Friday, August 24, 2012

Dream home projects

Home projects we dream(ed) about:
  • 4 season sun room
    • Had folks come out from Creative Energy  (here) to talk about a sun room .  
      • Wonderful products
      • Very good materials/engineering
      • Like the company
      • Cost way more than we are willing to pay
  • A sunny room (maybe with a pool) and retractable enclosure
    • Had a number of emails with someone from Libart (here)
      • Another GREAT product
      • Pretty good materials
      • Really like the company and attitudes
      • Cheaper than the sun room but the cost compared to benefits wasn't high enough.
  • Below-grade addition (1 or 2 story)
    • Really want to do it myself
    •  Concrete walls
      • Am thinking ICF might be the way to go
      • Also considered Superior Walls but they thought it might be pricey to use for an addition
      •  Reduce load on heat pump
      • sound deadening
    • Being "basement like", would need to somehow deal with excavating below existing foundation.  Looks possible but need to consult with someone more experienced.
  • "Screened" deck
    • Had a quote from a company for $5,000 for a pressure treated deck roughly 12x14 or so. 
    • Looking at building it myself now.
    • Result must be lower maintenance than our existing deck with looks like it was build in 1880 and not maintained.
    • Thinking about some (Brazillian?) hardwoods 
      • Importers
      • Expensive but given the right wood it could last 50+ years
      • Typically still requires an oil sealer to maintain the beautiful colors
      • Ipe was used on a number of high profile boardwalks
      • Some complaints about "sustainable" forests.  Most imports state that the forestry practices are sustainable now for their suppliers.  Not sure..
    • EzeBreeze windows
      • Here
      • Looks DIY friendly
    • Probably make concrete piers
    • This project should be in our budget and needs to get done soon one way or another.
  • Steel shingles (roofing)
    • various companies
    • Long warranties
    • Might be cost effective if I can install myself; some companies have training of some sort I think.
  • Greenhouse
  • Workshop
More to come..

Projects completed
  • Geothermal heat pump
    • Works great
    • Found a few companies/people worth their weight in diamonds
      • Delta Temp
        •  These guys are GREAT!  They fixed a VERY bad install; I wish I had started with them.
        • 804-739-5854
    • Learned a lot about bad contractors/companies and about how to evaluate better upfront
      • Town & Country mechanical - now defunct company from what I hear
      • Check that they have a license #
      • Check that they are licensed for a job of your size (i.e. Class A is better than C)
      • Check that their license isn't expired
      • Check with BBB
    • Learned that warranties are like statistics
      • lies and more lies
      • If warranty is through installer and installer goes out of business...no actual warranty exist

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