It’s a wierd housing economy here. You can pick up these old houses for land value and spend $50k on them and they are good for another 100 years. Mine is about 400sqm. People knock them down costing them $15k and then put a $200k house on them that’s half the size and made of poor quality material that won’t last 30 years.
Not a single nail was used to build this house either. People don’t like them because they are cold. So take the floor boards up put some insulation in set them back down and they are warmer than a normal house because the walls are 4 inch mud. Put some insulation in the ceiling and drop it down a meter and it’s better than new. We just went through the biggest storm in a century and over 100 people in my area can’t return home and are in shelters. This old girl didn’t even feel a thing.
Had to go back and check, but yeah, 120 yr old house still standing says it was built right and tight.
Only the roof tiles have been changed since it was built and someone put siding on the front and back walls probably due to rain exposure on the mud walls which can erode them. Structurally it’s sound and it’s sitting on stones not even anchored in the ground. That’s why the earthquakes haven't got it yet.
Welcome, Japanman ! That's an incredible home, awesome on the renovation too! A young man I helped mentor in Scouts just finished basic training in the US Navy and is headed over to Japan for a 3 yr stint in two weeks.....I'll have to find out what region he will be in. I'd love to visit Japan someday myself, the culture and terrain fascinate me. Mt. Fuji is on my bucket list..... Can I ask what species of wood those timbers are? The reason I ask is some stoves perform better with softwoods, maybe that can help us point you in the right direction of what to look for.... FHC'rs in Alaska and the Northwest as well as our members in Canada might be able to help too, if you're burning softer woods...
These are softwoods. I’m heavy but not that overly strong and I can bear hug and move these posts without too much hassle. The columns which I haven’t put a picture up yet seem to be hardwood. So it’s a mixture.
I'd say you'd want a stove that has secondary burn or a good CAT system with a bypass for what wood you'll be burning......something that you can shut down and let "cruise". Blaze King and Woodstock make amazing stoves that you can really control the burn in. Might wanna look into both of those.....if you can get one shipped to your location.
The stoves here for anything of that nature are over $6k and the flues for them are near $3k. It’s outrageous. Shipping one to Japan from US would there be a saving there? because they are heavy. Cheap cast iron crappy ones are over $2500 and trust me they are poor quality. Winter is coming and I honestly didn’t think I would contemplating this situation actually.
I'm sure you could get them shipped in, but the tariffs are what's in question.... Definitely worth looking into....
I probably have close to that invested in my Napoleon NZ3000 install here in the US. Good stoves and flue systems aren't cheap, that's for sure. ...
$2500 here buys you a darn nice stove...and another $1000 will get a good class A (doublewall insulated) chimney...wonder what it would cost to ship to you...I bet it would be less than the numbers you are talking about. I would bet my bottom dollar Woodstock would work with you to send you a nice crate with a stove and chimney system in it...
I’m not optimistic knowing someone mentioned another Japanese member made his own. I’ll check it out but I’m not hopeful it will be worth it.
