It's COLD

We had our first really cold days here and we can feel the cold through out the house. When built, the Hydrostones were not insulated. They just have the hydrostone blocks on the outside with an airspace and plaster on the inside. They painted on a water barrier on the inside of the blocks which keeps the walls dry but the cold comes right through.

I found an original article at the local library published in Canadian Architect in 1919, written by the Architects and they stated that there were no heating systems designed into the buildings since housewives would have their kitchen stoves going and this would supply heat. Most of the hydrostones were retrofitted with heating systems in the 1920s and ours has an oil fired, forced hot air system. Also, the cavity between the hydrostone blocks and the plaster walls has been filled with cellulose insulation. This probably helps somewhat but there is no easy fix to really insulate these walls with out removing the plaster inside which is too big a job to contemplate now. We know that the utility bills were quite high for this size house since we got the previous years energy costs prior to buying. I had hoped that we could make the house a little more energy efficient and that we could reduce the energy costs. But we just were not feeling that much hot air come from the vents, especially the kitchen which was miserably cold. With a long dark winter ahead, this was depressing.

Luckily, my trips into the attic to start the washer and dryer relocation allowed me to discover that a few of the heating ducts were disconnected and none were insulated. So fixing the ducts became my new first project. Typically, from what I've seen, ducts are screwed together and mastic is painted on all of the seems to seal in the air. No one here has heard about the mastic and everyone suggested using foil tape. They had one that was UL tested so I put that on the joints and wrapped and taped reflextex insulation around all of the ducts. I also used some great stuff spray insulation around the ceiling connections to make this also air tight. This has made a huge difference. The attic space where the ducts are is now much cooler and the vents are supplying hot air. There is hope for the long winter.

What to do first.

While the previous owners have kept the house in pretty much its original shape, there has not been a lot of updates beyond general maintenance. While we will slowly figure out any changes we will make, there are some obvious changes to the renovated attic that will make the house more livable. When first built, the house was designed to house families who lost their homes during the explosion and this house would have been (2) 3 bedroom flats. With 3 bedrooms, a living room, dining / kitchen and a full bathroom all connected with a rather large hallway in 1200 sf, the rooms are rather small. A stairway to the attic was carved out of closet space when the attic was turned into bedrooms in 1980. The new stairs to the attic is at the far end of the home and is reached by going through a former bedroom. This creates a very awkward shaped second bedroom upstairs. If the stairway was moved to the center of the unit, instead of the end, there could be two nice bedrooms upstairs and the bathroom would not need to be relocated. While Asher is still small, he doesn't mind the weird shaped room so we'll save this change until after the kitchen is renovated.

One of the first things I like to do with an old house is to remove the paint from the door hardware. It is a simple thing to do and I always feel that paint on the hardware not only looks sloppy but I feel that it covers up the history of all of the people who used to live here. The easiest and non toxic way to remove the paint is to take off the hardware and hinges and put them in an old crock pot with some dish soap and water and leave it on overnight. Luckily the previously owners left an old crock pot in the basement. By the next morning, all of the paint just falls off. Then I just rub on some auto wax and oil the hinges and door locks and put them back on. Sure the doors will need to be repainted but they look a lot better already.

The next thing we decided to do was replace the washer and dryer. The ones in the house are not really that old but they are the old top load type which are huge energy and water wasters. Currently they are located on the back stair landing which isn't really a well heated nor insulated space. It was originally designed as a cold space, and while it has a lot of potential to be a nice space, we have to relocate the washer and dryer. The best location for them is in a large closet near the bedrooms in the attic. Fortunately, Home Depot is having a sale on GE units so we ordered a set them. Now, just we just need to renovate the closet, patch the walls, repaint, put in new flooring, bring in electricity, both 220 with 10-3 wire and 120 with 12-2, install a through the roof dryer vent and modify the plumbing. All of this should be easy since the closet backs up to the attic bathroom and actual attic space behind the knee walls where the roof meets the floors. Then we can sell the old washer and dryer and clean up the stair landing.

Moving in day

Rebecca, Asher and I moved into our Hydrostone house in Halifax on Tuesday October 27, 2009. We decided to buy this house after touring it during an open house in August. We saw a few houses but this house was the first one that we went to see and the only one we really liked and could afford. After selling our finally finished Ithaca house, we were feeling slightly homeless living in a small apartment. We had no yard for Asher and we were in a student neighborhood with no kids around for him to play with. So we found a sublet for the place, put in an offer on the house and now we have moved in.

The place was built in 1919 as housing for people displaced during the famous Halifax explosion. It was designed by planner Thomas Adams and architects Ross and Macdonald. The neighborhood and houses were designed as a garden city concept with boulevards and lanes and there is a great neighborhood feel. When we first walked around this area we were quite attracted to the architecture and noticed that there are a lot of young families with small kids.

We now have a backyard, a deck off the kitchen, 2 bathrooms and like the Ithaca house a bunch of rooms that we don't really know what to do with. The previous owners have kept the place quite original with the exception of converting the attic to a large master bedroom, bathroom and additional bedroom. We plan on doing some renovations to the kitchen and probably the bathrooms. Since we are here for at least 3 years, this will give me something to do.