We finally got the heat on in the new crib this Saturday after several sub freezing nights (luckily no pipe burstage)...

When we turned the heat on at 3PM the temperature in the house was 38 degrees.

It took only 2 hours for the radiators to warm the place to 65 at which point (5PM) I turned off the heat.

When I left the house at midnight, despite not having had the heat on for 7 hours... the temperature was still reading 63 degrees. Yes, the continual radiant warmth of the radiators kept the house warm (only a 2 degree drop in temperature) using absolutely NO energy for 7 hours...

Did I forget to mention we had 2 windows open, and the back entry door open most of the time?

I <3 Radiators.

I <3 the efficiency... I <3 the look of them.

The only thing I don't like about radiators is they do take up a fair amount of floor space. In most of my rooms, this isn't much of an issue as they are positioned in such a way that they pretty much become a piece of furniture (a ledge of some sort) rather than a nuisance... but in the bedroom it severely impacts how I can position furniture.

They are also a PAIN to paint.

Nevertheless, I <3 Radiators. I'm actually looking forward to my first winter utility bill.

If you want the efficiency of radiators but have a contemporary house or a more modern style, check out Sciroccoh...

 

While I could care less, my wife frowned on any house that had radiators during our search for a home. She was afraid one of the kids would burn themselves on one. How hot do they get?

 

Thats fucking impressive! I didnt know stuff like this existed.

 

How much do one of these go for?

 

Not hot enough to burn yourself unless you're an idiot. I grew up with them and never burned myself.

You'd pretty much have to lay down on the thing to get burnt. They pretty much get as hot was the water coming out of your faucet...

 

I have many found memories of teh radiators growing up as a kid... this hot water baseboard stuff sucks

 

Do they creak when they are warmed? I am really bothered by that at night at my current house, the copper pipes expand when the hot water goes through them(base board heaters) and it always wakes me up. I am in the midst of designing a new home and am planning on using radiant floor heat which should be dead quiet, but this may be an interesting option, should I run into any trouble with radiant floor heat.

 

They only make noise if there is air in the lines, in which case you bleed them (like brakes).

Radiant floor heat is a good choice too. The only thing is that it doesn't hold the heat as well. But still better than forced hot air, or baseboard heat.

I was going to do radiant floors in my renovation but it was just too much of a PITA for hot water radiant flooring... and electric was too inefficient (but incredibly easy to install).

 

BTW, where are you building?

 

We're going to do RF heating in our kitchen and foyer (tile). I'm having the same issues you are.

 

As I work in insurance we have seen claims from the RF heating having leaks in the tubing under the floor. This can be hard to spot if you have sealed tiles on top of it, but I also think they put something else on top of it, right? Besides the flooring I mean.

 

Any recent pics of the reno work in the house, Adam? Any rooms close to completion?

 

That's up in the air right now, I have to find land before spring to make sure I can still move in next year. Right now I am in Schodack, looking at Schodack, W. Sand lake, Avrill Park, N. Greenbush, E. Greenbush. Its just easier to say Albany, people have no clue where Schodack(or any of the other's for that matter) is

 

Right. W Sand Lake is nice and land value is appreciating quickly.

 

I think these issues have mostly been fixed. Tubing is usually embedded in a concrete or mortar sub flooring under tile, old tubing was made of copper and the concrete would cause the copper to erode and leak.

New tubing is usually made of a poly material

 

W. Sand lake is my number one choice right now, there is a 5+ acre lot in a nice area of the town for $35k, its a wooded lot but would be easy clear. If I can get the cash soon I will probably purchase it in th next month or two. As I am sure you know as a younger guy its hard to do a house on your own - even if you make good money.

 

Werd. Renovation is hard enough I can't imagine having to cross all the T's and dot all the I's building new.

Especially with all the crappy builders around here looking to rape you. Speaking of which, do you know what builder your using?

 

35K for 5+ acres... Is that a typical price for the burbs of Albany ??

hmmm...Maybe teh greenmonster should think about investing in some property out that way to build a retirement home later on in life... 1-2 acre lots in my town are $250K and up

 

I don't know about typical, sounds cheap too me... especially for W. Sand Lake (which is quickly becoming a very very expensive area [was once a very cheap backwoods type area]). But I can't say I've ever really looked at the prices of empty lots.

W. Sand Lake is probably 5 minutes from the Mass border, so you could buy a lot there and still consider yourself a Masshole

 

Thinking about it though, W Sand Lake is a big area and there is tons of open land... so maybe not so crazy that you can get land for cheap.

