This is the first house that Adam and I have ever owned. In fact, it's really more like the first actual house that Adam has ever lived in. Let's just say, even with all of the things that are really great about the house, there are plenty of times where we feel like jumped into the deep end/ bit off more than we could chew/got in over our heads, etc., etc.. I should admit that I have an imaginary blog in my head that I can never actually publish because every other entry would be some ridiculous lament about the hardships of home ownership and house maintenance. Blah, blah, blah. I act like I'm the only person who's ever owned a house and hated having to spend several Saturdays raking leaves or seeding the lawn or spending more money than I ever thought possible on boring stuff like new gutters. But sometimes it's the pits.
Well, with that in mind, today we crossed another major project off of the list and insulated the attic. And only after five years of thinking about it as a necessary project, and 26 days before the tax credit for doing it expires!
Despite my whining just now, I do have to give Adam a ton of props for stepping up to the whole home-ownership plate, especially when he doesn't get any utils over doing house projects. He always comes through and is completely thorough and exact in whatever it involves.
So, for the attic project, the goal was to take the existing insulation that was only about 6 inches thick (at best) and bring it to 18 inches thick. But this meant that there was way more than just blowing in the new insulation. He had to seal off the gaps around any electrical and prep for soffit vents, but the biggest task was that he had to construct new walkways that would be above the new insulation so that we could still have access to the electrical, etc., that was up there. He also had to build a little "crib" like structure around the access steps to keep the insulation from falling on the doorway. It was a lot of work, most of it done by headlamp late at night after kids were in bed.
Before:
Note the markers sticking up from the joists that will be guides for
reaching 18" mark when blowing in the new insulation.
We used 67 bales of insulation for the project.
While I fed the bales of insulation into the blower, the hoses extended
up to the atticand Adam spread it throughout.
After:
He came out a bit dusty.
No, he's not wearing a white hat.
All done!
And if we only save $10 a month in our heating bills, then it will only take something like 9 years for the investment to pay off. But I'll sure be happy knowing how pretty it looks up there now.
4 comments:
I'm so loving your new lease on life by blogging every day - and I'm so with you on home ownership. I'm fighting the need to paint the exterior of our house.
Well, your house is beautiful and something to be so proud of and I bet you are so content with it in addition to gaining a new appreciation for Adam, but I totally relate to the sentiment! We owned one house when we lived in Austin, in which we spent months of nights and weekends staining the concrete, laying tile, painting, putting up crown molding and chair rails... and have decided if we never own a house again we won't shed a single tear!
I am WITH you about home ownership. It's so demoralizing to not keep up on the maintenance of your own space. It is for me anyway. Dean can at least get away from it at work, but I'm constantly reminded of all we're not getting to (but NOT constantly finding the time to do anything about it).
You are going to hate me when I tell you that when we had some guys do our insulation a couple of years ago they did it all in one afternoon and we didn't have to lift a finger and they even helped us fill out the reimbursement paperwork. BUT ours is just a big mess up there without a nice crib and trails, so yours will be much more functional and nicer. AND our reimbursement was split between the electric and gas companies, and one of them had a cutoff date and I didn't get it mailed off in time and we lost over $200 that could have been reimbursed. Oops.
Holy moly, that is a serious project. I am impressed.
So about home ownership. I, as you know, completely relate. However, now that we are renting I hate it. I loved it at first, but now I just hate the white dull walls, and the stupid high ceilings and I am dying to have my own nest to make how I want it. Of course I know that when we buy a house again I won't have the money to make it just how I want, which is depressing. Anyway....I feel your pain.
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