Off Topic Forum (Archived)

...NEVER buy a 100 plus year old farm house where there is a winter with snow...it will wear you out get you down freeze yer pipes and blow cold air in yer face, that's all you need to know in life. Be Happy and Warm...Buy a Condo......it was below 50 degrees in our house again today, the boiler valves keep sticking I keep banging and ...we do this dance every ^%#%$ winter......

.....even that mans man LaVerne would eventually break under the strain from that unholy fire breathin beast down in the stone cold cellar....





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-01-28 05:19 PM by wyatt.

don't ask, Kimossabee

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Beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing.

My house "up north" used to be an old train station. There are still initials in the foundation from 1902. Although it's required updating, having been built using true dimensional lumber has paid dividends while working on it. I had a wood burner in the basement and didn't want to get rid of it, so when the forced air gas furnace was installed...we were able to tie it in to the new ductwork in order to allow me to save it. Nothing beats that dry, wood heat on a really cold day.

Oh...and the secret to happiness?? Try everything possible once. Do whatever you enjoy as much as possible after that!

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"One test is worth a thousand expert opinions"--Alvin "Tex" Johnston...Boeing test pilot.

"Who do you think you are? I am."...Pete Weber

73 MGB. Tires: Round, black, hold air. Oil: Sometimes old, sometimes new...always slippery. Oil filter: Yellow, usually full of oil. Carbs: 2 SU HIF. Distributor: Yes. Headlights: Not that bright but bright enough. A bunch of other stuff most cars have but not really important enough to itemize. Oh, wait...it has a cool sounding exhaust with stickers on the chrome tips. Really slays the ladies...

wyatt --I hear you-- my house built in 1820s in way uppah eastern NY on the border with Canada . Been thru that so often last time so many pipes froze I replaced then with Pex piping and so far so good . I do heat mostly with a pellet stove in the living area but have a hot air furnace in the cellar that is used in minus temps.
If I were to build a new house in this climate I would have heated concrete floors and enjoy that warmth ...

It just dawned on me that this year will be the 100th anniversary of my first home, a 1915 Craftsman style. I sold it 18 years ago to buy the place we now live which is an even older 1908 house. In other words...I hear you.

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Friends talking around a fire is the history of mankind.

Reminds me of the the "Christmas Story" movie and the dad and his fights with the furnace in the basement.

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“Ideological certainty easily degenerates into an insistence upon ignorance". Daniel Patrick Moynihan

In any debate, the side which strays from civil discussion is usually the side that lacks confidence in its debate position or in the merit of their arguments. Making personal attacks on the opponents instead of staying on the subject is also a sign of weakness.

Anyone who feels compelled to respond in kind to any perceived slight is often suffering from narcissism.

Helped my friends dad insulate his house built in 1912. We were pulling out Japanese newspapers from the walls dated 1932. So I guess someone insulated it then.

He finally gave up on his furnace and went with individual room heaters.

He's been in that house since the mid 90's I want to say.

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Insert witty signature here

Some of the walls in my house were insulated with corn.

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"One test is worth a thousand expert opinions"--Alvin "Tex" Johnston...Boeing test pilot.

"Who do you think you are? I am."...Pete Weber

73 MGB. Tires: Round, black, hold air. Oil: Sometimes old, sometimes new...always slippery. Oil filter: Yellow, usually full of oil. Carbs: 2 SU HIF. Distributor: Yes. Headlights: Not that bright but bright enough. A bunch of other stuff most cars have but not really important enough to itemize. Oh, wait...it has a cool sounding exhaust with stickers on the chrome tips. Really slays the ladies...

Wyatt

In our 1856 stone house we installed a new condensing oil furnace two years ago. The service man was here a week or so ago for its yearly checkup, and I saw the efficiency readings. The furnace is working at 97.4% efficiency, which ain't bad at all.

Couple that with our two wood stoves (cookies anyone?), and we are very comfortable, considering with stone walls, there's not too much insulating you can do.

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Imperial by choice; Metric by force.

Having " re- done" an 1832 5000 Sq ft Limestone farm house 20 some years ago, and the same to a 1960 vintage Cape Cod of about the same size more recently, it's a toss up which was worse to attempt to bring to some semblance of efficiency. The farm house at least was honest about its problems...man there were some hopelessly sleazy and stupid building practices in the 60s...electric heat grids in the @#$%^ ceilings for starters.

Ground source heat pumps and propane fireplace inserts are your friend. Wyatt, I do feel your pain.

Fixed up and lived in my grandfather's 1890 adobe house in Southern Colorado's San Luis Valley (and don't let that "southern" word fool you) and every winter liked to have frozen my you know what off. I still have nightmares over that. Heated by wood and coal, then propane. Oh yeah, don't let that word "heated" fool you.

....boiler parts on order,...but they turned down my request case of dynamite and a crane!!!..kerosene and heater in kitchen, what a farkin stinky mess...tobacco road...

here ya go speedy1...be young again for a few minutes, it works fer me...

I had a friend who lived in Oklahoma. We got up in his attic one day, and it was insulated (?) with about four feet of old newspapers.

Can you imagine a fire hazard, or what?

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Wayne Sanders
Rose Lodge, OR
(TD 4288)

"I don't care to belong to any club that accepts people like me"-joined Willamette Valley Club in 2011

79/65 MGB - Carmine- V-6 - T-5

This car is now very nearly completely done. Sure to find something else, but not now.........And 12 years later, I'm starting to fix things that were new when we built the car. It's pretty well de-bugged!