Sequencing a Home-Performance Upgrade
I bought a home that seriously needs some TLC a few years ago and I am now ready to start making improvements to it. The home is effectively the same as it was the day it was built in the 1960s except that the HVAC system was installed in 1990, the kitchen cabinets were refaced in 1991 and the appliances were replaced. The bathrooms had some minor cosmetic work done also sometime in the early 90s but nothing has been done in terms of insulation (beyond attic insulation batts) and replaces older windows with newer but still leaky vinyl windows (both seem to be done sometime in the late 1990s.
I would like to completely update this house and I can’t afford to do it all at once. The goal is to replace everything in the home and get it to the point that it can run itself of solar and battery storage – replace all the gas appliances – this means WH with an HPWH, gas cooktop & oven with an induction cooktop and electric oven, the forced air system with a mini-split system; also want to add a fresh air system of some kind, redo the kitchen and baths, add a make-up air system for the hood, add insulation in the walls from the exterior as I remove the wood and stucco siding and replace with sheathing, a WRB (type is TBD, but probably fluid applied or zip system) exterior insulation (probably Rockwool but also TBD), replacement siding, replace all the windows, replace the roof and add roof insulation, etc, etc, etc.
The reason for this post is that I can’t afford to move out and I can’t afford to do it all at once, so my family and I need to be able to live in the home as we make these improvements one system and component at a time over a few years. How should I go about planning such a project?? I was thinking I should work my way out words and end with the exterior improvements and insulation – is this a good idea? If so, which things should I tackle first? Which should I tackle last? What am I not thinking about? Is what I want to do even possible given my constraints?
thank you in advance for your help and advice – GBA and FHB have really helped me learn about this stuff, but reading and doing are 2 different things…
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Replies
Number one thing I see here is 'We want to insulate but just put on a new roof'
While I am not suggesting living with a leaky roof, plan plan plan. Know what you are going to do, because the roof does come first, but with it there should be an insulation plan.
Deciding on the level of insulation and quality of windows will also affect the size of the minisplits you might install, so while you may do things out of order, knowing the plan helps make it all work together
While the interior improvements are far more gratifying, the exterior and insulation are far more meaningful over the long term. I would upgrade the building shell first from the outside. Once that's done and the house is reasonably airtight and insulated, you can work room by room
This article should give you some ideas for areas to focus on. Based on what I regularly hear from experts, start with an energy audit so you know the conditions and can plan your energy upgrades to meet your objectives. I also recommend spending some time on GBA reading about blower-door testing and Randy Williams’s current series on existing homes .
Kitchen appliances are relatively simpe, as they pretty much just "drop in". Since you are planning to switch over to electric cooktop and oven, note that those will both need 240v electric circuits, probaly either 30 or 40A circuits (possibly more for the cooktop if it's a 36"). That means two double pole circuit breakers in your electric panel, so you need 4 available spaces. I would check if your existing panel has enough open space. Note that sometimes the cover will have twistouts for breakers that have no busbar inside, since the same covers are sometimes used for multiple panel sizes. You really need to take off the cover to be sure. If you don't have enough space, you'll need to upgrade your electric panel, and possibly your electric service too. That might be an additional expense that you weren't planning on.
I would address the "shell" first. That means insulation and air sealing in the exterior walls and attic spaces. This will immediately gain you most of the efficiency improvements you get with an energy upgrade, and it will also find any weak spots at the same time (like mice burrowing in insulation, etc.). If you're planning on redoing the siding, open that up, remove the existing insulation in the walls, air seal the walls (canned foam in wire/pipe penetrations, etc.), put new insulation in the walls, consider adding exterior rigid foam (which I strongly recommend), then put up your new siding. Pay particular attention to your details at the top plate, the foundation wall, and windows/doors.
Attic insulation is probably the cheapest to add, assuming you have a vented attic. If you have very little, or if what you currently have is in rough shape, I'd remove the existing insulation, air seal, then reinsulate. If the exisiting insulation is in decent shape, it will be faster and cheaper to just add more, but you miss the air sealing step that way. If you'll be opening walls under the attic for other renovation work down the road, you'll be able to air seal from underneath. A bit of air leaks in the floor of a vented attic aren't as big of an issue as leaks in walls, since a vented attic is, well, vented :-) That means that air sealing step can be safely put off until you work from underneath IF you plan to open up those walls anyway at some point. The downside is that missing that air sealing step will reduce the efficiency gains of your extra attic insulation until you can get to it.
Kitchens and baths are the most expensive areas of the home. I'd save both for last.
