Keeping new construction comfortable inside during winter

[greenmojo]

Hey all;

While building the new house out here in central WA state, the cold has moved in and although I don't mind working in the cold, it would be nice to be inside working in a light jacket rather than being a carhartt mummy.

The house is framed, roofed and sided. I am working on plumbing, electrical and mechanical and of course can't insulate until inspected.

The two major issues in the house with the cold is the ridge vent at the top of the house that runs 60' the length of the house, and on each side of the house, all of the bird blocking that lets a good breeze through if the wind gets up under the porches.

I wanted to hear some creative ideas on keeping some heat in over the next several weeks while I work away inside.

One thought was to take some 6mil plastic and just run it across the bird blocking with staples to temporarily keep the breeze out, and do the same at the top for the ridge vent. Then run some 80,000 BTU heaters in there to get some work done.

Thoughts and more ideas or experience?

~Moses

 

[Rustyiron]

Your solutions are on the right track and about all you can do at this point. Check with your inspector, by now you have some kind of a relationship with him and hopefully he has seen enough to have a little mercy on you and might allow some insulation, providing that you are willing to remove any of it for future inspections. Carhart mummy, I hear ya!!

 

[Tig]

I framed and roofed my place over winter. I dressed in layers and started cold mornings with the heavier work or by pounding nails.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Work harder.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I have a kerosene/diesel fueled blast heater . There are many brands and sizes, the big box stores have them. Even most of the kerosene ones will also burn diesel fine. I use diesel (off road). My steel shop is not heated except this way. , I have used them on many construction sites and tent type fab shops here in the PNW. Just make sure the fumes have an escape route like open some windows and doors. They heat a small area close to your work very nicely. Over there in your valley the moisture in the combustion gases will probably freeze in droplets or icicles above. They will sublimate when the heat is off and go away if they stay frozen.

Rom

 

[Scrambler82]

Stop the blow though, stop the excess feeling of cold.
Small heater will work.

Luck

 

[dstig1]

Only 80k BTU? I had 300k+ in mine last winter, and it was "workable" at best. It was a bullet style long tube burner (we called it the dragon) that needed external air to feed it to stop CO issues. I took out a window and framed over it with OSB and some 2x's to make an opening for it that was enough but not crazy. Mine was also plumbed directly into the natural gas, or could have been set up for propane if needed. Gas bills were ~$450/mo for the 3 main months of winter. Sucked, but no choice. It was a brutal winter too.

 

[greenmojo]

Your solutions are on the right track and about all you can do at this point. Check with your inspector, by now you have some kind of a relationship with him and hopefully he has seen enough to have a little mercy on you and might allow some insulation, providing that you are willing to remove any of it for future inspections. Carhart mummy, I hear ya!!

Good idea, I can ring them up and see what others are doing that is convenient. I'm sure L&I (inspects electrical separate from building department) won't be so keen on me covering anything up.

Work harder.

I knew that was coming...

Only 80k BTU? I had 300k+ in mine last winter, and it was "workable" at best. It was a bullet style long tube burner (we called it the dragon) that needed external air to feed it to stop CO issues. I took out a window and framed over it with OSB and some 2x's to make an opening for it that was enough but not crazy. Mine was also plumbed directly into the natural gas, or could have been set up for propane if needed. Gas bills were ~$450/mo for the 3 main months of winter. Sucked, but no choice. It was a brutal winter too.

I was planning on two 80,000 BTU heaters. I can always add more if necessary. At least now I know I'm on the right track... Its no fun at all going into a 15 degree building that stays cold long after the sun has broken the basin.

I'd prefer to crank some heaters on, start working and before I know it, its 90 degrees and my wife has brought me a pitcher of piña colada.

~Moses

 

[Coyote machine]

Have your wife do the work 'till it's 90*, then bring her the coladas!

 

[westcliffe01]

Without insulation, the heat load will surely be greater, but for the sake of comparison, my corn stove would produce about 8000btu/hr and heated the entire 1300 sq ft floor toasty hot. The key thing is that it runs all the time, does not cycle on and off like a furnace. I have been heating a drafty barn with no insulation whatsoever, probably 14 ft ceilings (base of the rafters) 40x120 ft and I take the chill off using a 45k torpedo heater. No it will not get down to shirtsleeves, but I did get warm enough to take off my jacket and work in my flannels. Obviously with such a large building, I had it "pointed" towards the area where I was working...

 

[PILOON]

What I did was used an old wood box stove, blocked a window opening with tin that had a hole dead center to match the stove pipe.
Adequate pipe and 2 90 deg elbows completed my stack.
Took about 10 mins to get warm enough to remove the jacket and more as time went on.
Also had the advantage of getting rid of all the scraps and saving on container costs as well.
Also the ashes served for traction on the icy drive.

Nothing like an old pot belly that glows nice and red!

 

[JRobyn]

When we were doing the electrical and plumbing in our new house during the REALLY cold spells, we ran both a "salamander" kerosene/diesel heater and we walled off an interior room with plastic sheet to use as a warming room. We kept a rudimentary workbench and most of the on-site tools in there too. Made it tolerable even for a few working weekends before we got windows in. Also used a dual-eye propane burner that could easily be moved around to wherever the work was.

- Jay

 

[wolftree]

I would duct tape 1 inch foam insulation panels over all but one window.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Can you put plastic sheets up on the ceiling? Maybe run ceiling wire first then put the plastic up to keep wind out and warm air from escaping for the rest of the job.

 

[boggen]

6 mil plastic... and staples.... you want to put a couple layers of duct-tape on first, and then staple through a couple layers of duct tape. the little strings inside the duct tape, gives the staples something to hold to. and the little strings in the duct tape helps spread the load across the plastic. so the plastic does not rip and come undone from the staples.

i forget technical name of the stapler gun... smack stapler? hammer stapler? ya swing it like a hammer and it puts a staple in. there costly compared to the cheap little staplers for stapling a few pieces of paper together. but quick and fast.

plastic hung to ceiling *big frown* not worth the attempt. plastic needs to be hung / drapped over something. it can be done in short distances, but trying to put plastic say across a living room / bed room *shakes head no* maybe a 4 foot wide hall way, if you use some some sort of "tac boards"

hardboard insulation, with the metal insulation tape *big thumbs up* for being placed in rough window / door openings. that metal insulation tape, i think sticks better than duct tape, cheap stuff and more expensive stuff, i just hate using it, due to i always end up with fingers with a bunch of little cuts all over them. from the sharp edges of the metal tape. have learned to use the "backer" the stuff you peel off, from the metal tape, wrap it around itself a few times and use it to rub over the metal tape to make sure it is fully sticking in all spots. has saved my fingers a good amount.

 

[farmer2009]

Can you put plastic sheets up on the ceiling? Maybe run ceiling wire first then put the plastic up to keep wind out and warm air from escaping for the rest of the job.

That was my thought. Go ahead and hang vapor barrier on ceiling. Your going to have to put it up anyways. Makes it harder to work around but warmer as long as your not in the attic.

 

[Raspy]

If your house has radiant heat, just start the boiler, turn an all zones and set the delivery temp to about 80 degrees.

 

[Coyote machine]

Tyvek coveralls, fill with low expansion foam, jump in; oh yeah, cover yourself in Saran wrap before jumping in. Rinse, repeat.