HELP, DH Wants to Install a Wood Stove in our Basement
enduring
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
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My DH wants this house: someone talk sense into him!
Comments (62)jkom, You seem the to be the only one with an understanding of the structural bracing necessary in an earthquake territory. The earthquake issue poses very real and expensive challenges in updating old houses. Do folks in other parts of the country not worry about crumbly concrete? I have only lived in the Pacific NW. It is actually quite common to see old houses lifted up on jacks and have the foundation re-poured and the house set on a new foundation. Our GC told us that it costs 50K-100K to do that. Since that is quite commonly done, my DH's proposal is to rotate the house at the same time if physically possible! In a $1mil house, it is a doable proposition. We live in a remodeled 1950s house right now. We took off all old lap-sheathing under the old siding, placed structural plywood sheathing with bracing everywhere. We had to get engineer's sign off prior to starting the project... We bolted framing to the foundation in the basement before finishing the basement. Our current house has been 'earthquake retrofitted'. It cost A LOT of money without really increasing the value of the house. When you go to sell the house, most people (young buyers or people from elsewhere in the country) don't realize what it takes to do that. We have friends in the SF bay area, CA that bought a house with the idea of total remodel. When they started to rip out things, they discovered that the foundation was damaged beyond repair and the previous owners covered it up to sell it. They actually demolished the house, then rebuilt on the lot. They sued the original owners... Our friends ultimately won the case. I think our friends with really deep pockets may have ended up paying more money in legal fees than what they got out of the settlement because they were MAD about the fraud. These things happen, buying things that are beyond what one had anticipated. I am putting a big padding number to not be surprised, hence my $500K to $750K number to update structurally to not have a total loss.... Anyhow, old houses with structural issues in an earthquake territory is a sad thing. There was an amazing old house on a steep hill in my neighborhood with really a stunning view. WAY WAY better than the one we are considering. The house was used as the Italian Consulate in its heyday. It even had a ballroom. Due to structural issues, the person who bought the house ended up donating the property to the city and the house was demolished, and the lot subsequently became a park. I think the tax break they got from the donation was easier to swallow than what it could have cost to restore. One of the due diligence we need to do is to see if we can get a reasonable earthquake insurance on this property. Many old houses in Seattle cannot get ANY earthquake insurance unless you do the extensive earthquake retrofit. For those folks not familiar with earthquake premiums, you buy separate earthquake policies in addition to the regular home owners insurance. The premium is usually equal to the regular home owners insurance. The deductible is generally 20K or more on an earthquake insurance. We have multiple rentals and we carry earthquake insurance on all of them. It costs several thousand $s every year for that! After what happened in Japan and Katrina, we are unsure if the earthquake insurance will actually be helpful if the city was a TOTAL disaster to the point where bridges fell down, tall buildings tumbled. But alas, we play by the rule and hope that the insurance companies also play by the rule....See MoreInstalling wood floor in kitchen-what about under stove?
Comments (5)ten years after above posting...We have a fully wood-floor bumpout kitchen abutting a tiled front entry. The kitchen floor is generally what DH had in mind when he insisted on having it, to match the existing dining room and hall oak floors adjacent to kitchen. I do wish I'd not lost one battle, though--the old corridor kitchen between the bump and the old house is now a walkpath with seating area along a peninsula of new kitchen. I had wanted to extend the tile all the way to entrance to dining room. I still wish I'd won that battle. Because it is walkpath and because sitters at peninsula stools knock grains of dirt off their shoes when resting shoes on stools legs, the am't of grit falling onto the wood floor in that area is huge. Unless there is a throw rug there to catch the dirt, the floor always looks dirty. The indents in the oak grain hold darkish colored particles that requires strong brush to dislodge when we wash the floor. I have to replace felt pads on bottom of stool legs frequently--without them, the grit will etch the floor. Yes, I know that the grit should be trapped in the entry before approaching kitchen, but we are real people, not story book ones. As for wood floor under the stove, it's still there. A hint--sort your oak pieces before laying floor so that the most "clownish" patterned ones or flawed ones are under your stove, refrig, and cabinets and on floor of closets. DH thought he had measured correctly but was a foot off in one place, so I have some clowns along walkpath and some of the best pieces under the peninsula. So it goes. Ten years later, I have bigger worries than this....See MoreHelp! Wood Stove clearance install problem
Comments (1)Don't entertain that thought anymore. That is a bad idea a customer came into the showroom one day In search of an insert. I was going to sell him one until I found out he was doing exactly what you are doing. Taking a manufactured fireplace out and installing the insert. I told him no that's a bad idea don't do it, I won't sell you a unit. He went 15 miles down the road and bought one anyways. First fire he caused 42,000$ in damage to his house. If your going to do this check into a Kozy heat. They are specifically designed for a 0 clearance installation. http://www.kozyheat.com As far as the flue goes be sure to use a class A chimney. I recommend superpro21 they have a ceramic packed insulation between the inner and outer pipe allowing the pipe to expand and contract between the walls in case of a flue fire. Some company's have a packed insulation made of a cinder or clinker type material in the event of a flue fire the pipe will expand against the clinkers and damage the inside of the pipe. If your going to install a kozy heat or any zero clearance fireplace insert be sure to get the chimney cleaned annually. Wood inserts are a completely different ballgame compared to a fireplace. You will load it up and knock the air control back so it will burn a long time. In the mornings when you add more wood get the flue gases up to around 900 degreese for 20 minutes or so while your drinking your coffee. Then close it down. What your doing is taking the creosote from the night before and evaporating the moisture out of it. the creosote will dry up, flake off and land on the baffle. I have customers that take my advice and some that do not. The ones that don't I clean the chimney every year the ones that do I only see every few years. hope this helps...See MoreWants vs needs in our kitchen design. Help!
Comments (68)Agree with smm5525, the two inspirations pics are not really compatible. The LR would fit in perfectly in my traditional 1941 "colonial" house and the kitchen is more a 1990's "Mediterranean" genre. Neither are either tropical or beachy -- I am not sure what you are picturing in your mind's eye with those terms. The two spaces are going to be completely open to each other so they have to flow together smoothly. Also, they need to fit the style/era of the rest of your house! What is it like? You had mentioned that the kitchen would be "warm" and the great room/bar "cool" which, again, doesn't often work in real life when the spaces are juxtaposed like that. One or the other will always look "off" to you unless the colors are very carefully chosen and use a lot of mid range neutrals (colors that work with both warm and cool). I do like the color that you've chosen for the bar cabinets BTW. Find some more inspiration pics to clarify your overall looks and then call your ID soonest and get him/her working with you! You mentioned being on a timeline, but I strongly encourage you to have the whole project a bit more thoroughly planned out before anything is started....See Moreenduring
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