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| South facade! Windows arrive Nov. 29. Will we be ready? |
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| All that wood waiting to be put to use! |
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| This build sponsored by... |
It's -17 C right now, with nights getting a bit colder. Our framer couldn't do much work as his generator couldn't work in the -20 cold last week. So, work is at a standstill. *Sigh* Matt set up a propane heater in the basement, in an effort to keep the slab a little warmer than -20 and also to protect the water line. I'm not sure it's doing much good. I needed to change the tank this morning, as no heat was coming out of the thing. We have a VERY long extention cord that extends all the way to our neighbours' outside plug in. It powers the blower on the heater. I will have to pay great penance for using all that carbon-soaked fuel! And I have to head out tonight to see if there needs to be another tank change. Here is hoping that it warms up next week!
Wow .... must be stressful trying to get all this done at this time of year Shafraaz.
ReplyDeleteTwo questions, do you have water coming to the house already? and is it necessary to try to keep the slab warmer because it will be too hard to try to heat the house up if it gets too cold or is there another reason?
At least once the windows come it should be a bit easier to keep some heat in. Good luck!
Yes, the water line is installed. Because it is buried 9' below ground, it should not freeze. The little bit that sticks up beyond the slab is frozen though. I will likely have the plumber shut the water line off from the valve at the property line.
ReplyDeleteWe want to keep basement warm so that we mitigate any chance that the footings will freeze up- and then shift or heave and then crack the foundation wall. I think there is a small chance that this would happen, as we also have 4"+ of rigid insulation below the concrete slab. So this should not allow the ground below to get too cold. But better safe than sorry!
Shafraaz, if you need it, I have another propane heater and a 100lb tank that may provide some extra insurance. Let me know if you want to borrow either or both.
ReplyDeleteTo tackle both of your previous problems, what about setting up a free-standing wood stove that you can fill with off-cuts lying around the site?
Wow, it's so cool to see how far it's come though. Just amazing. I here it's warming up this week...
ReplyDeleteTyler!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the offer of the propane heater. I may take you up on it for the next cold spell, but hopefully, we'll have the building closed in by then! And I would be even more nervous of using a wood stove and leaving it unattended at night!
If your site is secure, could you lay rigid board insulation across the ground floor and hold any heat generated by the propane heater in the basement. Cover the insulation with large tarps to create a bag and reduce the heat loss a bit. This is not a perfect solution, but could hold you over the worst weather and protect the concrete floor and footings.
ReplyDeleteJim