At the treehouse, yes, and it will get a ton of solar gain heat from the south facing exposure, but also will have a minisplit heat/AC unit mounted above the far door. In the previous greenhouse, the sunshine and brick wall kept the room well above freezing... about 50ºF even on the really cold days... but the downside to that was it could be 150ºF in the heat of summer. (I am joking... but yeah, it was too hot for habitation). The solid roof, the much-better new double-paned windows and the insulation above, coupled with the minisplit unit, should keep this "room" at a much more even temperature than the previous sunroom could dream of doing.

The firewood storage is for the family room adjacent to this sunporch... where our wood stove is. It's been very nice to have a dry place to have a week's worth of wood ready to grab without having to run outside all the time to get more... we go thru a ton of firewood every winter. I mean, we have a ton too. Look at all the trees we've lost since we've been here. Thanks, Emerald Ash Borer. Gah.

This home is so thick walled/well insulated, so tight and so situated perfectly on a hilltop facing just the right direction for maximum solar heat gain and retention... we rarely have need for the furnace in winter. We basically heat our home all winter with just the woodstove. The fireplace upstairs is even better. It cooks us out of our bedroom, so we don't use it as much, but it's there if needed too.

It's kind of nice, actually. If there is an extended power out, we won't suffer in winter. That is for sure. LOL

Wow… that’s pretty amazing on your heating situation. What’s the coldest temps you get in the winter?

I get it about the Fire Wood storage situation. So you’re not trying to dry it in this room it’s a place to keep wood that you just want to have handy.

I have a hunch a certain furry dog and curious cat are gonna love it out there... Sun streaming in through windows in chilly weather is the perfect nap enticement!

It’s going to be awesome! We had a fun night out with some friends from our C hi na trip.. aside from the big deer buck that tried to wipe us out on the way home! We are unscathed, but it was waaaayvtoo close for comfort!

Our girls’ trip here in sunny Nashville is coming to a close tomorrow morning. I am the driver so I hope to get the 4 of us in the car and on the road by 8:
30 a.m. My roomy and I are all packed so we can sleep an extra 30 minutes! 😅 Monday we arrived after 9 hrs. and we went to TheGrand Old Opry for a tribute to Ray Steven’s. It lasted just over 2 hrs. Yesterday, we took the shuttle downtown. Went through the COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM. Had cocktails and chips and dips on Broadway, then on to a 1 hr city tour on a double decker bus. Dinner last night was at a local spot called SANTA FE CATTLE COMPANY. I had to send my filet mignon back. I ordered medium, it was a piece of charcoal. 2 of us sent back our Long Island teas because they were lemonade! Our mashed potatoes with brown gravy were cold. We told the front desk guy, Chad, do not recommend that place again! He was very surprised at the lack of service. Today we had the shuttle driver take us over took Gaylord Opryland Resort. We took the boat ride, saw the 40 ft Christmas tree, the enjoyed lunch at Wasabi. We were fortunate to be able to take shuttles or taxis everywhere. I hate the highways in Nashville! Thank goodness for WAZE!

Sounds like a fun time Glassy! Minus the bad dinner... I think that the lack of good help is a curse to the hospitality industry as a whole and restaurants in particular.

Lia to answer your question about cold here... it can be below zero for days on end in extreme winters, and in the teens and twenties usually in deepest winter. It's not the actual temperatures here in the Great Plains states that get ya, tho. It's the wind. There is a thing we talk about called the "wind chill factor" which makes the cold much colder. LOL "Winter" weather usually starts in Nov. and goes thru March. Our home can be heated entirely with wood fires but when it gets sub zero, the furnace does run. LOL I mean it's on right now bc it gets into the 40s overnight and we aren't yet burning fires.

I will share pictures…the construction is the new Titan’s covered stadium, and hopefully, the Super Bowl in 2030. The bars are on Broadway.

More..inside the Gaylord Opryland Resort. It has this huge indoor atrium with several fountains.

And waterfalls.

I debated putting this on here, but we had a crime scene here this morning that you may not want to see. I thought it was ummmmm ... interesting? LOL

Anyhow, Duckie, I'm talking to you. LOLOL

Avert your eyes in 3....2....1...

This is what we woke up to this morning on our deck at 6 am. At first we thought it was just big blobs of bird poo.... But as the sun came up...

It was all over the deck.... fresh, wet, bright red drops, the size of pennies and nickles. With the gooey big bird droppings layered on top of the blood.

The trail of carnage was in two or three main groups. And then they disappeared into thin air. No escape trail noted... just these huge groups of droplets and bird poos across our main seating area, including our table. (!!!)

An owl v squirrel/opossum at the bird feeder by our door to the deck, perhaps? Oof.

This is why Batty comes in at night. LOL

So, I got the scrub brush out pronto, and luckily nothing stained the wood. LOL

We've found owl pellets on that deck a few times... but never evidence of the owls' pre-dining rituals. LOL

Our resident owl has earned the name Dexter today.

