Our house is wearing a winter coat, finally. Insulation is up, and it’s now all been wrapped. Ready to weather the storms. Made patient for its eventual wood siding.
After we demolished the last room in the basement and washed the previously styrofoam and wood covered walls with bleach (because they needed it badly), it became pretty clear that (a) our dishwasher leaks and (b) that while these renovations seem a bit over the top at times (both in terms of scope and affordability), we’re giving ourselves the gift of health by getting rid of the mould and mildew caused by diverse and multiple water infiltration spots, and insulation + energy conservation is a pretty sound investment.
The basement walls, formally bare cinder block, have also been insulated, as has the cement floor. The tubing for in-floor heating has been laid, and some openings for a bathroom have been prepared.
Then, the cement truck came (for Youngest Child, this has been a most interesting sick week. For the mama, it’s been a bit fraught).
After all the noxious smoothing, the end result is totally lunar looking and making me want to run out to buy roller skates for the whole fam.
Other wonderful things to come: bigger windows (think easy fire escapes!)
And moving the wood stove closer to the centre of the house so that it heats more than the back entrance/laundry room. Entre temps on dirait un scaphandre à même le plafond : dreamy.
The downside to future heat : going without a sink in the bathroom for a bit.
Speaking of heat, we’re adding twenty inches of insulation in the attic (to the existing four). May our days of massive heat loss and energy squandering be over.
As cool as it is to see the transformation, it’ll be good to have the bulk of this work done, hopefully before year’s end. We’re all running out of clean/dry socks from living in a construction zone and the required vigilance (given wee ones) is wearing me down. But I will admit that there is something quite profound about realizing that you can just saw through floors and ceilings to put chimneys in. As though anything is possible.
les histoires d'une néorurale 