1850s post and beam farm house with it and the entire intstallation took about 2 hours and was less expensive than estimates with traditional fiberglass bats. The materials are more expensive, but the labor was cheap! Icynene will give you a complete seal - NO drafts and no need for roof venting. It does not have as high an r-value as other poly based foams, but it is water based and does not off-gas so it is very GREEN. It still has a much higher r-value than rigid foam, or fiberglass, and by virtue of creating a complete seal, will HUGELY increase the efficiency of your home. You are lucky in that your interior walls are not yet finished. Sprayed on foam options aren't great if you have to strip the interior walls first. Icynene is the ONLY option I'd consider in your situation. Good luck.

Hi All, I've gotten some great insight reading this. I too was thinking of adding on a sunroom off of my Kitchen and Diningroom basically just to gain some space. I live in a split-entry type of home so my Familyroom is on the lower level. Being one of those people who like to be around the kitchen I wanted to add something off the kitchen to eat in, view tv, etc. Like a familyroom in a sense. I was thinking it would be a great selling point come time to sell because people with children would have the luxury of either familyroom to use. I am having second thoughts however. I truly do not have a great deal of money to spend right now and I have a kitchen remodel ahead of me as well as two bathrooms. I have considered just "bumping out" the one side of my diningroom to gain more space so that I may extend my kitchen in to the diningroom because both my kitchen and diningroom are small. This will not give me another familyroom of course as it would be just a bump out..not to mention it is on a totally different wall...but it will possibly allow me to at least make my kitchen larger. The back and sides of my house are not ground level and I am in the process of getting estimates for a deck off the back where I now have sliders from my diningroom to a very small deck that doesn't have steps to the yard . Holly Spring mentioned in a post this: " You could add a couple of $400 Harbor Freight 6x8 greenhouses for a lot less money and get a lot more usable "sun" space." I'm not sure what this is but it sounds interesting. Is this a bump out of sorts? I am looking to just add bump-outs to my dining room and possibly a bathroom and was wondering if anyone knew the cost of such a project. I was wondering if the Harbor Freight thing that was mentioned would do the trick and also not sure where you would purchase them. thank you all

I haven't really needed any more of a backsplash for a couple of reasons: 1. Most of the time, I'm using the pot filler. The stream is more like a standard faucet and is fine for filling pots and pitchers, handwashing, rinsing veggies, etc. I use the sprayer for rinsing plates/cookware and spraying down the sink. 2. I try to be careful with the sprayer. While I mentioned that I wish the water pressure was a bit stronger, it's actually already much more powerful than a "normal" residential pull-out sprayer. So when I do use it, I make sure the dishes are slanted toward the sink, the sprayer head is pointed to prevent overspray, etc. If it sounds like a huge effort, it's really not; just being mindful of the power of the tool. 3. If you get a pre-rinse faucet, I'd highly recommend considering one with a single-lever mixer. Being able to control temp and pressure simultaneously and one-handed makes a huge difference, and it makes it effortless to lower the pressure to the sprayer to completely eliminate overspray. Honestly, I still end up toweling off the countertop a bit more than before, but it's so worth it.