Never a dull moment here at the Tree House! We get Nat Geo moments on the regular around here.

That’s a nasty mess! The joys of living in the country.

Those things are the reason we have our seating area decks covered….

Love, love, love your photos Glassy!

Rred….😳. As the stomach churns.

After 25 years I finally got a wish. Not the way I quite wanted, but it serves a definite purpose. I had my driveway extended alongside of the garage. It’s been a mental dilemma for me that long but with this project I was able to reroute the end of a downspout., hopefully solving a weird water situation in my garage. I was amazed at the tree roots still in the ground we took down over 20 years ago. The area slopes a little so crushed limestone was used…..I may regret that later….and my neighbor might be nervous of the downspout end….but I have much more room for parking including OB’s boat hitched to his four door truck. Dirt needs placed on the neighbor’s side with grass seed. Ideally I’d have it in all cement with proper drainage, etc., etc., with a garage in the back. But….more than likely I’ll be moving next year. I could’ve used this when the boys were younger just like the second bathroom. 😂

I guess you could you could say I’m fixing up my house with every check mark a young family would find necessary to find?

Carnage…a hawk taking out a bird? Congrats on the driveway PV…may win the lotto dreams…Gls thanks for vicarious travel photo op…🥰

PV ain't it the truth that one dreams of improvements that you COULD have used while living there, yet you don't get around to them until "resale" is in mind?

That is how I've felt about the master bath and the "greenhouse" thing especially in this place.... will I ever get to make it better and actually enjoy?? Well, maybe, just maybe now, yes!

The windows for the porch were delivered to the house today. I totally forgot that I consented to the quick order white clad interior finish. If I had all the time in the world, I'd have pushed for wood framed interiors on them, but meh.... white was ready much faster, and ta da! we have them here on site now. More important was that the exterior finish is brown/bronze and will match the other windows on the outside of the house. There will be a guy here tomorrow/Saturday to help install them. I cannot wait!! The door is here too, and they can put that in too, so yay!

Not a moment too soon. We had to dig out the winter coats today. Supposed to be warmer again next week. I gotta get crackin on the Christmas lights. lol

And some electrician is coming too to reconfigure something for the minisplit thing... I am out of the loop on this part of the project. Otherhalf has been pretty much in charge of this whole thing himself, actually. LOL

This is going to make it a room-yay! 😃

Just sharing a rainforest item that turned out to be a really good buy. I did a couple of loads of laundry on Tuesday and was able to hang about 12 items on this single rack to dry since the upper level can be turned to extend in between the extensions on the lower level. It weighs nothing and folds up into the smallest pole-like thing for storage in a closet. I got the white one and it's on sale for $30.

https://www.amazon.com/SONGMICS-Foldable-Clothes-Drying-ULLR510W01/dp/B0DTXR57RM/ref=sr_1_7?

That is pretty cool Jay! My kids in Ireland would've loved something like that. They DO have a clothes dryer now, but they did not for the first year and a half... and they still drape things around to dry I think.

Having lived in Ireland and then 22 years later installing a child in Scotland…we acquired for her a plug in folding drying rack….the bars were heated….I cannot even describe how much of an improvement this was! We did install here in Maine a radiator towel rack in the family bath…it does not matter how inexpensive a dwelling you live in in the British Isles, the bathroom radiator is also a towel rack!

I am so stoked!!!

It’s going to be great.

That is FANTASTIC!

I think white on the inside, brown on the outside was actually the perfect call!

Awesome! Agree with Jay…

Having spent some time chez Rredpen this spring, I can totally verify the improvement! Rred, you have increased your property value exponentially ! It’s like it should have always been!

🤩

This is AWESOME!

Looks amazing!

He got the doorknob on and the lock, and now it's all enclosed. Put a radiator heater in there at 5pm and it's now tolerably warm in there already. Much better than the open doorway! LOL

The next step is to get wiring from the breaker to the wall for the minisplit. Electrician's coming tomorrow to work on that. Otherhalf has to then build out the wall space above the door for that thing to be installed, which means insulation and paneling on that wall there. The minisplit can be installed as soon as that is done. Then we can pivot to the exterior siding while it's still nice enough out to do that... It's not essential to do that now, but it'd be nice to have done. There is some more flashing to go on, and finish the soffit work after minisplit goes on. Finally, the interior finish stuff will be the "winter project." That is paneling the walls/ceiling, building out the light box for the LED strip on the brick wall on that old header, installing the fan lights, the wood storage box he wants to build, etc. I prob won't paint the exterior until spring, realistically, but that's OK. That is assuming we even get the exterior siding on. We do have it here tho. I will paint the door tho, asap... it needs to be done while it's new so the paint sticks. LOL

It's really come a long way in a pretty short time.

Oh RRed! It is looking so GOOD! I am so happy for you! Yes, a lot has been accomplished in a short time! 🎉🎉

I agree, it looks like what the architect intended to be there in the first place.

We're all stoked for you!

