energy_rater_la insulation in attic? As is probably the case the attic is a combination. Most of it is a walk up attic, with insulation under the floorboards between that and the ceilings below. Probably a cavity of 8 in. The back half of the house is regular attic with cellulose blown in, possibly other stuff below that (we have not gone digging and I don't know the depth). There is a small addition to the house (they bumped out 4 feet on two sides on the back half of the house which is a single story and the "attic space" as it were is not accesible but has a vent panel ? on the outside. walls - They had cellulose blown in in the 80's (I have the receipt only $1700) and in the attic we can see it overflowing at the edge of the attic walls. I also suspect some mineral wool in some places as when we ripped up carpet recently in a bedroom there is a gap where the toe (?) molding would go and there is some black stuff but those are interior walls. Most of the house is basement, with giant old stones that have been sealed fairly well except in one area under the kitchen. The floor is dirt with wood planks on top and then sometimes of laminante or other "tiles" the home inspector suspected they had asbestos in them, they are wearing through in parts. The crawl space is small, L shaped about 4 wide on each side and then 10-12 ft on either side. The crawl space is also open to the crawl space on our back porch which is enclosed, but FREEZING cold. The main lock to the house in on the back of that room, but there is a door which closes it off from the house and we keep it closed. The crawl space is assessable, part of it is poured cement (I think part of it was a porch off of the kitchen that was later enclosed and expanded, and the rest is dirt. It is not fully supported underground with no piers seeming to go more than a foot below ground. This was likely added in the 1910's and has held up well, the porch which is probably of the same date/expansion has had more shifting. We have very sandy soil so probably will not see significant movement, but are going to properly deal with that in the next year or so. There looks to be Styrofoam covering the crawlspace under the house with the joints taped going flush to the outside wall. The porch is not as well sealed and I can see the wall cavity and it's pink insulation sticking through... probably so can the chipmunks who live under there... The room that has this crawl space addition is our office where we both work during the day. We pretty much keep it closed off from the the rest of the house most of the time and heat it supplementally during the day with a space heater. It has carpet (OMG NASTY) run up into the radiator (which need a good vacuuming) and dealing with that is on our list before christmas. We are armed with caulk and ready to use it! We had a 1920's home before this that we tightened up and added insulation to the attic and did other things to (renovated a kitchen and bath) so we are pretty handy. We have caulked around the outside of some of the windows and added a little weatherstripping to the front door. The area by the front door is constantly 5 degrees colder than the living room thermostat. The front door is not original but an old door that fits not horribly. There have been some attempts at weather stripping but they were not done correctly (no using compression right) We are debating between adding a storm door on the outside (evidence of one before, and we would love a screen in the summer for airflow) or just buying a curtain to cover it up for this winter and look for the perfect wooden screen/storm to match the others in the house. There are two places in the basement that seem to be problematic. One is a hole that carries pipes up to the second floor for plumbing. The other is under the kitchen sink where the rock foundation wall has been busted up at the floor level to allow plumbing access (clearly not original sink location) The energy audit guys suggested filling both of these with fire proof foam, but that freaks me out as they are plumbing access and we need to be able to access those if a leak occurs. Also at some point the original owners removed the backstair case, and "covered up" a window. It is covered with siding on the outside but I can see air moving dust around inside where there is just some barrier up over the window (The frame is still there). This is behind our upstairs shower and also in our basement stairwell. If you need more info or pictures I have them or can get them (I like to take pictures and obsess about my old house :) Oh and we plan to keep the boiler we have, we had it serviced and the guy said it was in good shape, well maintained and would last forever. All of the pipes are copper going into the boiler and covered in foam, but they then connect to old pipes to traverse the basement and head into the walls and they are covered in asbestos. I do not know when they were converted from old fashion radiators to baseboard ones, but they seem to be in good condition but all need to be vacuumed (covered in dust) (especially in rooms with carpet. By the way it is KILLING ME that you say leave all the wall paper :) I thought the winter would be the perfect time to bust out a steamer and go to work, better than the hot summer months :) But with two kids and work it might be good to just settle in and deal with the mechanics Thanks so much!! Here is a link that might be useful: includes pictures of crawl space

