My father passed away at 5:30 am October 14, 2008.

He will be loved and missed.

Last night, I met up with my wife and sister-in-law and her husband at a bar in Quispamsis. I hate bars! The band was good, but it was too loud for the space they were playing in. The floors were sticky and I think I smelled skunk every time the door was opened.

My wife had a few to drink and while she was sitting down having a drink, a guy was bent over talking to some friends behind Michelle. His ass was by her head and Michelle tried to get his attention to move but he couldn’t hear her. Michelle decided to get his attention by lighting a lighter directly under his ass. His friends noticed but didn’t say anything to him. Then about 30 seconds later, the heat must have set in and he moved quickly. Good thing he was a good sport about the whole thing.

The 2007 renovations are complete. Initially, we had the kitchen on our list but priorities shifted and we replaced the deck instead. The renovations include the following:

• Replace 17 windows with new bigger windows
• Replace kitchen and front door
• Replace carpet in the living room and stairs with hardwood floors
• Replace carpet in the basement with laminate floors
• Inserted 2 skylights
• Replaced 5 8″x8″ support post with 6″x6″ pressure treated posts and added a concrete pad.
• Replaced deck

Most of the work was done in the winter as I had way too many things going on in my personal life when we moved in the spring and summer.

Up next, we plan one grading the landscape away from the walkout basement. The previous owners dumped a bunch of limestone raising the level of the landscape above the walkout door. When we get rain and snow like we did yesterday, water come into our basement room which is more like a garage at the moment then anything else. No damage except for a few books that I never read got wet. Once the landscaping is done, I am replacing the wall that is there and putting in a French door. I want to use this room as the main entrance. Plus, it makes it a lot easier to bring in fire wood and a lot less messy if I bring it in through the basement. I already mentioned the fire stove and wood pellet. After that, we plan on refinishing the kitchen cabinets and making them look more like log cabinets. We will be replacing the kitchen counter top as well and making a raised seating counter.

Here are the before and after pictures. Before is on the left.

This last picture was the work in progress picture.

Currently, I have three forms of heat for my home. Electric water baseboard heaters with an electric boiler; Wood stove in the basement; Fireplace on the main floor.

I never have to turn on the heat in the basement. The main floor and the top floor stays around 18-20 C in the winter without any assistance from the electric heat or the fire place. Still, I find in the winter months, my bill is around $500. It would probably be around $430 had NB Power not jacked up the rates, but whatever. I work from home and Michelle is home all the time too, so were we have central heating, we have the heat at a constant 20 C on the main and top floors.

My plan for next year is to:
a. Season my wood.
I got my wood around November and before I knew it, snow and more snow had dumped on my wood pile. So, not only did I have green wood, but now it is wet wood too. I dry it out the best I can before I use it and I add those fire logs in with the wood to keep the fire hot. But next year, with seasoned and dry wood, I shouldn’t have to rely on the fire logs.

b. Get a new wood stove for the basement.
The stove I have now probably needs repairs and I hate the design. I want something with a clean out drawer and something that radiates and cycles the heat better. I went to Alternatives in Saint John the other day to get some prices on the stoves. The one I want is around $2,300. I don’t know if I am willing to pay that much for a wood stove and my ideal price would be no more that $1,200.

c. Install a pellet stove in the master bed room.
All our bedrooms are on the top floor. Heat from the basement wood stove has an almost impossible time getting to the top floor that also has cathedral ceilings. Our solution is to install a wood stove in our bed room that is 25′ X 13′. We wouldn’t be looking at anything big but something that could heat 1000-1200 sq feet. I looked at a small pellet stove at Alternatives and they had one for $1,900 that heated a space between 600-1200 sq feet.

d. Caulk any air spaces.
Where I live in a log home, the logs are a great insulator. The only downside to them is that you can get air leaks. Our air leaks are mainly where our carrying beams meet the pine logs. I purchased a caulking called Flextra. It is a little pricey but great for log homes because it is so flexible and durable. I had sealed major spots in mine and my son’s bedroom and that helped a lot. Plus we also changed all the windows and doors this year.

e. Replacing and insulating the wall for our walkout basement.
Finally, I will be replacing the door and wall for our walkout basement. The previous owner dumped limestone in the driveway and ended up grading the land so that it sloped towards the walkout basement. Dummy! Anyhow, when we get rain, I get water in my walkout which is more like a garage then anything else. The water goes straight to a drain and as long as that drain doesn’t get clogged, I don’t get any water in the basement. I will also be adding insulation to this wall as it doesn’t have any now and when the room is complete, I will be using it as my main entrance to the home. I will get someone with an excavator to slope the land away from my basement.

My goal in all of this is to try and lower my heating costs in the winter to under $400 a month (fire, pellets, and electricity).