Bring On Snow
Here in New Hampshire we get a lot of snow. Before I moved here I had no idea how much snow affects life in northern climates. If you're curious about how snow directs our house renovation project and our daily lives, read on.
House Design
Josh put a lot of effort into our house design to handle snow and snowmelt well. He dug into Building Science and learned all about snow loads, vapor and air control layers on a house, and how to prevent rot and carpenter ant damage.
Getting snow and water away from the parts of the house that are susceptible to moisture (i.e. wood and concrete) is critical. We are going to end up with insulation in our walls and on the outside of our house (more on that in a future post) to try to escape the cold in an energy efficient manner. The primer and paint we put on our walls was specifically chosen to serve as a vapor retarder. The ceilings must be sealed using drywall and caulk (in certain places) to prevent heat loss. We also installed air channels using XPS to make sure the roof stays cold to prevent "ice dams" from forming.
The porch roof is another element of snow management, making sure snow coming off our metal roof will slide on to the porch roof and away from the foundation. Josh calculated snow loads when designing the porch roof size and angle. There is a gable above the front door so snow doesn't slide off the roof and onto people entering the house. He even incorporated a metal grate into the deck to make sure we can knock snow off our feet before we reach the door.
Project Schedule - "Done Before Snowfall"
We rearranged the order of things to do on our house a few times to make sure we would be all set for winter. The kitchen we are cooking and eating in is really bare - the island cabinet frame is built and the counter is on, but only enough to make sure the sink is functional. This was intentional. We wanted to move the kitchen location off the back wall so we could rebuild that wall before snowfall.
The porch roof was another project that we started then stopped then started again to make sure we could keep snow away from the foundation this winter.
How We Heat
We heat our house with wood pellets. We have a specific type of wood stove that runs on electricity to feed pellets into the burn pot. Hot air is then blown out. It works really well but requires us to bring in fuel in the form of 20 pound bags of pellets. The past few winters we've bought 5-6 tons of pellets, and they are delivered to us on pallets before it snows. After snowfall our driveway wouldn't be great for pallet deliveries!
Snow Plow /Driveway Design
Speaking of driveways and snow... We aren't in love with our driveway but it is better than it used to be. Josh redesigned it in 2014 (more on that in a future post) to be plow-able. He pushes snow down from the top in a few places, and the curve in the driveway makes it easy to push snow off the drive and into the woodsy area of our property.
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| Our house in December 2016. |
House Design
Josh put a lot of effort into our house design to handle snow and snowmelt well. He dug into Building Science and learned all about snow loads, vapor and air control layers on a house, and how to prevent rot and carpenter ant damage.
Getting snow and water away from the parts of the house that are susceptible to moisture (i.e. wood and concrete) is critical. We are going to end up with insulation in our walls and on the outside of our house (more on that in a future post) to try to escape the cold in an energy efficient manner. The primer and paint we put on our walls was specifically chosen to serve as a vapor retarder. The ceilings must be sealed using drywall and caulk (in certain places) to prevent heat loss. We also installed air channels using XPS to make sure the roof stays cold to prevent "ice dams" from forming.
The porch roof is another element of snow management, making sure snow coming off our metal roof will slide on to the porch roof and away from the foundation. Josh calculated snow loads when designing the porch roof size and angle. There is a gable above the front door so snow doesn't slide off the roof and onto people entering the house. He even incorporated a metal grate into the deck to make sure we can knock snow off our feet before we reach the door.
 |
| Our porch roof keeps snow away from the house. |
Project Schedule - "Done Before Snowfall"
We rearranged the order of things to do on our house a few times to make sure we would be all set for winter. The kitchen we are cooking and eating in is really bare - the island cabinet frame is built and the counter is on, but only enough to make sure the sink is functional. This was intentional. We wanted to move the kitchen location off the back wall so we could rebuild that wall before snowfall.
The porch roof was another project that we started then stopped then started again to make sure we could keep snow away from the foundation this winter.
How We Heat
We heat our house with wood pellets. We have a specific type of wood stove that runs on electricity to feed pellets into the burn pot. Hot air is then blown out. It works really well but requires us to bring in fuel in the form of 20 pound bags of pellets. The past few winters we've bought 5-6 tons of pellets, and they are delivered to us on pallets before it snows. After snowfall our driveway wouldn't be great for pallet deliveries!
 |
| We love to get warm and cozy in front of the pellet stove! |
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| Josh trimmed some trees on the side of the driveway next to the pallets of pellets that heat our house all winter. |
Snow Plow /Driveway Design
Speaking of driveways and snow... We aren't in love with our driveway but it is better than it used to be. Josh redesigned it in 2014 (more on that in a future post) to be plow-able. He pushes snow down from the top in a few places, and the curve in the driveway makes it easy to push snow off the drive and into the woodsy area of our property.
 |
| We redesigned our driveway in 2014 to make it easier to plow. It still needs work but it is way better for getting snow out of the way now! |
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