Winterizing/weatherproofing your home

It's starting to get awefully chilly at night here in New England. We all know winter will be here before we know it. Have you started thinking about what you need to do to get the home ready?

This year I'm thinking about putting shrink wrap kits over the glass slider in the kitchen and over the big windows in the hallway on the second floor of my home. Even though they're double pane I think it's worth it to create another layer of dead air space for about $4 per shrink wrap kit.

I also need to revamp my attic insulation situation as right now I only have R30 of rolled fiberglass batts which have been there for ten years so they're compressed and probably only giving me R19. Last year I started air sealing the attic with great stuff and I'll probably finish that this fall. then I have to install new attic baffles because I'd like to add blown cellulose over the existing batts and I need something to keep the cellulose from falling into the soffits.

What is on the horizon for projects for everyone else?

 

I am hoping to scare up some glass to make storm windows for our leaded windows. I am still working on doubling up some of our antique glass windows as we continue to replace our windows.

 

You're replacing some old windows? Are you doing it a few at a time? I'm curious what brand and model you're going with for the new windows.

 

Yeah, started off as the worst ones getting replaced. Next will be the ones in the living room since that's where we spend most of our waking hours. So far they have all been Anderson double panes in vinyl.

 

We had the whole place insulated with blown in cellulose through MassSave a couple years ago. Airsealed about as good as its possible to get with an 18th century vintage at that time.

Ive been working through the windows as I paint each exterior room. Take out the sash, strip any failing paint, re-glaze panes where the putty is loose, treat the wood, paint and reinstall. I'm putting in spring bronze weatherstip on the counter-weighted windows to tighten them up, and swearing often at the idiots who took out the weights and put those #(*&$^&# aluminum spring balances in some of them. I'm working on windows 5 and 6 right now. Have 7 more that need glazing work, and then another 6 that probably can get away with just a paint job - those will all have to wait till next year.

I'm also looking seriously at replacing all the triple track storms with better units by Larson or maybe the super low profile allied units if I can swing it $$$... but that also wont start till at least next year. Trying to do it as part of the much needed full exterior repaint.

What I absolutely refuse to do is take out a good 50 or 100 year wood old window in an antique house and replace it with modern throwaway plastic clad POS that passes for windows these days. Don't even get me started on that if you are not ready to hear a massive rant.


Other than that on my fall list:

• Finsih the second floor repaint.
• Lots of painting touch up on the first floor i never finished.
• Put shrink plastic on the bad windows I didn't get to this year.
• Give the back fence a fresh coat of paint.
• sweep chimneys (2 of 4 need it)
  
• Get the gas boiler cleaned/tuned up
  
• Split and stack the pile of rounds in the driveway
• cover the stacks
• fall yard clean up - leaves, brushpiles, etc
  
• lots of tree trimming needs to get done
• oil change and rotation of the wifes suv
• clean out the garage so the cars can move in for the winter

I'm sure I'm missing a few. Generator and snowblower fall tuneup is already done.

 

Redid all of the ceiling insulation in the stove room last year, and same with the walls. Took out all the old, shrunken crap, and put in a total of R-49 in the attic. Need to get back up in the attic to rearrange a bit, then do some more in another area as well. Soffits are blocked in most of the attic, so what I haven't gotten to needs to get fixed. As I've said before, I'd prefer to tear the house down and rebuild it the right way, but I gotta' do what I gotta' do. Rebuilding isn't in the cards.
I'm a tad indisposed for a little bit longer, but I'll get back at it ASAP.

 

Blowing in insulation in my attic
Cutting and splitting firewood
Blowing tons and tons of leaves

 

Sealing the Sill Plate and Putting up foam on the basement walls. the top 2'ish of my foundation is exposed on the outside. This really hurts how much heat the house loses as the ceiling in my basement isnt insulated so it is taking heat from the living areas of the main floor. Adding the foil backed foam(foil toward the inside) should help keep the basement above the 48-55 degrees it was last year. I am hoping to decrease the amount of wood I use and keep the basement usable, if I can keep the temps in the low 60's it will be reasonably comfortable.

