Hi Danny :) We lost our home to fire just this last November, I can relate to your current fears. Have you already chosen a builder? I ask because we chose one pretty quickly and he has helped us to navigate how insurance claims work and eased our fears tremendously. Our initial estimate didn't include replacing the joist system either, and, like you, I was ready to be really upset. But our builder calmed me and said this is just how it works. Apparently, this is standard operating procedure. It is far more expensive to mitigate than to just replace in most cases, but insurance companies want proof of that. He sent them the estimates and cleaning/sealing was way more expensive than tearing it out and replacing it. So here we are today, finishing demo and my builder tells me they are paying to replace the joist system. Apparently, it is twice as expensive to keep it. So I wouldn't go all "guns blazing" just yet. Your builder can make the case to replace instead of repair. Our insurance company sent our initial checks to replace the house (policy limit payout) around the same time we were hiring our builder. The builder has since submitted claims for code upgrades and claim changes... and the insurance company has sent those checks along in a timely manner. We also have replacement coverage and he will make the claim for those funds after the items are installed (though very little was "depreciated" in our claim even though the house was 50 years old). When I was interviewing builders and discussing some of the things I was concerned about regarding Insurance replacement, they all said pretty much the same thing, "Don't worry about that, that's our job". Knowing that he knows when/how/the right time to argue a point, makes my role in this so much easier. I can't recommend a Public Adjuster because we didn't use one. And in hindsight, I'm glad we didn't. We didn't end up needing one. But even if we needed one today, we could still hire, so no need to get in a hurry. They'll still be there if for some reason you did need them later. At the end of the day I just couldn't pull the trigger on paying someone $$$$ to "do battle" for me, when I wasn't even sure there was gonna be a fight. It turned out to be the right choice for us. Our claim has been paid at full policy limits for structure, we are able to put our home back and even make improvements with the settlement with no problem, and our builder has made code upgrade claims that have been paid without issue. Our contents claim is not finished yet, but I did the inventory after the fire myself. It took me 4 days, and it was very cold and WET, but I saved myself $14,500 by not hiring the PA. The initial itemized list the insurance company gave us after their inventory was reasonable... but there were some things I saw that were missing (things that one would have to dig under the debris to locate... and I knew we would get a better resolution if I put in the work to locate and document them. I have not seen the settlement yet, but my contents adjuster says to expect it to be at or very close to policy limits...and that we also have 3 years to buy everything back and submit receipts to recoup additional replacement costs. So NOT hiring a PA has saved me $55,000... and hiring my well qualified/experienced large loss builder - early in the process has saved me a ton of stress. I hope this helps in some small way. Hang in there.

I am in upstae NY as well, with a 160 y.o. center hall Greek Revival - 2 story - building w/o any insulation, so, I can relate! My cellar has two areas, one with turn-of-the-century (the last one!) thin poured concrete, and the other part with just dirt. I'm not sure you need to dehumidify the entire house (or how you would do that short of installing a/c.) But you can run dehus in the basement. I do, during the warm months. But you can also improve the moisture issue in another way: by installing a vapor barrier under the floor (if you're going to poured concrete) or just laying it down on the surface of the dirt sections. No, this will do nothing for radon (though probably will retard it some, but not enough to be a satisfactory, or safe, radon reduction technique). You easily install insulation before you repair the slate, as well. But I'd wait til late fall when the bats have departed for the winter. I have been scheming to get radiant heating in my house for years, as I think it's the nuts. We heat entirely with wood and pellet burners, now. However, I have concluded that it would be unsuccessful because my floors are about 1 1/2 inches thick and I have no possiblity of insulating my walls so the demand would be heavy and the thermal transmission rate slow. Plus my flooring (though completely accessible in the cellar) is made of very wide (up to 20" wide) t&g old-growth pine, and I think it would not react well with radiant heat. I do plan to use radiant in parts of the house where I still have tamped-earth (dirt) floors, or rather no floor, when I incorpaorate them in the reno. However, to your original question, I doubt you could injure your house with using dehus in the cellar compared to the dryness of a heated winter. By the way the base of your foundation is also likely to be 'way thicker than two feet. Mine is probably approaching 3 to 4; the inside is fairly smooth and regular, but the outside stones stick out quite deeply, and in an irregular way, into surrounding the soil. Instead of painting the inside of your celler, you might find white washing an acceptable alternative and one the would not require more than a vacuuming and loose brushing of whatever is there to prepare the surface. It is the traditional wall "paint" and does well on dampish stones, though it's rather short-lasting compared to paint, only lasting maybe 3 or 4 years, before it needs recoating. HTH, Molly~