BTW, in my own home, I've been renovating room by room. I did some work in the kitchen, with new appliances and some wall work (removed the old wall paper). We're saving the bathrooms for last. You can mix things up a little if you're careful, such as adding a new kitchen appliance or two prior to renovating the entire kitchen as long as you plan ahead so that you don't have to scrap what you just did.
Bill
This is a complicated question but here are a few suggestions to consider.
1. That age house can have lead paint pretty much anywhere, and can have asbestos in drywall mud, in ceiling texture, and even in the backing of surface mount light fixtures. Since you'll eventually be working in many parts of the building, and especially if you have kids, I'd start with testing pretty comprehensively.
2. Fix any moisture problems first.
3. Any time something is opened up, use that as an opportunity to do air sealing.
>I can’t afford to move out and I can’t afford to do it all at once, so my family and I need to be able to live in the home as we make these improvements one system and component at a time over a few years.
Don't do it!
Ok, you're still here, proceed with caution!
-As mentioned above, first be aware and properly handle hazardous materials -- especially if you have children in the home. Anything painted could have lead paint on some layer, and anything that isn't wood, metal, or glass could have asbestos -- linoleum and floor tile adhesives are another place that can crop up.
-Don't underestimate how disruptive a complete renovation like this can be, how long it can take, and make sure the whole family is on board. On one hand, I grew up in a house that was constantly under construction, and I turned out fine, but on the other hand, after a couple years of basically not making any progress on my house after having a baby, I did just bite the bullet and we moved to an apartment for "6 months" (that's now going to be a year+).
-While the exterior stuff will have the biggest benefit efficiency-wise, that's a huge project (that I'm in the midst of myself), and the cost of doing it right isn't trivial -- you need to be able to tackle a lot of things all at once. Any sheathing / structural repairs, air barrier, exterior insulation (mineral wool is nice but polyiso is a fair bit cheaper), siding, and you really want to be doing the windows at the same time to properly integrate all the details. That said, if you can swing it and do this stuff first, your later mechanical system updates can be properly sized for the improved building envelope.
-For budget reasons you can also put off replacement of mechanical systems until your current ones break down. Here's where up-front research can pay off -- mechanical system replacements when something breaks are often a pretty urgent situation, where you'll just buy whatever the repairman offers, but if you've researched up-front what you want, you'll be ready to specify that.
The above posters have given good advice. I think it may be unrealistic to turn a 60's rambler into a Net Zero home. There is much you can do to make it more energy efficient, starting in the attic. If you have batts they can be moved and air sealing can be done, I would start there.
I'm contemplating a similar process as we're closing on a mid 80s home with masonite siding. In my case it will be a mix of replacing things when they fail with better versions and seeing what is worth replacing preemptively. Thankfully lead and asbestos are less of an issue with an 80s home. I would have liked a mini split but the HVAC was replaced by the seller earlier this month. The electric water heater is 20+ years old so a replacement could be in the near future, ideally with a sanco heat pump since the smaller version is the only heat pump that can fit a tank in a crawl space. The wood siding is swelling at the lower courses in a couple spots and I would like to do vinyl and exterior insulation but will likely start with hardy board since replacing all the siding at once would go best with replacing windows, exterior insulation, and maybe a new roof, which is more likely in 5-10 years vs right now. In the mean time I see myself adding attic insulation, getting an energy audit once I've been in the house for 3+ months (a local requirement for energy audits with my utility), and sealing off the wood fireplace at least temporarily while I contemplate a fireplace insert vs completely blocking and maybe removing the chimney.
thank you all for the comments!
after having read all of them, a question that has come to mind, is can I tackle the roof later? it is currently a vented attic - in an ideal world I would like to close the attic off and insulate at the roof-line, but I live in CA (read earthquake country) and my roof is stick framed with 2*4...not a lot of loading that it can take before seismic retrofitting comes into play...
I am trying to determine if the roof can take the weight of mineral wool on the outside with blown-in below with drywall; and also the weight of future solar panels. I know this is probably going to be my highest ticket item and my financial angel is saying to live with the vented attic and just air seallike crazy at the ceiling line, but my perfection devil on the other shoulder keeps telling me to work on it - lol.
Basically, should I strive for perfection and find a solution to the static loading issue, or can I get similar results by air sealing and upping the insulation in the attic to like R-45+ (still need to do an energy audit and modeling; interviewing consultants for this component right now.
Also, if I start from the outside in, is the advice to start from the roof down, or can I do the exterior walls and then tackle my roof later when I have more answers? On a related note, can I do some of the internal improvements at the same time but punt on HVAC till the end? My wife will kill me if she has to persist another 5 years with the kitchens and baths...the high-efficiency kick is my obsession; she is more of an end product person.