Insulation
We ended up going with Foam insulation in the open areas. The cost was quite a bit cheaper than what we could get for the net-and-blow cellulose. I think as the job gets larger the cellulose gets cheaper but for this job, the foam was less than half the estimates we got for the cellulose We had open cell foam sprayed in the closet/laundry, the exterior wall of the master bath, and the rear wall of the 3rd floor bath. We didn’t have anything in the eves done. We are still trying to figure out just how to do the roof.
A quick lesson on foam after the jump
(more…)Weekend Update – President’s Day Weekend
What a weekend. 3 days full of work! I’m so sore I can barely move. We had a lady out to give us a quote for the insulation in the open spaces. Turns out she was free Tuesday so we had 3 days to get the house ready for insulation. We were 90% ready but it was quite a push to get that last 10% done in just 3 days.
For reference, this was the bathroom on Friday:
And this was the laundry room:
The third floor bath looked like this:
and this wall was still up:
After lots of cleaning and putting away, the bathroom and laundry/closet were in ship-shape. I also stapled and stripped the wires for the overhead lights to keep them out of the way of the insulation people.
In addition, we needed to add the dryer vent. After doing the fan vents 2 weekends ago, this one went super quick.
Vector really liked the hole right at Vector height.
Stefan also finished up all the “large” pvc. We just have a 2″ and a 1.5″ vent to tie in. By next weekend, we should be 100% done with PVC! If I never have to smell PVC glue again it will be too soon. But alas, there is yet another bathroom to redo at some point.
The insulation people are going to put a bunch of insulation in the kitchen ceiling. We took out some Insulation we had already put up there. It seemed silly to undo work we already did but the insulation people had a minimum and we’ll be going from R13 to R32. That’s a LOT of Rs. Before that did that insulation, we wanted to pre-pull some wires.
Vector really liked hanging out up in the ceiling. Given the option of being a ceiling cat or a basement cat, he’s definitely a ceiling cat.
We also pre-pulled some wires in the laundry room for what I’m calling the stairs switch. Generally you have a 3-way switch at the top and bottom of the stairs so you can see where you’re going. We are putting our version in on the stairs. We pulled some wires up for that area. They are just coiled up in the closet/laundry waiting for next weekend.
In the 3rd floor we did a bunch of wire organization. Here’s the mess of wires that was in the bathroom:
and now:
Look at that wire-management job! The wires are coiled, zip-tied, and hanging neatly in the attic. Whoo organized.
At the suggestion of the insulation lady, Caroline, we went ahead and removed this wall.
Before:
During:
After:
If you’ve never removed plaster and lath, trust me, it’s a big dirty heavy job.
Oh, one other project. Strapping. the 3″ PVC with a fitting didn’t quite fit in the wall of the 3rd floor bathroom so we added a half inch of strapping so the drywall can go up easily and so we can get a extra touch of insulation along that wall.
Borrowing a co-workers framing nailer has been awesome. Another weekend and I’m hoping we’ll be able to return it! As much as we’ve used it, we should think about buying one. Then again, we’re almost done.
In addition, we got another 3 ish inches. It was windy so it drifted up to 8 inches is places and, of course, those places were the sidewalk and driveway where we needed to shovel.
The insulation people are also going to insulate the top of the basement which is hopefully going to keep it a lot warmer. It’s frigid down there now. But, that involved cleaning up the basement a bit. I moved all the wood and organized the wood scraps.
It doesn’t look like much but it really is much more compact and neat. And they’ll be able to get around to all the walls of the basement.
After a mad push Monday night, we were ready Tuesday morning at 8:00 AM when the insulation guys showed up. Whew. Busy weekend!
We’re going to try to get everything else needed for the drywall done over the next 2 weekends. It will be really tight but if we work like we did this weekend, we can do it! Oh drywall, what luxury.
I’ll be taking “after” pictures of the insulation and get a post out to you later this week. I hope you’re as excited as I am!
Cheers,
Sarah
Weekend Update Jan 9&10 with extra snow!
