insulation is done ville vegas!!!

library

living room into dining room

foyer

living rooom

loft

it smelled a little like paint. so we had the windows open. after it was sprayed in, we let it dry overnight. the insulators came back in today and scraped it all down, flush with the studs. ready for drywall!

oh, and did you insulation has to be inspected? 

well, i didn't, but its cool because we got our inspection today...whew-hoo we passed!

our family

its getting closer! our kids will be excited!

insulation

insulating the roof deck

 we are using a plant based insulation called icynene provided by home energy partners of asheville. 

it is sprayed in the wall cavity and then expands. it is very efficient and will hopefully add extra stability to our new/old home!

blueboard

since there was no barrier between the siding and the insulation, we had to create one. otherwise we would never be able to repair the siding on the outside of the house. the insulation would stick to the siding and that would be a big old mess.  

hanging the blueboard

insulation

because some little critter (s?) was (were?) living in our attic 

and because the roof leaked on to the old insulation, 

we decided it would be best to remove the old blown-in insulation.

home energy partners is removing the insulation that is in the back half of the house. 

here's how this happens...

giant vacuum

giant vacuum hose

blown into a van
note: their van was first broke down
as soon as they got it back,
it was then tagged with graffiti.
now, they are using a uhaul. temporarily of course.
another note: they had to leave early so they could clean it out and return it that day. this makes me chuckle a little!

hose running up into the attic

insulation

attempting to suck out the insulation....

vacuum running out to the van.

 ahem..."attempting".

now... 

you knew it wouldn't be that simple!

of course the old insulation was so thick and heavy, that it clogged the vacuum... 

more than once. 

they spent just about as much time using a rake (that they had to borrow from us), to get the insulation out from between the joists and then unclogging the vacuum, as they did sucking the darn insulation out. generally this is a quick and easy process. not this time.

sigh.

and HA!

but

on the bright side, there's this...

new cedar shake in the dormer

and then there's this...

harley and zoey by the fire

wednesday/hump day

wednesday

minimal drama today!

front porch ceiling
we ripped down the old ceiling on the front porch and this is what we found: really awesome old bead board. definitely reusing this somewhere!
 we found out a couple of not-so exciting things about insulating. the house has no sheeting.  we have been planning on having a sprayed-in insulation called icynene ( a renewable-based foam insulation and air barrier material that is responsibly made using castor oil and offers numerous environmental benefits). unfortunately this is sprayed in very hot with a lot of force. since we have no sheething or liner between the siding and the cavity where this insulation is normally sprayed, we will have to lay in sheets of blue board. since we intend to rip off the vinyl siding to reveal the original clapboard siding, laying the blueboard will facilitate fixing any damaged board that we might have to repair. otherwise, the icynene would stick to the clapboard siding. that would be a big mess!

foyer looking into library

 after a suggestion from our contractor (who is helping us with these major steps in the renovation), we decided to replace the old bifold door between the foyer and the library with some sweet old french doors.  we think this will really make our library AWESOME!!!!

new 10 foot + ceiling in dining room

newly reinforced window in the living room.
also reinforced where the old windows were enclosed inside the wall.

library

entrance foyer

we decided to vault the ceiling in the living room to create some really cool loft space and storage. but we really love the original wall between the foyer and the living room. we are leaving it intact to crate a cool barrier and maintain the original character of the house. 

foyer

our house now...

new roof