Wanna see something scary?

Though lately I have been wrapped up in toilets and insulation and HVAC systems, thinking this will be our next big home improvement project, this past week I was reminded of that old adage "Expect the unexpected." The unexpected is, thankfully, not so major a project--just one that must be completed as soon as possible. And if I am truthful, it was not completely unexpected; we had been warned during our home inspection, and kind of had our fingers crossed that we wouldn't have to deal with it so soon.

We had two snow days this week, and while the boys were out playing, B decided to knock the icicles from the eaves. To do this, he stood on the post of our side porch--

Similar to this one

and then immediately found himself on the ground, with no icicle in hand, as the post essentially disintegrated (he was completely fine, and to his credit promptly confessed to his misdeeds).


All the trim fell right off



Around the bottom too

Dry rot we knew about, and probably ancient termite damage as well

Yikes.

C has wedged a board between the porch floor and ceiling to help keep it supported.  The good news: the whole post may not have to be replaced, but instead can be repaired; the rot does not appear to extend through the whole piece.  I also walked around the rest of the porch, stabbing rails and posts with a screwdriver--it all seems fine, except for needing a new coat of paint.

The culprit in this dry rot is most likely our gutter, which, when it dams up with leaves or snow, sends a steady drip of water right down the length of the post. This will have to be remedied as well.

Hopefully we will have our rotten post repaired and good as new in the next week or so!

And Toto Too?

Yes, and Toto too. But not the dog--the toilet. Last post (sorry it has been so long; I'll fill you in on my insulation/heating saga next time) I mentioned we were expecting a delivery; it was indeed a toilet. A WaterSense, dual-flush Toto Aquia toilet, to be exact.

When C and I went to Italy four years ago, they had these dual-flush toilets everywhere we went, and I thought they were kind of nifty. The idea is that you have a small flush for #1 and a bigger flush for #2 to save water. Sounds logical, right? That's not to say they don't take some getting used to--the water spot is much smaller, and you may have to work on your aim to hit said spot accurately for an optimum flushing experience, if you get my meaning...But if my boys have been able to figure it out, believe me, anyone can.

New toilet in powder room

That button on top is the flush

Little button on left is #1 flush, bug button on right is #2 flush

C installed the toilet in a few hours and found it surprisingly headache-free. The whole experience, from install to actual usage, has in fact been so pleasant we plan on ordering two more for the upstairs bathrooms.

We are continuing our quest to weatherproof the house; this morning we were out buying door sweeps and cans of spray foam and the like. I spent the afternoon placing foam pads inside all the outlet covers and switch plates, some of which were quite breezy indeed. C was working on replacing our few remaining incandescents with CFLs, and will probably be hitting the basement for some projects tomorrow.

Some energy tips and what we've accomplished so far

Lately I've been discussing some pretty large projects to improve the efficiency and comfort of our home, but at the end of his report, Brian left us with a list of easy, inexpensive (or free!) ways we could start making changes today. Without any further ado:

--Lower the set point on your thermostat during heating season. When you aren't home (at work, or on vacation), and while you sleep, you could set it back 5 degrees or more. While you are home, try just setting it one degree lower than usual--it might save you 3% on your bills. If you have a programmable thermostat, it makes all these changes easier, of course.

--In the winter, try to capture any warmth from the sun that shines in your windows by opening curtains and blinds. Conversely, if it is dark or cloudy, shutting the drapes reduces heat loss from the room out that same window. In the summer, best to keep blinds down on sunny hot days so you don't overheat your home (and make your cooling system work that much harder).

--Get your systems serviced on a regular recommended schedule; at the very least change/clean any filters to keep things running clean.

--Shut and lock windows in the winter---it helps make a tighter air seal.

--Lower the set point  on your water heater 5-10 degrees (only if you never run out of hot water). Another thing to look out for---some dishwashers require a certain water temp, so you don't want to go below that.

--Switch out your shower heads for high efficiency ones---they aerate the water so the pressure is good, but you cut water use up to 50%.

--Another bigger project, but if the timing is right: switch out your toilet for one with a WaterSense label. They use 20% less water than current standards but work just as well, and could save you thousands of dollars over the use of the toilet.

--Putting an aerator in your existing sink faucet or getting a new WaterSense faucet could also save you in water usage and hot water bills.

So there you have it--hopefully you will have found at least one of these tips useful!

As I mentioned, we have already started the process in our quest to tighten our house (sorry I keep saying that--it just reminds me of the scene in Knocked Up when Katherine Heigl is not so much told to lose weight--which is illegal--but instead is told to "tighten").  Before the audit, we had already decided we had to replace our screen doors. Both of them had been damaged by our dog since our arrival, and they weren't in the best shape to begin with. They also did nothing as far as keeping out the cold winds blowin'.

The other one looked the same, but had chicken wire for a screen.

We had to order custom sizes (since nothing in this house is regular), and even so, C had to do some creative shaving here and there to make them fit (and all with a minimum of swearing; in fact, there was even whistling!), but let me tell you, these doors are awesome! They have retractable screens on the top, so we can have as much or as little screen showing as we like:

Retractable screen

These doors are also thick and substantial, and when they are closed they create a powerful vacuum that seals out everything; it even makes our interior doors more difficult to open. We went from feeling drafts blowing around these doors from across the room to feeling nothing at all using just the storm door! Definitely an improvement.


The door---we initially preferred a solid (not glass) bottom, but this was the only style available in custom sizes.

Thursday afternoon we expect delivery of another energy saver--I'll fill you in then!