Thanks. My fence was put in my Mike Bigham with BHT Fence in Charlotte. I opted for the design you can see without any additional horizontal crossrails. There was some debate about what 'officially' was up to pool safety codes in Union County, so out an abundance of caution I went with the one that was for sure up to code. Code believed to mean that there is 48' between crossrails. Either way, I liked the less obstructive view of fewer crossrails. The fence manufacturer is APG Meridian and is called Swedge Lock. It has no screws and no welds and is made in America. I guess there's been a big increase in Chinese aluminum and steel with other manufacturers and its likely to be inferior to the American made stuff. I put the fence fully surrounding my pool, then added the adjacent dog run area (that we sodded in the pictures). All told it came out to 240 linear feet of fence, three self-closing gates and one double gate so I can mow the dog run. All told around $5500. I'm not sure if big brother cared that much in my corner of Union County - but I felt better having it fenced in for the dog and any other random animal wandering through the back yard. So far, only a few small frogs and your standard assortment of bugs have made it into the pool. Here is a link that might be useful: Swedge Lock website

Why I will not buy Marvin Window Products and neither should you. In 2004 we renovated our kitchen, replacing three windows and one door with Marvin Windows. At the time we purchased Marvin because I felt they were high quality. Marvin’s website says, “We are committed to design that is as functional and intuitive as it is beautiful. Crafted with exceptional skill, our products deliver quality you can see, touch, and feel, the beauty that brings joy, and performance that stands the test of time.“ My view of the ‘test of time’ for windows that I put in my home is a long time, decades. Apparently, Marvin’s test is dramatically shorter. Less than 20 years after installation I noticed that the window had rotted all the way through the frame. I am not sure how many years it took to decay, but clearly it did not happen overnight. Their test of time failed quickly. I called Marvin and was told that the warranty is only 10 years. I understand how warranties work and asked for Marvin’s help repairing the window. They said they would not offer any help since they no longer make the model. I called dozens of companies and was told these Marvin windows were not repairable. I am left with one window out of six that failed out of warranty but clearly started failing years ago before the warranty had expired. I now need to replace all of my kitchen windows in order to have a consistent look. I thought that maybe this is a one-time issue and not very widespread. It turns out Marvin lost a class action lawsuit on this very issue. https://www.yourlawyer.com/construction-defects/marvin-windows-lawsuit/. Apparently, their product team feels they can continue to turn out products that do not stand the test of time. Marvin’s marketing department may tell you they are committed to a lot of things but it is clearly a lot of marketing and they do not stand behind the actual quality of their windows. So when you look to purchase windows for your home my strong recommendation is to look at anyone other than Mavin.

Window companies can be a bit regional and I must confess to knowing the US market much more specifically than what is available in Canada. To address as many of your questions and/or concerns as possible, here goes: - You mention toxicity in one portion of your post. I would not worry about that as it pertains to any window type. You will get more VOCs from the painting/stain on a window than you will the material itself. Vinyl (uPVC) does not off gas as much as touted but other non-vinyl suppliers and I assure you that there is more harmful gases coming out of your home in other things. - Most PVC windows can be painted (factor) so that should not be a problem. They are also available in laminates so that also should not be an issue. - You should not have to replace whatever window you go with in 7 years, not to mention 27 years. - I would not go with thermally broken aluminum up in your area for the fact that it is not going to have the thermal performance of any of the other suitable alternative. - Get triple pane and you should be looking at what is the equivalent (Canada's measurement metrics are a bit different) to a U-Factor of 0.20 or below for the US. - Try to get a higher SGHC glass on the South facing portion of the home to allow for some passive solar in the winter. - Be sure to examine and consider the air infiltration rates in the windows that you vet. A good thermal performing window that leaks a bunch of air will not help the home out that much in the end. Happy hunting and please post back with more questions. Window on Washington