Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[babsbag]

Yeah, your a brat but we like you anyways.

What kind of stove are you using?

I needed to do the floor before the FHA inspection for the refinance. I also needed to have the 1" air gap between the cement backer board and the sheet rock. My DH thought I was crazy to do this but I just had a feeling that it would be a stickler if it wasn't done and low and behold, the inspector looked for and even measured the air gap. I was going to get the stacked stone slate on the wall before the inspection but the floor took a little longer than planned as cutting the laminate in place was a little time consuming to get the angles right. I tend to be a perfectionist on stuff like this. The inspector didn't care if it wasn't done as long as what was in place was safe, and that is why I did the floor...sitting on brick stepping stones looked a little weird.

There was also a bit of planning and research to do before putting the slate floor in a manufactured home. I won't bore you with the details of that decision.

 

[Bruce]

There was also a bit of planning and research to do before putting the slate floor in a manufactured home. I won't bore you with the details of that decision.

You mean like "Did the manufacturer include the laminate as part of the floor thickness for load bearing measurements?" "Can the floor support the weight?"

So I decided to give this here stove a try. Fired up just about perfect, damp wood and all. Been burning now about 4 hours and the main part of the house is at ~76F... the back bedroom where the computer is is around 70F. I have the heat setting at medium, all the ceiling fans going, and a large pot of water sitting on the top grate which is just below boiling. I'm sitting here in just a pair of shorts, bare foot, having just recently come in from the spa. I am pretty sure this stove is going to be all I'll need this winter. Next few nice days I'll go get the rest of that downed tree cut up.

76F in the house in December?? You sure are a "Texas boy" now!

We have the thermostats set to 60F at night, 65F during the day. The wood stove is in the SW corner of the living room, about halfway along the outside south wall (where the prior owner put in the "hearth" and metal chimney) in the original building of the house. The space rarely gets to 70F since the stove is sized for a house of ~1,500 sq ft (which is pretty much what the size of original building of the house) but with an open staircase and a door to the rebuilt north building at the top, the heat happily rises to the 2nd floor of both buildings.

70F in the bedroom? The wife would move out. She thinks 60F in the bedroom is too hot.

 

[Baymule]

@babsbag what you have done so far looks real nice. When you finish up, post pictures and tag me! We will have to do the same thing, being as we are living the dream in our doublewide. And per insurance, we can't get just any ol' wood burning heater, it must be mobile home approved. What's up with that?

@Latestarter it sounds like your wood burning heater will do the trick! And this freezing cold front we have coming at us won't last long. This is the south and we don't put up with much of that around here.

 

[babsbag]

You mean like "Did the manufacturer include the laminate as part of the floor thickness for load bearing measurements?" "Can the floor support the weight?"

We bought our house new and we installed the laminate; had them leave out the carpet so no load bearing measurements on that. With the small amount of tile I was doing and the fact that the house is newer and on a perimeter foundation and very sturdy I was more concerned about the tile making the particle board sub-floor warp. We have a sub-floor called Cresdeck and it is "water resistant" and very tight particles. What I have seen so far it does not warp when wet, we had a water line under the sink get chewed by a mouse and a flooded kitchen but no floor damage.

I was also concerned about the flexing of the sub-floor and even if I can't see it I am sure it is there. I used an uncoupling membrane called Ditra. It is supposed to allow the tile to become its own unit and not be attached to the floor so it doesn't crack. So far so good. Originally I was going to rock the walls all the way to the ceiling but I have decided that that may be too much weight for that area and I am going to only go half way up.

I would never tile the entire house, as much as I would like to. Too much work to do to ensure that the floor can handle the load. In my guest room I am installing vinyl self stick tiles that have actual grout installed. They say I can't install self stick over particle board so I am going to paint the floor first. If there is a will there is a way. If I like it I may do it in my kitchen someday, right now the kitchen is the vinyl flooring that came in the house and I am not fond of all the little pits it has in the design, collects dirt that can only be removed with a scrub brush.

 

[babsbag]

And per insurance, we can't get just any ol' wood burning heater, it must be mobile home approved. What's up with that?

Most of the new stoves are approved for manufactured homes. One thing to be careful of is that you don't have an airtight house. If you do you need to put a vent in the floor behind the stove so it can draw in outside air and not use up all of the oxygen in the house. We had to do that by code in a house we built years ago. I didn't worry about it here as I have a water cooler vent in my hallway that never really closes well so air can come in there all of the time. Plus the weather stripping around the back door is a constant mess due to dogs scratching to come in. No airtight home for me.

 

[Bruce]

Many wood stoves have an optional "outdoor air for combustion" feature.

 

[Latestarter]

Sorry I didn't get back to the question... I have more of an internal wood furnace vice the typical wood stove.

The door on the right opens to expose the thermal upper door for wood and lower door to access the drop tray for ash/coals. The thermostat up top graduates from low through medium to high heat. All it actually does is varies the size of an air intake opening down near the bottom.

I went out and spent about an hour cutting up more of that downed tree late this afternoon and this time I cut a 1/2 dozen large sections from a 12-15" diameter limb. They actually split very well using a maul instead of just an axe. So now I have some sizeable chunks that should burn overnight. Nice and warm in here right now. Says it's 39 outside and supposed to be high 20s by morning. It clouded back up so not sure it will get that cold. Time will tell. Next few nights are supposed to be mid 40s to low 50s so probably won't even burn the stove.

 

[babsbag]

That is a different kind of wood burner but it sounds like it works well. I have a lot of cut oak that needs to be split and I may be awesome but I am NOT that awesome. I have a friend with a PTO driven wood splitter and I need borrow it.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Sounds pretty 'Toasty' there....and is that the new 'Throne'? looks like it sure 'Fits the Bill'!!....really Nice!!....

 

[Baymule]

You just had to go and post a picture and remind me didn'tja? I am so jealous! No, really, you have a wonderful wood burning heater. My parents had an Ashley and they heated their whole house with it. I will get my wood burning heater some day......