Are your aisle widths sufficient for traffic to flow b/w seated diners and the Living Room as well as b/w counters? Do you have an adequate seating overhang for eating (which means a raised surface at least 15" to 18" deep to provide room for plates, glasses, etc. without worrying about knocking them off the raised surface)? Other comments... The island really needs a prep sink b/c you don't have sufficient space b/w the cleanup sink and the range right now to make that your primary Prep Zone. In addition, b/c of your current sink/refrigerator layout, you will be doing quite a bit of zone-crossing and an island sink will help with that. DW in the island with cleanup sink on the perimeter...that setup is not very ergonomic. You will be twisting to go from the sink to the DW. The DW works much better next to the sink. Dish storage...with this layout, someone setting the table will be going right through your Prep and Cooking Zones - something that you should try to avoid. The Cooking Zone should be the most protected Work Zone in the kitchen, with the Prep Zone second. Between these two zones, at least 80% of the work done in the kitchen is done here. In the Cooking Zone, you are dealing with high heat - the range top for cooking and the oven for baking/roasting/broiling. You really don't want people darting in and out of that space and you don't want to be tripping over people while taking things off the range top or out of the oven. I do not recommend moving the range to the island. If you do, you may need a deeper island b/c you will need at least 24" from the back of the range to the edge of the seating overhang for the safety of your visitors sitting behind the range. In addition, be aware that downdrafts, even telescoping, are not very good at venting steam, grease, etc. The best are the ones with the vent that rises up through the middle of the cooking surface (b/w the left and right cooking coils/elements), but you cannot have one of those with a range. Downdrafts only work for pots/pans right next to the fan and for those pots/pans shorter than the top of the actual fan by at least 2 or 3 inches. If you have gas, you have the issue of the fan disrupting the flame when attempting to cook. Note that most downdrafts are designed for cooktops, not ranges. At one time Dacor made a range/downdraft combination, but I can tell you from personal experience that the fan was not very effective, it was loud, and it was particularly a nuisance if someone was sitting directly behind the range/downdraft. An overhead fan is much better and is especially needed when a cooktop/range is in an island or peninsula. Why? Because grease, steam, fumes, etc. are exposed to more and stronger wind currents, you don't have a back wall or cabinets in each side to corral the grease/steam/fumes/odors/etc. and direct them to the hood instead of spreading out away from the hood, and with seating the...

Engineered is hardwood applied to a good quality plywood. I liive on Cape and engineered is the only way for you to go (in the wood family). I copied this from the Spruce blog; Engineered wood is better than solid hardwood at dealing with moisture. Its plywood base is dimensionally stable, meaning that it warps and flexes less easily upon contact with moisture than solid wood. Fibers in plywood run in cross-wise layers, a far more stable structure than solid wood's parallel fibers. We owned an 1820 half Cape. It came with original wide plank pine floors which were in tough shape. My builder flipped them over and had them refinished. Gorgeous! Next house, same neighborhood, 200 yds from the water. This house was new build and I chose Homerwood engineered hickory in Saddle (refinished, no mess, and no guessing about the color). Gorgeous! 100 yr old cottage sounds so old to someone young, but 1919 is pretty flexible for design, unless you are talking about a distinct/authetic design vintage home. Choose what you like, but that close to the water…go engineered. It won’t cup and you can wet (wrung out) mop it when needed. Use Bona. Our present home, not Historic and came with a pool, I used wood look white porcelain. Gorgeous. Love Newport..my daughter is Navy…Thames for food and shopping, yeah!