Tag Archives: insulation

And we’re shifting….

January 25, 2023 Rivergirl 32 Comments

The husband completed his work on the far left corner of the ~~crap filled dungeon~~ cellar and has now shifted to the far right.

The ceiling was up…

And painted…

And insulation folded into place.

I had to laugh because it was at this point he said, “Looks a lot different without all the stuff here huh?” And yes, technically he’s right … it did look different. But I’d be a lot more thrilled if the stuff migrated out of the cellar and to the dump instead of just shifting over to the newly completed section.

What’s the point in having a nicely cleaned, insulated, ceiling’d cellar if you can’t actually see it?

Uncategorized

A bright spot in the dark.

January 22, 2023 Rivergirl 21 Comments

Work continues underground… and in the far reaches of our dark ~~as a crap filled tomb~~ cellar, there is light.

And a small amount of open space with freshly swept floors, insulated walls and a new white ceiling. There are also shelves…

Though the construction of said shelves leaves a bit to be desired.

After seeing this one start to sag, I highly recommended brackets. Whether my suggestion will be implemented or ignored is up for debate.

Heating ducts have been wrapped with insulation as well….

Though it looks like things went a little haywire here.

I have no explanation for this puzzled looking chicken. You’d think it was mine, but oddly enough… it’s not.

Uncategorized

When you don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

January 20, 2023 Rivergirl 21 Comments

I went downstairs to check the progress of the husband’s basement project yesterday and it was not going well.

Nope. Not well at all.

I stood unnoticed, chortling while I watched him attempt to wrangle trifold insulation into a corner by himself. It was quite amusing, but I took pity on the poor guy after a few minutes and lent a hand.

You’ll notice he bought a new toy. After the first low velocity hammer tool wasn’t strong enough.. he upgraded.

This thing is basically a small gun that fires explosive rounds to propel nails into hard surfaces. In this case, concrete.

And while my husband is (we never say was) a Marine and familiar with weapons, his usage of this tool made me a little nervous.

The video doesn’t do justice to the noise. But trust me, that thing is loud.

And best observed from a safe distance.

I have to laugh that our entire cellar is a junk filled mess except for this one little corner. But he’s determined to put a ceiling, insulation and shelves throughout so I’m not complaining.

Much. Or within earshot….

😉

Uncategorized

Barn, Belgian beer and Brussel sprouts.

November 19, 2020 Rivergirl 26 Comments

We were back in the barn this weekend and ran the new heat pump for the first time. It’s a big space so it took a while to warm up… but the building held the set temperature all day, which means all our ~~stuff and seal each and every god damn gap~~ insulation work…

Worked.

But there were still a few more windows to trim and that’s when things went downhill.

There was sputtering, mumbling, cursing and okay…. small pieces of wood may or may not have been flung across the room.

When the wood started flying? I knew it was time for a distraction… so I trudged down to our ~~crap filled underground nightmare~~ basement and retrieved a treasure we purchased a few years ago.

A neon bar sign from the Ommegang brewery in New York. We stumbled on them when we visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and fell in love with their Belgians.

https://www.ommegang.com/

If you’re ever in the area, check out their tasting room in the old barn… and if you’re visiting this time of year? Try my favorite.

There’s a tavern in Brussels famous for it’s pigeon racing?

Sounds like my kind of place.

And speaking of Brussels…

When you live across the street from an organic vegetable farmer?

You never know what will show up on your doorstep in the morning.

👍

Uncategorized

Back in the barn.

November 16, 2020 Rivergirl 30 Comments

The husband was back at it this past weekend.

Finishing up the (not so) temporary (not so) easy access heat blocker to the upstairs.

By the time I walked in he had the insulation board attached to the zip siding board …

Had rigged up small pieces of insulation board on the top step..

And was busy stuffing Roxul in the small holes.

And the even smaller small holes.

Our old doe was munching under the apple trees…

And Mike Pence was still where no one wanted him to be.

So much stuffing.

Please remember… when this barn was built it was not meant to be an airtight and heated space, so there’s a lot of scrambling required to make it one now.

So when all else fails?

Caulk.

And then, for the man who didn’t want to use insulation board?

Another piece of insulation board.

So yes, there’s insulation board, on top of insulation board, on top of zip siding.

I dare the hot air to seep through that!

When that was finished and blocked off, it was time to tackle weatherstripping the porch door.

You know, the free one he brought home from the dump. The one without a frame or threshold. The non standard size nightmare that has gaps all the way around it and at least a two inch above the floor clearance.

Good times.

Truer words have ne’er been spoke.

Uncategorized

Why does he make everything twice as difficult as it has to be?

October 28, 2020 Rivergirl 39 Comments

We have a barn that really isn’t a barn. What started out as storage space for motorcycles and lawn mowers has morphed into a custom built man cave… and now that the man cave has a heat pump? The upstairs has to be temporarily blocked off for winter before the staircase turns into a chimney.

This should have been a simple project.

I told the husband – cut a piece of insulation foam. The heat pump installer told the husband – cut a piece of insulation foam. The friend that helps him now and then told the husband – cut a piece of insulation foam.