Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Introduce yourself here, tell us about your house and interests. Share some pictures.
User avatar
Lily left the valley
Inventor of Knob and Tube
Posts: 2170
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 2:07 pm
Location: Gardner, MA, USA
Contact:

Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

phil wrote:the kind of zinc they use on roofs is thin , it looks like oxidized aluminum but it is quite soft, you'd be able to easily bend it with your fingers.. the stuff suitable for a countertop would be quite a bit thicker. if it were leftovers from the roof it might be full of nail holes? it could be some aluminum flashing too. if it is tin it would be attracted by a magnet but lead, aluminum, and zinc and nickle will not attract a magnet.

when my cat catches mice she seems happy to bring them to show off.
This metal isn't very thin, and I already know it's easy to bend. Of the sheets I have examined, there are no nail holes. I did find one sheet that has what may be a water stain on it. One bit I found was cut down, but I do not know from what or for what. I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow. Today went a bit sideways as Sean was called into work, so I shifted my house plans accordingly. I have some magnets, so I can test that as well.

I've been reading up on how to seal up the gap around our chimney, and I wonder if maybe the metal was to be used as flashing for such? It's an awful lot of sheeting for that, but I still have no idea what they were thinking at the time.

Oh. When I was poking around in the attic to suss some things out, I realized that the foil like backer on the attic side of the ceiling got scratched up a bit here and there, likely when they added the gable vents. There was one section (under the east vent) where it appears they actually used the reflective paint, so maybe there was a patch done later because of water or perhaps the foil backer got really mucked up. Not sure. Can't see any signs of water intrusion, though.

I did read up on attic gable vents, and although it's killing me how much cold air is pouring in right now (and hot likely going out), especially because we do not have a fan in the full bath yet, I don't think it's a great idea to close them.

Which leads into Sean. He also has already filled up the other day he was to have off, so we had to plan a work-around to help me be able to continue the work in the attic as intelligently as we can manage. He stopped by Lowe's today to return that burner coil that didn't fit, and picked me up another bale of insulation plus a much needed better respirator with replacement filters. I tried it on as soon as he came home, and it fits pretty good though my glasses don't seat well on the bridge. :P Tomorrow, I'll be gathering up all the big pieces of whatever, then when he comes home I'll send them down in our bucket in one continuous stream until it's all gone.

If I still have time before he gets home, I'll get back to the cleaning up part. I did take up the wider knee board today, and it's exactly what I needed. I did manage to bring down what I'm still pretty sure is an old wooden ironing board, though I wondered then if maybe the padding was for knees and it was the original attic knee board. I'll take a pic later today or tomorrow.

Out of our three kitties, Og used to just sit on them after he'd catch them, Mendel would play with them, but Kira was always the killer, often grabbing them away from the boys. I've actually been pretty amazed at not having seen any mice or recent mouse sign here. Oh, that reminds me...NO BATS. None. I spent quite a bit of time checking all over. But I think I figured out how the one bat got in. The screening (soft nylon) in the gable vents is all too easy to push around. I'll have to get some rubber tubing or the like to fix that problem.

Also, the knot I saw knocked out apparently happened when they added the roof ridge vent. I can see the back of the tarpaper (?) from inside, and when they did it, like the gable vents, they just hacked away at the wood planks. At least their cuts were straighter up there. :lol:

I'm steadily working around the house with the rope caulk, and already I'm feeling quite a difference from both that plus the door gasket we added. It amazed me how much warmer the parlor got despite my having pulled two storms from there to put in the office since it's currently the second coldest living space (right below the rad-less guest room.)

I did not have a chance to take a pic of the Frankenstein door today. I have to do something. The cold air coming in is crazy, and since we're missing some of our sill blocks (and haven't put in insulation there yet because I haven't finished the attic), that cold air is likely just getting sucked right up the walls. :eh:

Still, every bit I manage towards air sealing and insulation, the closer we get to stopping that sort of thing.

