Arrggghhhh, you're not kidding. I had recurrent problems with frozen water pipes in my kitchen, and my renovation was supposed to include moving the pipes and putting in extra insulation. When the temp hit 30 below this week and my pipes froze again, I found my contractor hadn't bothered to follow the plan. :-( Now I need to have the ceiling in the room below opened up to complete what was supposed to have been done before.

Thanks florantha. Words of wisdom for sure. Just wanted anybody who is planning on doing any energy improvements that the credit was extended until the end of 2011. However, the credits are less:

Home improvement tax credit: 10% of cost of the home improvement, up to a maximum of $500.
Expiration: December 31, 2011
Eligibility: Must be on an existing home & your principal residence. New construction and rentals don't qualify.
Reduced max credits: Some items have reduced maximum tax credits now as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: more info on tax credit 2011

Good advice Floratha. Having lived in a historic district for 20+ years, it's amazing how many people put far too much importance on decorating as opposed to structural & mechanical issues. Sometimes it seems as if the paint is all that's holding the house together! And it's usually 100+ years of paint because no one bothered to remove it before they painted again.

Florantha- Excellent advice! It's fun to look at the 'pretties' but peace of mind comes from knowing your pretties...and your family...will be protected, regardless of weather.

Another thing to think about...how long can you really burn wood in your fireplace? A lot of old and new homes have wood fireplaces that aren't meant to burn continuously for four to five days. When we lose power (ice storms, etc.) there are always news stories about several chimney fires.

Just got another message and some photos from the friend. Because we have a warmup right now and the furnace has been cranked up, the trapped water is literally thawing and running down the walls. That old spongy "BuiltRite" wallboard is entirely saturated. She's not sure how much of this will be paid for by insurance. Thought she could wait until spring--compounded the trouble.

My infrastructure work last summer ate my bathroom reno, so I'm on this forum to satisfying my need to spend some $ on something I can actually see and touch, as opposed to the roof, the spendy special order oil tank, the roof, the sill work, the new siding....

Good if painful advice!

Yup - We are looking at supplemental floor heat, and a second tankless water heater, and temp balanced faucets, as well as waterproofed backer board to the ceiling under the tiles in the showers, and extra insulation in a few spots. DH wonders why I have red pen all over the draft spec sheet!

Umm, yes. And when you notice moss growing on your siding when it shouldn't be, investigate sooner rather than later. We discovered the whole NE corner of the basement pony wall, sill plate to top plate, was so rotten you could push a finger through the studs. No woodstove for us in 2010!

Oh yes, good advice! It's so hard to spend money on the hidden things... but so important. We can attest to the need for a reliable battery backup for the sump pump.

And for anyone getting water dripping from the ceiling, I have read (and done this) that you should poke a small hole in the lowest part of the water spot. It seems like a bad thing to poke a hole in your ceiling, but when you do the water can drain out in one place rather than spreading, so the damage is actually less.

Sorry to hear about your friends florantha. Here's wishing them the best of luck in getting their home back in order.

Good advice

When it comes to forces of mother nature - Good building, structure come first -

Plan B should always be considered

We live in Ct - and the snow build up on roofs is causing collapse of some.

-We are having some guys come today to remove snow from our roofs - No damages yet, and fine structure (1930 Dutch Colonial revival)

- Back up battery operated sump on order -Eventually this will melt - Hmmm where is it going to go?

Thanks for this message, florantha! The hubby and I were just discussing where to trim the construction budget and I'm grateful to have your message to reinforce our priorities!

Great posting! It's too easy to get caught up in the "pretty" stuff....and want to skip ahead or ignore what can't be seen. Thank you for the advice and the reminder to take care of the important things first!

This is an experiment--will the Garden Web allow me to revive this thread?

Just want to say that friends that had ice dams last year have recovered. They had multi-month reconstruction projects and lots of difficulties but things worked out. Lucky for all that they had insurance. Not the way that you want to initiate a kitchen project.

Remember infrastructure...it will be more important than fashion as the years go on.