Blog Archives

Under the House Digging-Ashleigh

5/31/2018

It is not easy digging about eight hundred square feet in the height of thirty inches from the ground level to the beams where the probability of hitting your head is very high, especially when working with big shovels that require moving around a lot. But so it must be, so that the spray foam insulation can be put in, and it works as a crawlspace, and Dad can fix things down there. But for now, digging, digging, and more digging is the way to reach that goal.

Above is a picture taken 5/28/18 of Isaiah digging. This was The picture above was taken at the same time as the
the second day of digging. top picture to the left, showing our progress on this side.

This was taken 5/29/18, after about five and a                                      How far back does it go? This picture was taken 5/30, after
half hours of work. This shows the progress                                        a full day of work, determination, and *Fatmax!
made from the top right picture.

*Fatmax, Dad said, means lying down, putting the shovel against the dirt, and pounding two feet at a time. Sound tiring? We had a shovel designed for it, so the reduced the effort some.

Time capsule under the stairs - Josh

5/30/2018

From the day the stairs were enclosed until today, it appears that only small insects accessed the space under the stairs. However, several small artifacts made their way in. The most noteworthy was a picture. Others included tax tokens (game pieces?), a scrap of child-scribbled paper, and a valentines card with random numbers jotted like scratch paper on the back, and more. It seemed 40’s to 70’s vintage.

Redwood restoration - Josh

5/30/2018

Combine a 6” wire brush wheel and a cordless drill, and weathered redwood looks jaw-droppingly restored and antiqued in no time, or at least, a lot less time than a manual wire brush. It only took us about 3 hours to do all that is pictured, but it was tiring. Note that the wall pictured was an exterior wall facing north from the 1890’s to the 1970’s, though there's evidence a porch was here once..

Vaulted ceilings and a balcony - Josh

5/30/2018

Problem: How does one cut the ceiling out of a room and preserve large chunks of it for future projects? Solution: Saw through the tongue and groove portion in 4x8 sheets, then cut the joists, then hit the top of it with a sledge hammer. Bang, crash, and viola, vaulted ceilings. About two-thirds of the way through felling the ceiling, Kyra said, “we should do a balcony,” so we left a six foot balcony. She was giddy at how much the future kitchen and dining area opened up.
While we were cutting, a former resident came by to glean some roses (magnificent right now). This former resident noted the lack of light during their tenure and lauded the idea of cutting the ceiling out. After adding an extra 5.5” of rafter material and a cross brace, it should be stronger, more open, and better insulated then ever.

More headroom & fewer leaks - Josh

5/30/2018

Where three roof slopes come together, leaks happen. Our roof was mostly replaced in ~2014, thanks to a hard working friend/former resident of the Little Yellow House. However, there was a design flaw (not the friend’s doing), that left the roof vulnerable to leaks. That flaw has been partially alleviated after sawing out a chunk of roof (significant pucker factor), removing a softball sized wad of old burlap, adding some plywood, and emptying a can of spray foam. We’re planning to hire a professional to do the final roofing.
A side benefit is a substantial increase in headroom at the top of the stairs. In essence, we switched which slope was limiting head space from the 3/12 running perpendicular to the stairs to the 12/12 slope running in line with the stairs. Overall, we are very pleased with the reduced risk of future leaks and extra 12” of minimum clearance for taller folk.

The "Snowy" Attic - Courage

5/27/2018

For Mom, Isaiah and I (Courage) it was time to get on gloves, respirators and bunny suits, get some duct tape around the wrists, and get to work hauling the 3-inch deep not-so-white "snow" out of the attic! This new project took about 2 half days to get all of the blown-in insulation out, but before hauling the insulation, we had to take off the layer of floor boards above it.

To the left is what the attic looked like when we started last summer.

Vinyl Plank Flooring - Kyra

5/27/2018

Thanks to Costco, we bought the flooring for the yellow house. It's a little early but you can't pass up a good deal when you see one at Costco! Pretty sure we exceeded the carrying capacity of our minivan but we made it home with no problems and no complaints. You kids are wonderful.

Fred Jackson 1945 - Josh

5/14/2018

The Spokane Chronicle front page read "Sailor Dies in 'Gruesome' Accident" in November 1944. This paper was delivered to Fred Jackson on August 3, 1945, apparently, in Box 432. Is this a former owner? Is this the date the ship lap was installed around the large south facing window where the paper was found? Impossible to know for sure, but it does give a better approximate date than "probably before 1960."

Before and after living room - Josh

5/14/2018

After one full day's labor, one more layer was gone from the kitchen and dining room. The first layer was drywall and paneling, and the second layer, visible in the first photo but gone in the second, was lap siding. Isaiah, Kellen, and Ashleigh processed it removing large nails (leaving little nails holding some of the 5+ layers of wall paper) and pressure washing before stacking. With three-and-a-half tanks of fuel through the pressure washer, only half the boards were finished.

Fun underground - Josh

5/14/2018

Kids like to dig, and kids like ground squirrels, so why would they not dig like them?
So far, Joshy, Joseph, and Isaiah can all fit underground at once, and they're burrowing ever deeper. Homeostatic soil organisms abound in this cool repose from the summer sun.