This was the respirator I got, which I figure will carry through to other projects later:
Image
Last edited by Lily left the valley on Thu Nov 30, 2017 12:59 am, edited 3 times in total.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

User avatar
Lily left the valley
Inventor of Knob and Tube
Posts: 2170
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 2:07 pm
Location: Gardner, MA, USA
Contact:

Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

Manalto wrote:Michael Pollan makes a compelling case for how cultivated plants have, in a sense, trained us. We coddle them, remove their pests and competition and ensure the success of the next generation. Regarding cats and dogs, I know for certain that they've got us very well trained.
This is me, nodding on all counts. ;-)
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

phil
Has many leather bound books
Posts: 4616
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:11 pm
Location: Near Vancouver BC

Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by phil »

maybe you could use that silver tape for air ducts to patch the foil? if you care?
spraying silver paint,, hmm makes me wonder if someone was growing some plants up there and wanted the reflectivity? You should check your main power line. often in old houses it comes into the attic , then goes down to the meter, that's a perfect place to get free power.. I'd check the line , or anything exposed to see if it was cut into. You could find a surprise. In my brothers house we found a connection that led down to an outlet in the house where they got "free power" - ha! in my sister's place my brother found some burned and blackened connections where the line had been cut and rejoined , a fire hazard. If you find pot leaves you know they were growing in there.

often they will want the free power not because they dont' want to pay for it but because the city/police can detect the consistent pattern of power draw, 18 hours a day or whatever... ;-)

I have an old wooden ironing board, they make nice plant stands if you put it near a window
the board is a good idea. I put rocksul between the joist then cut plywood into 2'x8' pieces , painted white. it makes it nicer to find and store stuff, and no one can put a foot through the ceiling then.

if you insulate against the roof, then you have a "hot roof" your roofing wont; last so long, I'd leave the vents in the eves open, try to insulate the attic floor instead. keep your framing dry. If you want you can add a vent and a fan with a thermostat to turn on the fan on when it is hot in there in summer.

if you have a shop vac often they have a way to hook a second hose to the exhaust side , if youwant youcan run a second hose outside so any fine dust that gets past the filter just goes outside rather than stirring it up.

one thing I've sometimes done in really dusty places is to hook up a high velocity fan and then either use the vacuum cleaner backwards or an electric leaf blower, You definitely need to mask up , but I then intentionally stir the dust up and let the big fan blow it outside.. that way you get all those places the vacuum won't reach.. but the dust cloud you'll make doing it, I'd consider pretty toxic. I sometimes do that in my basement in summer because I do woodwork, and I'll give my neighbor a heads up, get them to close their windows so you don't upset them. usually I'll vacuum up as well as I can first, it's pretty extreme but after I do that it feels so much nicer in there. another thing I have done is to put an ozone generator up there for a bit, it will kill all the spiders. but you need to vacate anything living in your house, the plants and cats and air it out after. I borrowed one and did that and it made a huge difference.

User avatar
Lily left the valley
Inventor of Knob and Tube
Posts: 2170
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 2:07 pm
Location: Gardner, MA, USA
Contact:

Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

Still slogging through cleaning and insulating in the attic. Got all the remaining left by PO stuff out (the quilt was shot, no way to rescue it), now just vacuuming and anti-bad things spraying after. Finally finished my first row between joists. As I mentioned before, because of the odd sistering (and the fact that NONE of the widths are true on any of the joists), it's taking time patchworking the Roxul. I'm really, really glad we did not try to use fiber batts. They would have been a nightmare with all the irregularities. :doh:

Since I only have my helper (acting as pass through and fetch for the tiny hatch) for roughly an hour a day when he's not too tired from Xmas delivery madness, progress is slow, but steady.

I've been curious if having only part of the attic done would increase the stack effect on the part that isn't insulated, but I'm not quite far enough done to be able to tell just yet.

I still can find no way through what is available in the attic to insulate above the bath jut on the south side. I may have to go in by taking the ceiling down, or we'll wait until we do the roof. Either way--not this winter!

Non house stuff has been eating up time of late, so not much to report beyond the attic work right now.

phil wrote:maybe you could use that silver tape for air ducts to patch the foil?

You should check your main power line.

I have an old wooden ironing board, they make nice plant stands if you put it near a window
the board is a good idea.

