Friday, April 07, 2006

The Summer Projects

Well, as you may have noticed by the SEVERE lack of posting on this site, we've been on hiatus.

With the weather warming up, and the cabin fever overwhelming us, we came up with a list of projects to get done this summer:

1. Replace more windows and storm windows. Karl had two sets replaced already last fall, and they've been working out great. He's getting his groove on the technique and it's only costing us about $10-20 a window to replace it. Can you believe it?

2. Insulate the attic. I think the last time it was insulated with blown in cellulose was in the 1940's. It's only about 3" deep, and with the new stove upstairs, it was really obvious this needs to be a priority. I need to research the correct way to put new insulation over old blown in insulation. One question I have is whether I need to use a vapor barrier between the layers.

3. Probably the most fun project is putting in a stone wall. The fence around the property is temporary, and we'd like to have at least the front be a dry-fit sandstone wall, 3 feet high. It would cut down on the traffic noise, and look much nicer. We got quotes for $3 a ton, unbelievable pricing. We will also use this stone to patio out the north side of the house. It hardly gets any sun due to the house and mature trees, and after 3 years of bad luck with the grass, it's coming out!

4. Make a path to the wood pile. Since we officially converted to using solely wood heat, we made quite a mud path to where we dump the wood, and it would be nice to have a nicer pathway.

I have no photos as of yet, so I'll post when we get rolling