The Ark
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Purchased early 2017 with a 365,000 closing price.
General maintenance
WAITING Fix the dent from the chicken coop in the back corner
- State "WAITING" from "IN-PROGRESS" Hired Quabbin Handyman Josh to do this, a couple weeks ago. He'll get to it when he can. Also having him remove the dog door.
- State "IN-PROGRESS" from "TODO" I cut the opening to be square on both sides a few weeks ago. Just need the new siding board. They don't have any at home depot…
I backed the corner of the coop into the house while I was moving it.
DONE Driveway re-seal
Jun 24, 2025 Ginger Cat Sealcoating
Ginger Cat Sealcoating Home Home $1,011.12
TODO Gutters clean house
After leaves fall.
TODO Paint the entire exterior
Will need to budget for this one.
Fire alarms
Replaced them all this summer . One CO on each floor, heat sensing in the garage (also replaced). Here's a note I had on all of them:
| Floor | Location | Date | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basement | Electrical breaker | Oct 2012 | — |
| Basement | Garage | Jun 2012 | Heat only |
| Basement | Stairs | May 2014 | Kidde |
| 1st | Playroom | Aug 2014 | Kidde |
| 1st | Guest | Aug 2014 | FireX |
| 1st | Stairs | Aug 2014 | Kidde |
| 2nd | Hallway | Aug 2014 | Kidde |
| 2nd | Abel loft | Aug 2014 | Kidde |
| 2nd | Hallway East | Jun 2014 | FireX |
| 2nd | Olson 1st | Aug 2014 | FireX |
| 2nd | Olson 2nd | Jun 2014 | FireX |
| 2nd | Master 1st | Aug 2014 | Kidde |
| 2nd | Master office | Jun 2014 | FireX |
| 2nd | Etta | Aug 2014 | FireX |
TODO Fire alarm replacement
TODO Smoke/CO detector test house
Test all units. Replaced summer 2025. Next replacement ~2035. house15.html
HVAC
Furnace
Bosch.
Harman pellet stove
Added Harman Absolute 63 pellet stove summer 2021 in the living room. It's really great because we can heat the main part of the house into the 70s for the wife and fam's enjoyment, but not have to heat the whole big house. The bedrooms remaining cooler is a big plus.
- DONE Pellet stove cleaning invoice
Cleaned around .
THE FIRE PLACE PAGE NO 1 100 STATE ROAD P.O. BOX 606 WHATELY, MA 01093-0606
225.00
- TODO Pellet stove — clean and service house
Harman Absolute 63. Clean before heating season. Order pellets. house15.html
Exchanges
2 zones, with big exchangers like this:
- TODO HVAC filter change house ATTACH
Here's the type of filter that we have:
I ordered that set when the incident happened: Keep your AC from freezing solid. I haven't yet installed them as of , since cleaning the current ones and keep the fan set to auto was sufficient.
Whole-house AC
Two big units outside. They're on the north (shaded) side of the house, crazy when that's not the case.
Controls
NMC-300:
3x Honeywell 8000, 2 with an additional temp sensor.
I've replaced two of these controls with connected ones.
Electrical
Box fixed by solar install. When we bought the house, the top left screw on the box had hit the main, and it hit the main again while I was tightening it one time.
Generator
Wired in so we can power the house with it. Be careful!
Water
New well drilled early 2017.
Results:
CANCELLED Test for PFAS and Flouride
- State "CANCELLED" from "WAITING" Giving up on this one.
- State "WAITING" from "IN-PROGRESS"
Emailed howard labs, these tests are not listed on their website. - State "IN-PROGRESS" from "TODO"
Howard Laboratories 62 Main Street Hatfield MA. Did that first partial test.
Home automation
Failed attempt no. 1
Bought Leviton switches in 2018! Never got to installing them. These ones:
Looks like I bought 2 at 51.14 each! Still have them in 2025, never got hooked up. Lived in the top of my closet, I was going to try out the bedrooom as a POC.
Attempt no. 2
First, I got Home Assistant running on the NAS, for the bulb. Later I bought 2 smart thermostats, and a smart bulb. And so it went.
Further notes over at the aforementioned Home Assistant page.
Radon
2017 test has levels 2.3-2.4. Potentially actionable, it's where I work out. The limit is 4.