But that looks really good is that as like a sunroom cuz that would be my sunroom I love it and that is a good choice for those windows

I forgot to text voice my question mark that that was a question is that the sunroom? I'm half tired here it's been a long hard week

1. Have to laugh at happyleg's comment - how did that make it by the "sense-ors"?

2. It's really nice to see rred so pleased with the changes in her home!

I had a scary encounter today. Mr and I were in the woods, clearing a fallen tree on a conservation trail. We have a loose leash law, and if your dogs are not aggressive, and under voice control they can roam free. Well, 2 huge dogs came bounding down the hill, one jumped on Mr and the other came for me. My go to move with a dog, is to turn my back, and bring my hands up to my chin. This lets the dog know I don’t play. Well the bigger of the 2 jumped on my back. He was now taller than I am. Luckily I was right near a tree that I could hold on to, or I would have been on the ground. He ran around and did it again! The owner, never said “sorry” asked if we were ok, but did say thanks for clearing the tree! I posted the dog law reminder on the FB page, anonymously. and described the encounter. Some one called me a “ Karen” A woman that lives down the street from me , called him on that. Thank you for letting me vent

Wow! And someone called you a "Karen" for that? So glad you are OK, ladma, though a bit unnerved and the "Karen-caller" is probably under 30 and hasn't lived enough life to know better.

Ladma thankfully neither one of you were hurt. Even if a big dog doesn’t have ill intentions, just the size of them can do some damage. I don’t blame you for posting that and who knows if a dog has been trained when it’s too late! I learned from my husband that used to train dogs that putting your knee up into their chest should “sometimes” keep them down, but even a big dog knocking you down can be detrimental. I’m glad that you were not hurt.

lad, glad you and OH are okay and didn't get knocked down. The owner would have gotten an earful from me for sure. And I am a dog lover.

Yeah that gives all dogs/owners a bad reputation when something like that happens... and as a dog owner myself, I'm very sorry about your experience, Lad.

The FIRST thing we always teach our pups is to NOT jump up on people. It's a very important thing to teach a dog whether they are a teacup yorkie or a St Bernard! It is absolutely unacceptable behavior and could do real damage to an unsuspecting person.

I'd have given that dog's owner an earful, too.

Today was take the stickers off the windows day. That took entirely too long. LOL The glue they use turns into the stickiest boogers ever, and it's impossible to remove from your fingers. But I got it done w Windex and a razor and a ton of shop towels.

It was gloriously warm in there, and cozy with no wind biting thru! And SO quiet too! It really is so much more pleasant to be in there.

Then we did the spray foam stuff around the windows, the door and other cracks. Non expanding foam and regular GreatStuff too. He got the strikeplate and the dead bolt installed. Then, we got some clean up done and now we're ready to start in to the prep for mini split installation. The electrician I guess is coming next Friday to do that.

I also brought my garage plants down there, but they are not in the sunroom just yet. They had been living in the garage for a whole week... and they were pretty cold. I'm sure they're just glad to be warm again in the family room windows.

Jay say what? LOl I didn't. Auto correct has an attitude!

Ouch, ladma, both the experience and the reaction on the FB page are nasty. Glad to hear you're alright.

RRed, your window stickers reminded me of the Canadian YT couple Jenna and Nick, their stickers have been on for over a year now. I wonder how they will get them off!

Ughhh on the dog experience Ladma…I would be terrified. There have been tragic dog attacks here in NS. So glad you are okay! Bravo on the trail volunteer work. 🥰💐 Rred, you have a whole new room! So exciting to see. You will love it in the colder months…I miss my sunroom plant collection, but Violet is an aggressive plant ravisher 🙄I foresee more plants in your future…

Ladma, what a scary thing to happen. Glad you’re both ok.

What a week!

OB returned from his fishing trip week and so far the addition to my driveway space is working out well. Boat is parked. I’m so thankful this occurred when it was gone for a week. So nice to have the extra room, too.

Since I don’t work I missed the MS hoopla. But….the week wasn’t over. Friday afternoon I talked to OS who was about to head to the airport, with wife, to fly to Florida for a cruise. OS is the kid who “always” has the worst luck. If there’s someone’s meal that gets “forgotten” when out with a group at a restaurant, it’s his. He ordered his wife’s engagement ring and it was shipped to the wrong house and he needed it in two days for the special proposal (thankfully the person who got it was honest and tracked him down). Stuff like this his whole life. We actually laugh about it it’s so bad. Anyway, OB called me to ask why the country was on a plane stoppage. I didn’t know it occurred. Omg….I had to call OS and tell him, he wouldn’t know. He was already severely stressed getting ready for the trip and dealing with work. Idk how he “took” the news but they eventually decided they had to drive to Florida. Like 22 hours and through the night. They did make it to their ship on time and he did fine driving (he doesn’t need sleep, never did). So…..this will be framed as the night “OS jinxed the whole country.” He says his wife finally believes he’s got the worst luck.

PV, I’m glad he made it! I read a few other stories about people driving, but from PA to FL is a long drive!