More Roofing Progress...

Well, I received a very special phone call last night from my Mimi via my mother. She agreed to give me a very generous amount to pay for a new backdoor which made me cry, but in a good way. So, I promptly packed up all of my stuff from work, twisted Mom's arm and headed to Home Depot to dream. We walked to doors (which is technically called millwork) and I immediately spied one that I love. (Keep in mind that I'm working with a 6 foot opening for a 1960's sliding glass door.) It has a center 36" wide door that is basically a french door without the mullions (little crossbars that block the view...) Instead, it has a prairie style mullions (http://www.ebuild.com/articles/589840.hwx) that provide some decoration but still have a good view of the patio. The truly neat things about the door are the sidelights. Instead of a traditional sidelight, it's called a ventlight the the enitre window opens from top to bottom to a screen, allowing for air flow without the door open. http://www.atriumpatiodoors.com/designseries.page Sorry their picture is so poor, so you'll just have to come admire it when it's in! ;) No, I haven't finalized plans to purchase the door, but hope to today or tomorrow...

Okay, I've digressed, I know big surprise, right!?! Anyway, after the excitement of the door, I headed to my parent's house to refill my water bottles before heading home to pull out more nasty insulation. After the offer of another free meal involving veggies & fruit, oh be still my digestive system, I decided to blow off insulation for the evening. Practicality of a good meal won out over my lack of want to get up in the attic/laziness! Eventually I made it back to my house with dreams of showering and getting to bed early. Ha! I should have known better.





When I pulled into my driveway at 7, I realized that the workmen were still there. In one day they managed to strip all of the cedar shakes off the backside of the house and replace half of that with the metal. When I opened my attic access and saw blue sky, I realized that I couldn't let the chance pass to tear out insulation while I'd have a breeze! So, up I went, after changing into the appropriate outfit. An hour later I had 3 joists cleared and 4 bags filled up. Even though the insulation is gone, I'm still going to have to vacuum up there to clear out the rest of the yuck, but hopefully with the right attachments it won't take as much bending and twisting. At several points last night I was pretty certain that I was going to have to call for help to get my unstuck from the beams/joists/drywall ceiling!! Thankfully I keep my phone in my pocket for just such an emergency.







I've discovered several very important facts about the insulation in my attic:

- it's disgusting!
- 3 inches (original depth) isn't near enough in this climate
- if you have an old house, invest in blowing in more insulation in the attic! -there is little to no fiberglass left over the edges of the rooms
-they didn't ever insulate over the eaves, porches or carport
-mouse houses are nasty!
-raccoons' poop is almost as large as a dog's!
-showering completely doesn't get rid of the smell!!

Enjoy the pictures and sorry about the quality. I left my camera at school, so all I had was my phone, but I figured you could get the picture - pun intended! Have a great day!

Roof...

Well, the crew has started on the roof. Apparently it was a lot worse than we thought because they have been working 2 days and only have off the top two layers of the asphalt shingles and have revealed the cedar shakes below. The gentleman that is removing the roof did mention that the second layer was a mess. The attached pics are from after they covered the roof with the plastic.


Sorry, I was busy researching my house at the courthouse for an hour after school and missed the pre-plastic shot. The basement of the Washington County yielded some interesting information, but no leads on the concrete in the backyard. For anyone who wants to know the history of my property is as follows:
The owner's prior to me were William & Helen Buske who purchased the land in 1961 for $10,000 from Ruth Hunter Thomas Giddings.

Ruth and her sister, Otway Schell, received the property, originally part of a plot of 5 3/4 acres, from their father S.W. Thomas on September 11, 1930.
It gets fuzzy here because of the non-flow of the names and the data taken in 1909... Somehow John Giddings purchased the property on December 10, 1909 for $600. He bought it from a J.C. Day who was a minor when he received it as an heir of Jessie Johnson on January 24, 1908. It was at this point that I basically lost track of property. I have more books to look in and at one point when I get a spare hour, I'll keep going. I'm guessing the following info based on what I read on the property. Mr./s Johnson bought up 3 different pieces of land when they bought the property originally because the purchase is recorded into 3 different deed books at 3 different dates. Thanks to the fabulous (I really mean that) handwriting of the people of the 1900's, I cannot tell much more because I can't read their writing. It is gorgeous to look at, but a pain to read!

After the guys finished the roof for the day, I psyched myself up and went up into the attic to tear out some insulation. People, let me tell you, it was NASTY!! Apparently the previous owners' cats were up there at one point, along with raccoons, and who knows what else. Just use your imagination as to how I know this.

While I was up there, I also found 3 picture frames that I'm hoping will clean up well, a Victrola label, and some baseball cards. All in all I pulled out three large bags of the stuff and didn't manage to go through the drywall. It was super humid up there, so I didn't hang out long, but I was proud of myself for getting 3 bags out. Now, if I can only do 3 bags a night, it should take me 3-4 months at the most! ;)