First of all, I’ll start with a bunch of snow pictures:
This was Friday at about noon-ish.
and by Saturday morning:
We got about 25-26 inches. It’s really hard to tell because the high winds created drifts as high as about 4 feet. Neither Stefan or I went into work on Friday. Saturday was all about snow-blowing. It took for-ever. Stefan did most of the work but the hour or so of shoveling the porch and deck was enough to wear me out. The governor issued a driving ban starting at 2:00 on Friday and lasting until 4:00 PM on Saturday. There was also a parking ban in Arlington. That made clearing out the driveway difficult. Generally, we pull the cars out into the street, snowblow the driveway, and pull them back in but with this much snow and the parking ban, we spent Saturday snowblowing around the cars. Sunday we dug out the cars and shimmied them around in the driveway so that Stefan could get the snowblower through the remaining snow on the driveway. The parking ban is still in effect as of 10am on Monday. Our street desperately needs to be plowed again and could handle about 6 feet of widening. The difficulty is where to put all the snow. The banks are 6-8 feet tall in places which limits visibility and the smaller plows the city generally uses just don’t have the power to move a 6 foot snowbank not to mention we’re running out of places to put all the snow!
To top it off, we’re supposed to get about half an inch of rain today. Talk about bad driving conditions!
Sunday evening we braved a trip to 5 Guys and Home Depot. After our trip, we got some help from this website and worked on plumbing and electric in the 3rd floor bathroom for about 2 hours. That was the extent of the work we got done on the house this weekend. We did get lots done in those 2 hours. The electric is done and the plumbing is about 75% of the way there, just need to install a butt weld. Another 2 hours and we’ll be DONE with PVC!!! At least until we re-do the first floor bathroom. That just leaves putting in the vent fan, running Pex to the appropriate locations, and the attic stairs before we can call the 3rd floor bath ready for insulation and drywall.
I’m hoping this is the end of the winter but there’s another snow event on the horizon for next weekend. I’m already exhausted just thinking about more snow!
Stay warm!
Sarah
Weekend Update Double Feature: Jan 26&27 and Feb2&3
I seem to be on an every-other-week schedule. I did post a bit of plant news so hopefully that makes up for my silence.
Jan 26&27 my sister Bekah was in town. She had a business meeting in the Boston area on Friday and stayed for the weekend. It was great! We did a bunch of electric in the bathroom, talked paint colors, planned out the third floor bathroom, decided on light-fixture placement. It was a great trip. I took no pictures but instead just had fun with my sister and did a little of this and that. Stefan did get a good bit of the bathroom plumbing worked out on the third floor and cut all the beams in the ceiling of the master bathroom to make room for the duct-work to the half-bath fan. It was a great weekend with Bekah.
On Feb 2, we didn’t do much. It was an extremely rough week but I won’t get into that now. We read a bit and relaxed and did a bit of this and that. I winter-sowed a couple more jugs with Pansies and Black Eyed Susans. I also spread cardboard over the grass where we’re planning on planting the privacy hedge of Arborvitae. It’s the easiest way to kill the grass. In the spring just cut holes where you want to plant the trees and let the cardboard decompose. It really works great.
While I was out there, I saw something exciting:
Remember when I planted a whole ton of bulbs last fall? Probably not cause it doesn’t look like I mentioned it on the ol’blog. whoops! Anyways, this is a crocus bulb poking it’s head out of the ground. Yay! Crocus are really early bulbs and they will naturalize in a yard if you let them. I planted a whole bunch along with some tulips and daffodils under the weeping cherry tree. Bulbs are a bit of a new thing for me. They are a colder climate phenomenon and they fascinate me. Now I just have to keep the squirrels off the tulips. Yay bulbs!
The Washer and dryer we ordered on Black Friday was delivered.
You can imagine we aren’t quite ready for it. Oh well. I covered them in a thick blanket and wrapped them in plastic to protect them until it’s time to unwrap them and put them in their home.
In the afternoon we worked on the toilet drain in the 3rd floor.
This picture really tells the story of what we’re doing. A big tangle of wire, a bunch of PVC fittings, plastic on the ceiling to keep it warmer at night, a dust mask because everything is dusty. I think this might be a photo we frame just to remind us of this time.
Sunday we worked on tying in the sink drain in the 3rd floor. We’re almost done with PVC. I can’t wait for the day we can call that done! Stefan also had a late-night burst of energy and buttoned up the PEX supply on the second floor. I also put up this awesome shelf:
That should keep the cat out of my plants. The Bromeliad and Lemon tree will stay on the counter but Vector doesn’t seem to bother those as much as the succulents. I LOVE this shelf. It was meant to be a temporary thing but I think I may make it a more permanent fixture. I’m thinking perhaps a glass shelf supported from the ends. How thick would that glass have to be? Preliminary research indicates 3/8″ glass 4′ by 6″ would hold about 30 lbs. That’s about what I’ve got on that one now. I’ll have to visit a glass place and see what we can do. Hm. I’m liking this plan!
Well, that’s the update. I hope you’re have a good February. I’m liking the fact that it’s a short month and after February is March and with march comes the first bit of spring!
Sarah
