tan or white roof? I have to decide today.
rockybird
11 years ago
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energy_rater_la
11 years agorockybird
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Have to decide today...input GREATLY appreciated!
Comments (28)We live very close to Six Flags, so we could probably meet there sometime. I am not a fan of roller coasters, but my husband and daughter will most likely drag me there anyway. We have been there a week ago (with free passes)and the Halloween decoration is pretty neat. "DH was a Navy Dentist" Oooh, I hate dentists... Of course not personally, but I am extremely scared of them. I just had my teeth done before leaving NC and the dentist laughed at me for being so terrified. I'd seriously prefer childbirth over getting teeth pulled or filled... I guess I have been mistaken about the tax credit for appliances. You can get up to 10% tax credit for energy efficient home improvements like windows, AC, water heaters etc. I was sure I read the same about washers and dishwashers, but the energy star webiste (see link below) shows that just the manufacturers get a tax break for those...too bad. We did install new windows, so we should get $200 back there...better than nothing. Have to get going. We'll go to the State Fair today! Here is a link that might be useful: federal tax credits...See MoreHouse Shopping, Saw an Old House Today and Need Help Deciding
Comments (32)I refer to our two hundred year old home as a white elephant. I am in the greenhouse business and my husband is a rabid gardener, so the grounds are planted with rare trees and flower gardens and go on for acres. Over the years we have added a large gazebo and a spring fed pond. yadayadayada. Only a person who knows old homes first hand, and has the time or money to hire a professional full-time gardener, should ever buy it. There'll be lots of people to come look when it goes up for sale, but it would not be for the weak of heart. Heating bills. Put that at the top of your list. Even if you let the house fall down around you, they'll just keep coming. We've installed new double-paned energy efficient windows. Caulked. Weather stripped. Built a solarium across 2/3 of the northern exposure of the home for solar gain, replaced the roof, put in a new boiler, converted from electric to gas heat (yes we had to pay to have lines ran), and placed gas grates in strategic spots to take off chill or use when it wasn't too cold. Use reversing ceiling fans to distribute the heat. We've cut our heating bill IN HALF as far as energy consumption. But, rates rise and will keep rising. We still have six hundred dollar a month heating bills in winter. And this is an old farmhouse. It does not have fourteen foot ceilings. It also is nowhere near 6,000k square feet. And, until we put a small fortune in the energy efficiency items, a draft from a window on one side of the room could blow out a candle on the other. It's comfy now, and even cool in summer so we don't need air conditioning, but for the first fifteen years of my marriage you needed a wet suit to take a bath. Think also about the bones of the house. Redecorating is great, but get somebody in there who knows construction really well to look at the skeleton of the house before you even consider buying it. The last two winters, we replaced the beams and joists under our kitchen and dining room. They were logs with the bark still on them, or logs cut on site and hand hewn to nearly square. They were ENORMOUS,and likely dragged into place by teams of horses. We needed to chain saw them to even think about getting them out. We had to gut these rooms clean down to the dirt underneath and after we got new joists up then replaced floors. Moolah. BTW, we never thought about replacing joists and floor beams in this house. After all, they'd withstood two centuries before us. Then termites happened. LOL. The roofer left about a hundred bats homeless when we replaced the slate for modern shingles. We've put in a new entrance box and had to rewire the whole house and it has solid brick interior walls. The logistics of running electricals, and the plumbing for the boiler system were staggering. If you see fuse boxes that should send up a red flag to check out the electricals for modern wiring. Moolah. We had to restucco over the seventy five year old stucco over the bricks. (major, major moolah) We've had to repair or renovate chimneys and it's hard to find brickmasons here who are familiar with the old craftsmanship. That's another thing about very old houses. Nearly everything in seriously old house is done by methods not common to craftsmen anymore and that includes materials. If you have to replace parts of woodwork it's going to be something like oak or mahogany and large. Not box store kickplates. My walls are so old, it's not even plaster on most of them, it's a sandy almost concrete covering. If we put together all the money we have spent in the last two and a half decades breathing life back into our wonderful old home, we could be living in a really fancy new one. We don't want to. We love our old home and pretty much know it inside and out by now. But, it's like a marriage and yes.............we are the volunteer caretakers to an historic old building we couldn't see being left to ruin. But, it's going to take a very special person to want the job after us. Now, ask me about the plastering schedule where the doors and windows are. LOL. Old houses just keep settling. Not a door in this house even resembles a rectangle. They all have been trimmed or had wood added to them to fit the openings. Every window was custom made and no two are the same size. The house is nearly regained its integrity now, and I can see the end in sight of the major issues. But, if we had been forced to sell this at any point along our long path of renovation, and somebody else had to pick up where we'd left off, if they knew up from down, you can take it to the bank our money and sweat wouldn't have left much room for profit. There'd have been no quick sells. The end results perfect for us. It's rustic yet and even has a pitcher pump in the kitchen to pull up the spring water for the house. But you always live with a foot in the past where people lived simpler and made do in some respects. Some people can do that. Some people can't. It fits our lifestyle well.........simple and hard working. But, it was purchased because my husband wanted an old large home in a rural setting. If he'd just wanted "room" it wouldn't have even been in the game. Good luck whatever you decide....See MoreFavorite BM Paints - I have 24 hours to decide!
Comments (41)Favorite yellows Benjamin Moore Moonlight Yellow (this is not my home a Pottery Barn add, I wish I could find the right picture to really show the color, this ad does a much better job.) Favorite beige Baked Scone Behr The main areas of my house hallways etc. are painted this color. This is the one color I always come back too. In all my houses there is something about this color. The way the light hits in the morning or evening light melts the color to feel warm, gentle and always light. I have two story windows so there light is always coming in. I love this color. Favorite blue Glass Slipper Benjamin Moore It looks great with white marble and dark ebony floors. Glass Slipper Benjamin Moore Favorite red (I have so many favorite reds) Sangria BM Rosy Apple Benjamin Moore Cherry Cobbler Super Glossy Behr...See Morecopper backsplash came today, and I have having second thoughts
Comments (52)nasalzak, The tiles you have should be mesh backed. You can "peel" individual tiles off and replace them with tiles of the same size. This can be done while still doing the install as a 12x12 sheet. I believe jodi in ca did this with her Jeffrey Court Fire and Ice backsplash. She took off some darker ones and added lighter glass tiles to brighten it up. Make sure the little tiles are the same size (they often say they are 1x1 but are actually 5/8 x5/8) and the same thickness (1/4 or 1/8). If you then wanted to get really creative you could insert/sprinkle some red glass in the copper, create a 3" or so wide strip of border, and continue with the copper above that. You wouldn't need that much redish glass tile depending on how much backsplash space you have. HOpe that helps a little....See Morejakabedy
11 years agohosenemesis
11 years agorockybird
11 years agoenergy_rater_la
10 years agorockybird
10 years agojakabedy
10 years agosugar_land_dave
10 years ago
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