I put rocksul between the joist then cut plywood into 2'x8' pieces , painted white. it makes it nicer to find and store stuff, and no one can put a foot through the ceiling then.
1) The foil is really on the wrong side of the insulation to do what was intended. It's been pulling up in big bubbles in some places where I vacuum, which has been interesting. I'm really not worried about it enough right now. I'm focused on trying to get the attic cleaner and get the first layer of roxul down in full for the winter. I have been only laying near but not against the roof pitch where some air can roll over from the eaves into the unconditioned space. Haven't built official baffles, but it's good enough for this year. Next year, we'll open up the closets from the inside and do the proper knee wall insulation with crafted baffles so I can insulate the second tier right against the pitch.

2) Our power seems to come in from just above the cellar. So that's not an issue at all. You can sort of see how it's brought down on the outside of the house behind the porch line in this image I took for another post that was about siding or the yard grading, I forget which.
Image

3) I might use the ironing board for a kitty perch by one of the sunnier windows. I've got some brackets that could work. Right now it's down in the cellar until I can peel off all the fabric bits (insulating cotton and otherwise) and toss them. I might be able to keep a small bit, but the fabric is trashed from old mouse activity.

4) There is currently no way to get 2x8 anything up the tiny access hatch. :crying-pink: We'd have to wait until we repair the roof to get anything that big up there--from above. I could rip them down even further...but...no funds for the ply anyhoo, and next year we'd just be covering it with the second layer to reach the R50 whatever the magic # is, I'm a bit too tired to recall.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

User avatar
Lily left the valley
Inventor of Knob and Tube
Posts: 2170
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 2:07 pm
Location: Gardner, MA, USA
Contact:

Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

Holly days and other things have been going on, and I've been trying to get back here for while, but today is the day I managed.

I'm sure folks talked about it elsewhere, but holy moly the wind and snow! I shovel, it blows back. Rinse, repeat. :lol: Because of the layout of our property plus the close stockade fence of the neighbors to the east, our driveway has turned into a wind tunnel of fun to watch but not so fun to reshovel proportions.

It's given me a lot of practical data to throw into the mix of the gradation work once we pick that back up in the spring. I'm now considering being much more drastic in lowering the level of the front yard for two reasons: 1) the wind tunnel (running almost perfect north/south) and 2) Having a similar issue with the front steps and walk. I'm back to the notion of not having just a straight shot up the front, and instead have something a bit more wendy because the grade for the last stretch of concrete in particular is dangerous on ice, and no hand rails to be had there, and I don't really want to put any in if there's a better overall layout I could do. I had pondered a more natural path sort of walk before, but thought I'd be making too much work too soon. After dealing with these winds, I'm realizing this year might be right on time for at least next winter. Oh--and this includes fixing up the driveway. I knew it was going to be a bear to shovel, but I am already so done with it this season. :P

I am also now firmly resolved that if nothing else, we will be swapping the side steps from their current north orientation to the south. Originally, I had wanted to do that for ease of access to the garage, and it felt a bit more private. Now...I know the stairs could use any help from the southern sun they can get. Dealing with the ice on that wood isn't the worst, but it's a constant.

The attic insulating project, once we used up what we bought, is at a standstill. We had to get oil sooner than expected due to this weather, which took the funds we would have spent on insulation. Hoping to get another small batch this week, time will tell. I do want to say that I absolutely adore working with and the results from Roxul, and am so glad we went this route even if the MASSSave program didn't rebate it. If I can remember it (my brain's a bit scattered of late), I'll take a picture of the progress so far.

One thing I am currently researching is attic venting. For some reason, I realized while insulating, we not only have E and W gable vents, we also have a ridge roof. In New England. Someone didn't think that through at all. So I'm trying to figure out what's best to do, because it's TOO MUCH draw for the hot air in winter. It's making the stack effect much worse on the windy days.

Because this is our first full winter here, we have no idea how much help or not what little we've managed so far with the insulation (mostly above our bedroom/closets before the slope, slight overlap into the hall). When I had to order oil sooner than expected, the lass that answered the phone said they are swamped because so many didn't expect to need more already either due to the cold and wind. I can say with some confidence that our bedroom is much warmer than it was, first with the caulk and especially now that we have a full layer above our room.

