Here is the house from above

Thank to local.live.com for this overhead picture of our neighborhood and house.

Radiant Ceiling? What?

OK, some of you have been asking about the radiant ceiling. Here is a FAQ to help you understand.


Q1. Why not a kickspace heater?


A1. It requires electricity, it becomes noisy after a few years, it blows dust around and nobody wants 130 degree air blasting on to your feet.


Q2. Why not baseboard?


2. There is not enough exterior wall to meet the 7,770 btu/hr heating load.


Q3. OK, you have to do radiant, why not a nice warm floor, isn't that the custom?


A3. Yes, but the base cabinets take up a lot of floor space, math tells us the kitchen floor would have to be approximately 100 degrees F. Imagine standing on a floor that hot.


Q4. Doesn't heat rise? Your ceiling will keep all the heat at the ceiling, so your design won't work, Mr. Smart Guy.


A4. Less dense air rises (warm air), not heat. The zeroth law of thermodynamics tells us heat goes from a higher concentration to a lower concentration. That means it goes from hot objects (or surfaces) to cold objects. Hold you hand near a hot stove, you feel the heat by radiation; the hot surface radiates heat to your cooler hand. The same idea applies to our radiant ceiling, it will be about 91 degrees; your skin temperature is about 85 degrees. Heat will go from it to you, keeping you warm.


Q5. Won't the room above it have a radiant floor now?


A5. The ceiling is well insulated, see A-4.1. This will "encourage" the heat to go down into the kitchen, not the bedroom above.


Q6. Won't your head be baked?


A6. Only if you are 7'9" tall. We aren't (and none of you are). If you are of ordinary height, it shouldn't be bad.


Keep asking questions, the truth is out there (don't fear the future).



Much respect to Tom D. for his advice.

Some pictures, low quality

OK, I was able to steal a few pictures from the realtor's website, the quality is low. The quality of the house isn't, just these photographs.

This is a picture from the front (no kidding!). You can see the garage is in the basement and the house is on a little bit of a hill (very rare in Vermont, not!). To help you match up with the plans, the living room is on the right, the bathroom in the center and the guest/craft room is on the left.







Here is a bad picture looking South in the living room. The fireplace is ugly, we have no concrete plans for updating this in Phase 1, but I'm sure we'll do something.




This is a picture of the backyard, looking West at the back of the house.





Here is a flattering picture of the backyard, looking North. It is nice to have a grassy yard with some shading in the center and lots of trees around the perimeter. Our neighbors on both sides seem to have children, which is nice.

Here is a view of the back, one can readily see the dormer that defines the second floor bedroom and the East side, second floor bedroom.

US out of VT.

Phase 1 Construction Plan View

For those who can develop a sense for the space with drawings, here is the planned first floor work (it prints full scale on B size paper). We will gut and renovate the back part of the house, new kitchen/dining area, convert existing East side bath to a laundry room, new door to the outside, radiant ceiling heat (thanks for the idea Tom D.), fluorescent recessed lighting fixtures in the kitchen, new East side windows throughout and new siding in back.

Plus we will exentend electrical power to all the rooms (1950 electricity is much different than 2007 electricity), paint and have the hardwood floors refinished.

Enjoy, stay well and Eat More Kale.

What does our house look like today?

Hello again readers. Here are the existing house floor plans (no basement plan, but there is a garage and not much else there). Some may not be inspired by drawings, we will have photographs after closing (April 12!).

First Post - Test

Welcome to our blog. We hope to keep you up-to-date on the improvements in our soon-to-be humble abode.