Although that is a great temp for lagering homemade beer, or a root cellar. I want to add a root cellar in a basement corner near a window and not insulate it from the outside but insulate it from the rest of the basement. This will give me the opportunity to install a temp controlled vent in the root cellar. I could keep temps in the 50's, great for storing the extra squash and other veggies from my garden, oh yea, and making beer.

 

I'd like to do something like this for the aluminum framed sliders in the stove room.........
http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/energy/conservation/basics_1/window_cover.htm
Whoever thought it was a good idea to combine aluminum frames in a slider should be shot. Very bad idea in this climate.

 

I remember when you posted about that Dennis. Those pics however, I don't remember being posted.
Doesn't mean you didn't.
What I don't remember is whether you did the foam in the walls of the whole house or just the addition.
I also don't remember the company.
That foam would be a great option here, since there's no way I'll ever get around to redoing all the outside walls from the inside before I die.
It would seal all the gaps and cracks that are causing me grief.

 

Wow thanks for the wonderfully kind words @wildwest .

I will say that owning an antique house is a labor of love that is certainly not for everyone. We knew we wanted one when we bought the place but I didn't really appreciate the scale of the undertaking we where getting into. Along the way Ive learned a lot, grown an appreciation for a lot of traditional techniques and more than once wished I'd paid more attention to my dad the carpenter as a kid (though I do listen to him now )

The most important lesson I learned is one many of you already know... many of those old methods and techniques that seem so old fashioned work amazingly well and are not nearly as difficult as we would be led to believe in this throwaway age... you just have to give it a try and learn from mistakes.

 

Update the list so I can feel like I've accomplished something...

• Generator tuneup/oil - Done
• Snowblower tuneup/oil - Done
• oil change on wifes SUV - Done
• Tire rotation on wifes SUV
• clean out the garage so the cars can move in for the winter

• Build mini-shed - Done
• Take out air conditioners - Done
• Put shrink plastic on the bad windows I didn't get to this year.
• Finish the second floor repaint - almost done
• Reinstall all the closet and cabinet doors on second floor - Done
• Finish restoring and reinstall second floor windows - in progress
• Lots of painting touch up on the first floor I never finished
• Give the back fence a fresh coat of paint -started

• Flush sediment out of the gas boiler & water heater - Done
• Get the gas boiler professionally cleaned
• Check the boiler flue (should not need a clean)
  
• Cleanout woodstove & sweep flue
  
• Clean fireplaces and sweep flues (2)

• Fall lawn fertilizer - Done
• cover the wood stacks - Done
  
• Split and stack the pile of rounds in the driveway
• fall yard clean up - leaves, brushpiles, etc
• lots of tree trimming needs to get done

 

This years list:

1. Install foam insulation on three of the garage walls that were concrete some of which the upper portion was exposed to the air on the outside.

I have to wait until I burn a few bags of pellets to finish it. At least I got the worst of it done.

Remember when working with foam insulation of any kind you need to do something to reduce its flame spread.



2. Re-install the double pane interior storms.

7 installed 7 to go.

These were homemade shrink warp units, I used regular window wrap and you really should use a more transparent wrap.

The instructions for which are here http://www.arttec.net/Thermal-Windows/index.html

I have some large areas to cover and you need to pay attention to the compression that happens with long runs when the wrapping is shrunk. They will bend inward and the unit will not seal to the window frame.

You should be able to get several years of service out of these.

 

I have double pane windows throughout the house and I have the screens that insert in the track outside the window in the summer. Am I correct in thinking there must be some type of storm window made to insert into that track for the winter? Are storm windows worth the extra money if you already have double pane windows? Where's the best place to buy them and where do window manufacturers usually indicate the brand and model on the window?

 

Storm windows will bring a single pane window (R1) up to an effective R2 or R2.5. If you already have double pane windows it will add, but I dont know how much. i.e. if your double panes are already R3 I dont know if the storm would bring you up to R4... question is would you notice enough difference to make it worth the cost?


As to whether there are storm panels made for your DP units I have no idea... I'm going to guess no, since typically storms are made for old single pane windows and they are typically custom made units to install in the reveal between the blindstop and exterior casing in a traditionally framed window.