I guess I'm mostly considering it "expensive" because of the million dollar homes being built on said cheap land...

 

While $35k is cheap for 5+ acres even out here(unless you want to live in Nassau, which is SUPER cheap but for a reason) its not too good to be true. 10-20k/ acre is fair in the burbs for residentual right now. Last year I purchased 3.68 vacant acres for $200k about 15 minutes from W. sand lake. So it really depends what your doing with the land.

Its also important to remember the highest average household income out here is under $80/ year, yes everything is cheaper, but its harder to make the same money you would else where.

 

I am very connecting in the construction world in this area, so the actual construction should be a piece of cake. I do property development as one of my jobs and have worked with Morton Builders(who said for me they would do a house), my best friends parents own Capital Framing(the largest framing company in Albany) and they said they would build house if I needed them to, they don't do homes so its a huge favor from them. But I am thinking of working with a one man show who I've done a lot of little jobs with, his work is great, he works fast and for a VERY fair price. My theory with working with the small guy, is that for him its a big job, he will put all of his effort into it and really go that extra mile that the big guys probably won't.

I put up a 8000sq. ft building in a historic town in record time last year, I was working against a deadline I had to meet and in the end had a little time and money to spare. So doing a modest home in the 'burbs should be almost fun!

So about those radiators...

 

Bingo doing the development yourself you "make" a lot. You take a $35k lot, clear it and get ready for a house, put a new home on it for $250k and you have a $350k+ house with around $300k invested, its a win/win situation if you can do it yourself.

 

Because I dont need a radiator to keep the temperature normal in my house, and regularly turn on the air conditioning to cool it down.

 

^^ congrats. also congrats on rediculous humidity, constant hurricanes for the next 10 or so years, and declining property values in the near future.

 

That's exactly what I'm thinking Close enough to family and I could still get to get to boston, providence, etc. pretty easily.

My Stepdad bought a 5 acre lot ages ago about 15-20 minutes outside of Providence, RI for $5K. Finally after owning it for 20 years or so, he built a retirement home on it for him and my mom... http://john-perry.com/cgi-bin/mygall...Garage&page=18 It was in an under developed area that has become very popular now.

I'd love to follow my stepdad's plan and buy some cheap land somewhere and sit on it till I retire. I guess I could be spending my money on worst things...

 

That is a great idea, the land is DIRT cheap out here right now and it is a very nice area, if you are serious about it let me know and I could suggest some other area's that would be similar. Also if you like water there are TONS of small lakes in the area and land is pretty cheap around some of them yet. I don't think buying land in this area at current prices will be considered a bad idea ever, its so cheap and things will catch up sooner or later. If not for a retirement home for you, as an investment its still a pretty sure thing.

 

 

Soopa are you gotta paint 'em or what ??

 

The radiators? Yeah, I spray painted them all (since the floors were being refinished anywayz...)

 

Here's the progress on the floors with a freshly painted radiator in the background

 

^^ that house is gonna be the shit when you're done with it.

 

Looks great, Adam!! Keep the pics coming, as you're able! Beautiful.

 

What are you going to do about the gap under the molding? Isn't the molding supposed to be flush on the floor?

I am asking because my house has that going on too.

 

Did you refinish the floors yourself or did you get a contractor?

 

some quarter round at the base should fix that problem easy.

 

There's only gaps because I took out the 700000 ft of quarter round covering the place so the floors could be sanded to the edge.

I'm dreading this weekend, I'm going to have to spend at least 2 full days cutting new quarter round

 

I took dfreder's advice and hired a floor guy whom alot of people I know have used.

I'm way happy I did, he pretty much finished the whole job in a day. I would of spent 3 weeks and fucked it all up. It's amazing the amount of tools he used... alot of specialty shit.

I was thinking I could just grab a sander and go to town.

Cost about 2500 for ~7 rooms. Not bad I thought.

 

I'm planning on doing this when I get out of school and get a steady income coming in that I can use. It's always nice knowing people in the business. Me and my dad build our $250,000 house for just over $50,000 a few years back. Although it did take a while since I did all the electric/framing/bricklaying by myself while he worked on other stuff, you still can't beat the money you save... Extra Labor > Spending money.... IMO

 

If I had the time to actually build the house myself that would be great, unfortunately I make more then even the best contractors so it only makes sense to pay them to do what they do so I can do what I do. If it were just materials cost to build the house that would be INSANELY cheap.

Good luck with your project when the time comes.