So in Oklahoma, we don't get big snow, but we get ice. I still have memories of 2007 when I went without power for 8 days. Initially the problem was staying warm in my 1967 house with an open wood fireplace that sent more heat up the chimney than into the house. Then, 3-4 days in the weather warmed up into the 50s, and I had a freezer full of beef that I couldn't keep cold because everybody was sold out on generators and of all things, ICE. So that all went in the trash.
For this house, I have a generator hookup, but rather than dropping all the coin on an ATS I did a breaker interlock. I'll have to go out and set it up and get it started, but at least I can cool my meat.
For the heat side, the house sits on 4.3 acres with more oak trees than I could ever chop down, so I needed a fireplace that actually heats.
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Advertise as capable of heating 2500 sq feet and 10-12 hour burn times, this thing will keep us warm in emergencies (using the generator to power the integral blower fan) and if I'm down for chopping wood on the regular, might allow me to keep my heat pump out of stage 2.
The problem arose because all our GC does is gas/propane inserts, and they didn't have a connection with a FireplaceX dealer. So I subbed this out myself, as much as I could. Due to the roof pitch though, we needed a 10' tall chimney chase to support the pipe, and the framers didn't initially frame it, so they had to come back after the roof was on.
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Fireplace dealer came out to top it out, the chase was loose and 3' shorter than I'd instructed and not weather tight at all. I get up in the attic and it's just nailed into the roof, not tied into the rafters. Framers ended up coming out two more times to add height and tarp it and never did tie it in. Finally a different framer came out and took care of tying it in the DAY before sheetrock closed off the easy attic access I was using to check on it. That whole process probably took 4 months of back and forth.
You'll also notice in the photo above that there's no seam tape on zip boards above the first floor. The house was like that from being framed in May and I sent DOZENS of messages to GC about it and it was only me out there handing tape to guys as they were installing siding and laying brick in DECEMBER that the house actually got dried in, or so I thought.
Then it rained last week and we discovered water on the floor.
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I flew my drone up there and couldn't see flashing around the chimney chase, and GC sent the roofer out who confirmed. But it's been sided and painted, so now the roofer is going to have to pull the siding off so he can flash it and the painters will have to come back.
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Roofer also said he would pull those 2x4s off and seal up the nail holes.