Hey Pete...the guy I used for spray foam is from south of Union Springs and he goes all over. Knowledgeable, fair and likes beer. I can't believe how great the spray foam is...I was torn up spending the extra money on it...now I can't imagine not doing it.
Replaced it under the Mass Save program.. This and we now have indirect DHW.. I will be getting back $2300.00 in rebates plus the loan was interest free for 84 months!
I’ll tell ya we bought one of the Milwaukee copper crimp tools for work and I love it!!!! Screw sweating copper! Ya that’s really what I noticed first Very nice setup!
Yes they used propress.. Everything is replaceable without draining the boiler.. You get what you pay for! Even the circulators and zone valves are energy efficient.. One circ with 2 zone valves for heat and one circ for indirect DHW.. Also have a outdoor reset controller.. Efficiency went from 70% to 87%.. Old boiler still worked but was 32 years old.. Couldn't pass up this deal for piece of mind.. Contractor offered soldered fittings if I preferred but i went with propress..
We use the press for high pressure air lines too. The crimps are very strong! The fittings we use are rated at 220 psi and we use that much at some farms to run air motors and a slew of air cylinders. I’m a little skeptical about the orings inside but so far not a single failure anywhere that I know of....
They use propress at work on air and water lines.. I've read the O-rings last because they never see UV light which is destructive to them.. It certainly is much faster and no fire hazard compared to sweating pipes and fittings.. Oh they also used it on SS piping as well.. Have the feeling they will outlive us Pete..
I’m beat! Buy lazy man caulk gun check! Figure out how to clean lazy man caulk gun not yet! Buy pro foam spray gun Check! New window blinds in kitchen check! Fill open window in attic check! Spray foam window in attic to seal check! Lift old floor boards up check! Collect all the turds and dead bats, mice and bugs from floor check! Caulk down chimney seam check! Tomorrow’s gonna be so much easier! The attic window was literally bricked over with the chimney and then never sealed. That was a very unpleasant find! My frustration factor went to 110% after that... Most of today was spent sealing the opening from inside then spray foaming everything with closed cell foam. Outside I caulked everything I could to the max because we hit 50! The blinds where a pita because they have little fancy clips that defeat a person with big hands wouldn’t ya know. Then there’s the stupid friggin little snap in wand that doesn’t snap in you just about have to stand on the darn thing to get it to click... 30 minutes of I’m gonna throw it away thoughts then click! It’s about dang time! Moral of the story don’t buy cheap blinds that are supposed to be fancy! Floor boards well ironically that’s been the easiest part! I expected the nails to be in and to be a pain to get out of the floor but the boards are so brittle they just pull right over them.
It’s very very old lumber. Most of the nails are hand made so it may even be original to the house. This place is from the late 1800,s. The ceiling is actually lath and plaster too I’m half tempted to knock the ceiling down and dry wall it while I’m at it.
That is SOO cool Pete!! To live in a piece of history is WOW to me. I found my ancestors back to the late 1700's, and some of those houses from them in the early 1800's still stand. Alright, guess I'm downright envious. Oh, and for the ceiling, I'm a fan of "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
The problem is this was a rental for 15 years and the owners let it fall apart. When we purchased it we had it sided, new floors, roofed and a few other things done to get it fixed up and liveable. The house was a good price at the time we bought it even with the repairs and upgrades. The funny thing is the previous owners have a farm that they rent out and we service it. The farm is pristine! Unfortunately it’s been a lot of stupid repairs like the overly rediculas plumbing job they did copper to pvc to steel to galvanized to cpvc to pex. They even used 1/4” cpvc to feed the sink! I never even knew they made 1/4”! The worst was finding all the really bad exposed cloth wiring on cracked ceramic insulators. One foot from leaking water lines It’s home but it’s a lot of work. I wouldn’t call it a mistake but we defiantly would buy a newer home next time. If there is a next time....
I know what you mean and can fully empathize. You get a rush of accomplishment and pride out of getting everything straightened out and done. But the money, time, sweat etc sometimes feels overwhelming. And dang, it would be nice to have a place that more problems weren't uncovered every time you do something that should be fairly straight forward / simple. You are doing a great job with your renovations and we enjoy seeing the progress!
Took back a $31 rebate from Menards and bought a framing nailer that will hopefully last more than two nails.. Nails & nailer after rebate came to $89 plus we have another $11 mail in rebate. So after the rebate $78 for all of it.... It will be much easier to support the roof with this nailer then running screws or hammers. Besides bathroom remodel coming up so ya there’s that..
Pete, I had my home built in 1975. But in the past few years, I've nearly rebuilt it. Much of this was to make a handicap accessible space on the first floor with the wife and I, and to make a full living area for my son and his family on the second floor. We put a lot better quality stuff in the rebuild. My point is even in newer homes, the rebuild needs still exist. Our problem was that so much of our home was finished with low grade products that just didn't hold up. This time around we used stuff that will last for many years to come.
