My home couldn’t possibly be improved any further!
I have to tackle the last floor from insulation / electrical / heating to finish.
Then find how to get the whole documentation for the new electrical installation since the initial company that did most of the work went under do that I can have it surveyed. And 4 more windows openings to re-finish since the walls are now ~20cm wider.
And then 2025 should be the year we do our exteriors :)
Finally got my new dryer vent installed!
Back story: The old vent was broken and letting air into the house. We bought a new vent several years ago, and painted it to better match the siding, and then it sat in the garage. That is, until last week, when we had a nice day, and I had time and inspiration to finally do it. It took like 20 minutes to install. Not sure why I kept putting it off.
The laundry room definitely doesn’t feel as cold as it used to! Success!
Not going nearly as fast as I hoped. But we will get there.
34 cm from the floor dug out
Concrete slab got placed
10k L water pit and 2.5k L septic pit installed and hooked up
Bathroom we completely drywalled and routed all of the electrical and water (not hooked up yet). Man doing drywall plasters to brick is the worst ever. You have 1, 15 minute chance to get it completely level and plumb and you can’t pull it back out if you push it in too deep otherwise it won’t stick. I never want to do it again. Luckily we are having the rest of the house plastered.
Toilet, shower wall, bath, etc… Are all ready in the next room to install when the shower wall is waterproofed with a rubber layer and the drywall is completely sanded where there won’t be tiles.
Half of the routing for the upstairs radiators is ready, but the contractor that promised to install the 2 temperature mixing system before winter break delayed by a month and a half…
But it is going!
My family has been helping organize my basement for the last week and a half. The new racking I ordered for the tubs should be arrive in a couple days, and at this point I’m starting to think about paint colors for the walls.
I’ve also had three electricians out this week to give me quotes on replacing the breaker box and upgrading my electrical service to 200 amps; I got the first quote yesterday and it was $6,700 (including running a circuit 20 feet and adding a couple outlets in a half-finished storage room), which seems pretty steep. Hopefully the others aren’t as high.
We had the panel upgrade done at our previous house, along with a transfer switch and 30 amp outlet installed for our trailer, and I want to say that was like $3000. This was probably 10 or 12 years ago, so I wouldn’t expect to get that price now, but over double seems pretty hefty.
$3k-$5k is what I was expecting; I did price things out when I moved in two years ago and the estimate I got then was around $3k. I suspect the firm I got the quote from pushes higher prices for their financing options, since those were listed front and center on the price sheet they gave me.
I’m in year two of planning to replace the windows, this month it’s been a dying relative and an upcoming dental surgery that’s put it off.
I get older, and the to-do list only grows in length. Condolences about your relative.
I figure it’s not a factor of my age, it’s a factor of the house’s age.
You see some old houses they say something like “This house was built in 1840 by Mister Plutis Astercock for his family” and they mean he knocked some trees over, sawed it into boards and nailed it together with his own hands. Just…right there in town. Down the street from the post office. Try that now and they’ll broadcast your evisceration on PBS. I’m a trained carpenter god dammit there are five families living in houses I built. No, now the only place you’re allowed to build your own house with your own hands is out in the cousinfucks.
Took out the old kitchen and the ceiling in that room, redid the plumbing and electrical work, am now installing the new ceiling. New kitchen arrives in a week, so everything should be ready by then.
Will try to diagnose why one of our radiators isn’t working.
Steam radiator?
Yes indeed. New England home built 1930. Will try to get it done before seeing Nosferatu in theaters tomorrow.
If you haven’t checked it already, the vent valve on the radiator might be closed or worn out.
You might also have a radiator that’s getting hotter more quickly than the rest. You can adjust it’s vent valve to vent air more slowly (or replace the valve with a slower one) to give your colder radiators more time to warm up before the thermostat stops calling for heat.
Found some mold on the carpet in the corner of my son’s room. I guess the faucet outside had a small leak, and there was a bookshelf on top of where it showed on the house. Really easy fix all things considered. Barely any mold.
Finishing up my laundry room overhaul this weekend, hopefully. It was nothing major - just adding a closet to store the vacuum and mop, etc.
