Love the designs RockyTopper. We bought our house 'used and abused' and have worked on it every day since. This summer we did some exterior work. We added the front covered porch, new siding, all new windows. There are still a couple of things outside to do (a little painting, a little staining, some stone work), but it is coming along.
Brettski: We went with Anderson windows, Low-E Glass (not tinted) to replace the existing Anderson windows that were about 25 years old. We have noticed a difference and are pretty happy. Heating and cooling isn't too bad. We are not happy with our Anderson Doors, but that has more to do with the locking mechanisms.
We heat with an oil hot water system that I have connected to a hot water boiler. We burn wood all winter and it keeps the house very warm. You'll have firewood with all of that property, but don't know how you will feel about all of the work. It is rewarding for me to burn wood and 'stick it to the Man' by saving some cabbage. Our roof is very steep, and as such I added a permanent ladder to access the chimney. I would seriously consider an outside boiler if you are interested in wood heat. Use a heat pump along with the central air unit to use when the weather is chilly enough for heat but not hot enough for the wood or oil. Perhaps you may go with Propane.
Our house used to be covered in T-111 siding. The woodpeckers, carpenter bees, and flying squirrels all love T-111 and had torn it up. We replaced it with Cement Board Siding (Certainteed) that we stained in our barn and applied over Tyvek wrap over the T-111 siding. This Cement Siding can be applied over masonry (I think). I know someone who is building concrete, cast in place homes and I was pretty sure he told me they were using this board.
If I was building a house from new, I would make sure to run extra drains around the basement to protect from water infiltration, pipe all of that along with all of the roof drains to a footer drain and run it well away from the house.
I like RockyToppers design and would be sure to add ceiling fans on that porch for those summer evenings.
Our new front porch was put up by some local Amish folks who are just a blast to work with. This particular family builds mortice and tenon homes and buildings. The buildings are built in their barn (shop) and trucked to the site. They travel during summer months to Maine where they have built some amazing island homes in a few days to a week. Just stunning.
I would have chosen a metal roof if the cost was a little closer to the comp shingle. With our steep roof, though, the shingles should outlast a typical 30 year shingle.
I would avoild any type of Drive-It over wood or masonry. Some woodpeckers love it.
I hope this helps in some way or another. I have read every one of your posts and just love tracking the progress.
