Every lone trip to the little house in the city is a new experience. Some days are good, and some days not so good. Most days are good. Some nights are blessed with a sound, deep sleep and some nights are restless. Most nights offer a sound, deep sleep.
This trip began with hot humid weather, which disappeared overnight. This morning the skies were cloudy, the sun shone occasionally, and the temperature was 13C. The heat of the day is 20C today, perfect!
Terra and Isaac dropped by this morning for a chat and to bring me a cucumber from Terra’s garden. I am going to have that today for my snacks, with a garlic dip. We had a nice chat and then off they went, back out to the country to carry on with their day.
I began my daily work with a project that I regarded as fun. I weeded the tomato plants, pruned the dead stems at the bottom of the plants, and sprayed the plants with aqueous oxygen for good measure.
The next project on my list wasn’t as much fun. It was time to insulate the exterior wall of the bathroom.
The first step was to measure the spaces between the studs, and make a diagram of the layout. Then the insulation was measured, including partial pieces leftover from insulating the dining room. After fiddling with numbers on paper for a while, trying to optimize the use of the insulation, I gave up and decided to “wing it”. The measurements were a guideline.
The materials and tools were gathered: insulation, hat, gloves, an exacto knife, and a carpenter’s square.
I set to work and after three hours of work the job was done.
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The clean up involved bagging the bits of insulation that might be used for other projects, putting away the tools and vacuuming the workspace.
My skin itched! I had been sweating a bit while working and fibreglass fibres had managed to stick to my skin. When everything else was cleaned up, out I went onto the back porch, where I removed all that fibreglass covered clothing and threw it into the yard.
Next I came indoors and washed. After changing into clean clothes I went back outside. I took all the clothes I had worn for the project, and shook them out. Then the clothes were rolled and stuffed into a laundry bag.
I am still a bit itchy, but that is probably because I am still thinking about that insulation!
The next step is to apply vapour barrier over the entire insulated area.
While I have been busy with the bathroom at the little house in the city, Attila is hard at work on another project at the country house.
The country house was built as a seasonal cottage. It was well built, designed by a concrete engineer, for her family. The interior walls were finished with a product which was popular at the time the cottage was constructed. Particle board artificial wood panelling was used on the interior walls. It has since been painted, several times. We painted it once ourselves.
Attila is removing the panelling in the living room, dining room and hallway, to be replaced with drywall. He has most of the panelling removed at this point. We are going to reuse the panelling in the garage at the little house in the city; to cover the insulation and vapour barrier that are already installed.
This spring the city, at the little house in the city, decided to replace the water main, and the water line to each home, on our street. Last year there was a water main leak in front of our house, and at that time the water line to our house was replaced. Now the water line to every house on the street has been replaced. The road was badly torn up in the process.
So this week the dump trucks and diggers have been working on the street. They dug deep ditches on either side of the road. We did have a gravel driveway in front of the house, in addition to the paved driveway in front of the garage. The gravel driveway was partially dug out for the ditch; it is no longer a viable driveway. We will miss it, but we really did not need it.
The road crew has removed all the old road pavement and levelled the street. No paving crew in evidence yet, but it is only a matter of time.
With the new deep ditches, the street parking has been seriously compromised. If people park on both sides of the street now it will be barely possible to get through.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
18°C
Condition: Cloudy
Pressure: 101.4 kPa
Tendency: rising
Visibility: 24 km
Temperature: 17.5°C
Dewpoint: 7.6°C
Humidity: 52%
Wind: N 9 km/h
Quote
“There are no facts, only interpretations.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
1844-1900
Regarding fibreglass: if you’re the kind of person who has allergies, I’d be very careful working with that insulation. Strongly recommend wearing a face mask. Those little bits that float in the air get into your lungs and can cause major havoc.
Your job is very neat and workmanlike. Bravo! or should I say Brava!? My parents and I renovated so many old New England houses that the scene is very familiar. I know how hard you’re working and my hat (metaphorical hat) is off to you. Brava!
Sarah I did not wear a mask, and encountered no problems. But it is a good idea, and we will be doing more insulating, the rest of the house actually, so will remember to wear a mask just in case. Putting in the insulation is the first time putting something back together again. I hope I like the rest of the process of rebuilding better than I like insulating!
A face mask is an absolute necessity, Maggie. Really. That stuff is minute but is in the air, like Rhu said, and you’ve already breathed in a bunch. You might want to ask your GP about it to see if there is anything to do, but it is very dangerous to breath that stuff.
Point taken Bex. Next time the mask will be used. No ill effects to date, lucky so far.