Acres -
Thanks for the note.
The trees were my neighbor's trees and were at the edge of a brook that divides both our properties. Our house sits very close to the property line - so close, we could never have a garage without serious variances being allowed. We have only a third of an acre - planting more trees might help and I'd never heard of the hardwoods/evergreens thing you mentioned - that's something I'm going to look into for sure.
And I noticed the same thing about the chipped wood! My sister wanted some of the wood and you would have thought it was gold. When I asked for it, I was told it was part of the agreement for the removal that we had signed. I mean, would they have charged us more if we'd insisted we get to keep it?
The refrigerator damage only is covered by insurance. The cost of replacing it, the deductible, and upgrades in flooring that's put back down, are costs we have to eat. (The floor was a very large, special order, of linoleum - no seams.) I'm looking into getting something that's hardwood or even tile, depending on cost, etc. We were amazed this was covered by insurance at all!
As they say, "It could be worse!" And in all this I found I had the most awesome neighbors - they were so helpful and concerned about us - we didn't really need anything but it was just nice knowing they cared (I love my neighbors!)
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I agree this thread has been very informative and certainly been a great sounding board for the possibilities we were considering... Overall, it is a positive thing and I'm very appreciative of the input all y'all have submitted here...
Since starting this thread we've concluded that tightening up the house more has the best "bang for the buck". We thought we were good but this thread made up reassess things a bit more...
We've now installed two new storm doors - they're both energy rated and have tax rebates attached... we've sealed up the basement windows and one slightly drafty kitchen window (the sill is drafty, if that makes sense.) (This has made a HUGE difference in the road noise we used to hear!)
I've installed a layer of insulating film on the patio doors. It's darkened the glass a little but we do feel quite a difference there! (It was worth the two hours of solid cussing I did to get it right!)
We're looking at possibly rolling another layer of insulation in the attic this weekend...
We've also decided that we're doing a pellet or even a corn stove next year, as the baby will be older and easier to keep away from things. (He's two... very two!)
And we'll have the warm seasons to install it.
When I talk with the other young families many are in the same boat - just wondering how to stretch their incomes further and get through winter. I also know of a few seniors who are struggling and have already spent their fuel assistance money - my heart really goes out to them and there's a couple that I'm helping to seal their windows up today, hoping it will help...
Thanks again!
-AW