Monday, February 19, 2018

All Buttoned Up?




     Today I was reading a posting on Facebook by one of our selectmen in our small town at home. There’s been discussion lately in town about requiring all future building to be “green.” Some people are pro  - environment-friendly, ecologically friendly – while others point to increased cost.

          Coincidentally, this particular selectman owns a lumber supply house and at a recent gathering of lumber manufacturers, the opinion came up that new houses of today are already too tight. They’re seeing issues with moisture and poor air quality. Many new products are doing what’s called “off gassing,” which can stick around for a while.

          Compounding this, apparently some communities require fire suppression from the basement to the first floor, which means manufacturers add chemicals to floor joists to slow the burn.

          My Guy and I could have used this kind of leverage months ago when we first put our own 50 year-old house on the market in August. When the weather cooled, I would have instructed our agent to point out the refreshing breeze around some of the window frames.

          And twenty years before that, our previous house from 1926 could even have had competing bids, what with the drafts that would occasionally travel across the living room. 

          Houses are particularly on my mind today, since tonight is the final walk-through for the buyers (please don’t notice that crack in the garage floor, or the temperamental hinges on the kitchen cupboards) and I’m a bit jumpy.

          Tomorrow is the Big Day – the closing. My Guy and I will either be dining out, or shopping for sackcloth and ashes.

9 comments:

  1. I hope it all goes well, and that you'll be dining out! :-)

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  2. I really hope that this is it and your house sells. They put an awful lot of crap into the building of a house these days.

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  3. Fingers crossed for dining out then :)

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  4. I don't understand people who expect a 'used' house to be perfect. fingers crossed the show up to close. as for airtight houses, I think they contribute to poor health. our hundred+ year old house in the city provided for plenty of airflow! haha. this 60 some odd year old house is pretty tight as the previous owners installed storm windows and doors but weather permitting, I've got doors and windows open.

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    1. Agreed. Everything needs to breathe - even houses.

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  5. One of the inspectors of our house threw a temper tantrum over a potential buyer who wanted all the electrical circuits upgraded to state of the art. "If they want new build, they should buy new build," he roared. All of our circuits were upgraded to code when we bought the house, and then some made even more current with renovations. All the best!

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  6. That's an inspector after my own heart.

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  7. I'd marry an inspector like that. He gets it, doesn't he.

    And yeah, we have one of those houses that will breathe the hat right off your head! I spend quality time every November when the wind blows, with newspaper, plastic store bags, and a kitchen knife, finding the cracks and gaps and drafts. One of life's little rituals when you live in a old house, for sure.

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