Our First Delay

Today is Go Day! At least it was supposed to be. Bill e-mailed us last night to tell us that they would not be starting until Monday the 24th. We were, however, told to expect the arrival of a dumpster this week. We wait with baited breath.

Bill will be coming over again on Friday with window samples from Andersen, Lincoln and Pella. This means that we really need to sit down and pick the color for the window cladding. Unfortunately, to get that right, we also really need to figure out the colors for the siding, trim and roof. For the siding, we are going with a vertical fiber cement panel from James Hardie in Countrylane Red, and are looking at dark brown, black or sage green window cladding. - we're still pretty much up in the air on that one. Bill will also be bringing some scaffolding, ladders and other fun stuff to go with the skid loader that currently sits outside the barn.

On Tuesday at 4:15 p.m., Gary Eschenburg, owner of Ground Source Contractors, will be coming out to have a look at the barn and give us an estimate for a geothermal heat pump. Gary has been installing them for the last 20 years and, since we have heard both positive and negative things about geothermal systems, we wanted to go with one of the best companies in the area. If that doesn't work out, we are considering a wood gasification boiler. Either way, we are going with radiant floor heat - most likely RauPanel, which seems to be the best product on the market.

In other news, the SIPs are ordered and should arrive sometime around October 12, which means all of the barn stripping and demolition will need to be done by then, as well as the joist system and subfloor installation. In addition, we found a company in Kempton, Pa called Bailey Wood Products that would be willing to remill the current barn floor into tongue and groove flooring for the new floor, and hopefully at a price substantially less than The Woods Company, a specialty antique flooring company we have looked at before.