I used up all the rope caulk we bought (may have bought more since my last post, still wasn't enough.) The neat thing about the rope caulk is I can see and feel what a difference it will make when I start reglazing this year. I want to make a filler panel for one small cellar window in bad shape before winter's end out of some of the scrap ply I found, and that will be my first attempt on any here, as well as a rebuild since the wood eaters got to that one due to the grade issue on the west side. I've been using the rope caulk on all the windows (and there are so many that need it) inside and out at the seam where the glaze is near to gone or just plain gone. It reminds me of Plasticine (scultping medium), and I wonder how close they are in composition.

Also bought some felt weatherstripping for the side door because I've not been happy with the foam, and we can't afford sprung yet. Maybe by next winter. Because the storm door on the front was hung too far forward, there is a huge gap, and the extreme cold we've been experiencing is more than the foam seems able to withstand. I'm actually wondering if it will get brittle and start breaking off. We've noticed it's not springing back like it's supposed to, and now I'm sorry I removed what little felt was still there. I should have just bought felt even if the foam was free because we found it in a box.

I did discover that one outlet in the parlor has cold air blowing through the plugs. I traced it as best I could from the cellar, and it disappears into the wall down there, so I'm hoping to open that up and see if there is daylight visible somehow that's causing that. I also know there's a good chance there is no box around the outlet as well, having found similar already.

Xmas was super low key this year. We did not get the tree we wanted, thinking it wiser to reserve all funds for unexpecteds, and at least that paid off. I used a small table top one I've had for years, and wrapped some bigger bulb LEDs around a vine wreath I have to put in the center dormer window upstairs. I also did a few minor bits. I should take pictures before we put stuff away this week. But outside, we ended up doing nothing, which was fine. The twin hollies and all the snow did just fine on their own. :mrgreen:

Although we didn't even really start it in time, I'm sculpting a relief of Beebe as she is now from some scrap wood I found at the nearby furniture makers I pass on my way to the lumber place I adore. Sean will paint it after I finish, and it will be an ornament for our trees in years to come.

Lots more little bits and such I could ramble on about, but it's already 7:30 and we haven't even started supper yet. The Post Office is still rather busy, and so is Sean. :occasion-snowman:
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

User avatar
awomanwithahammer
Knows where blueprints are hidden
Posts: 911
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:19 am
Location: Maryville, TN

Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by awomanwithahammer »

I do not envy you! We are dealing with single digits and teens and no snow, and it's awful. I hate winter. Our bedroom was an addition, and although there are two vents in there, it's still the coldest room in the house. We've sealed up the foundation vents, insulated the floor and put a vapor barrier in the crawl space, and you can still feel a draft coming up under the covers at night.
Bonnie

User avatar
awomanwithahammer
Knows where blueprints are hidden
Posts: 911
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:19 am
Location: Maryville, TN

Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by awomanwithahammer »

Lily left the valley wrote:4) There is currently no way to get 2x8 anything up the tiny access hatch. :crying-pink: We'd have to wait until we repair the roof to get anything that big up there--from above. I could rip them down even further...but...no funds for the ply anyhoo, and next year we'd just be covering it with the second layer to reach the R50 whatever the magic # is, I'm a bit too tired to recall.

Have you considered enlarging the access hole? You can only go so far between rafters, but you could probably lengthen it.
Bonnie

User avatar
Deb
Knows the back streets
Posts: 123
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2015 10:48 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Deb »

Lily....Where are you? Hope everything is ok and that you're just busy working on the house! (And not accidentally locked up in the attic!!)

User avatar
awomanwithahammer
Knows where blueprints are hidden
Posts: 911
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2016 1:19 am
Location: Maryville, TN

Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by awomanwithahammer »

I've been wondering the same thing--been worried about you, Lily!
Bonnie

phil
Has many leather bound books
Posts: 4616
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:11 pm
Location: Near Vancouver BC

Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by phil »

Yes same. I keep thinking where is Lily? I'm hoping she's just busy but It's not like her not to post in such a long time.
Phil

Post Reply