Ever since the main renovations were completed, improvements to the house have been slow, at first glance. But, the work has been, mostly, focused on the attic. After getting two quotes, as well as, another on-site visit resulting in no follow-up, we've decided to do the work ourselves.
The first step involved removing all the old wood Red Cedar shingles: yes, I found fragments of old, paper wrapping in the attic. It was a tedious process, as it required delicately maneuvering across ceiling joists in an attempt to avoid disturbing the plaster ceilings. Surprisingly, I didn't find any random items, other than a 1970's style long-sleeved shirt buried in the existing mineral wool insulation. Regardless, it was a dirty job, but one that gave me the opportunity to become intimately familiar with the attic.
While spending more time than I preferred in the attic, I discovered poor installation of the new bathroom vent ducting resulting in the connection becoming detached from the fan housing, a missing wiring panel plate for the bathroom fan housing (the workers didn't install it during the renovation), a barely attached range hood duct (hanging by one screw with about an inch of daylight to the roof cap, and connected wires for the bath/shower light that were not inside an electrical box, but just wire nutted and wrapped with electrical tape. *sigh* I received a reduction from the contractor for all of these items, although he denied anything was wrong or that his worker had anything to do with the electric wires outside of an enclosed junction box. While I have detailed photographic proof of all these discrepancies, I have no desire to post them. More importantly, if someone who was quick to espouse their "40 years of experience", I was not going to let those items be corrected by someone who can't even admit fault on errors or poor workmanship.
Because of the previous items, I was sidetracked with correcting (replacing) every issue. Afterwards, I began the process of air sealing each top-plate, plumbing vent stack and electrical line penetrations, and around each ceiling box. Ever since we purchased our home, I discovered Building Science Corporation, namely Dr. Joseph Lstiburek. I've read numerous papers he has written and, while I won't go into all the detail of what he has written, namely "stack effect", here is a good overview of the work I have been doing in the attic and should be finished by next weekend.
The final step will be to install the insulation. My wife and I will complete the work ourselves, saving close to 50% of the cost. The final insulation rating will be R60, which is overkill, but inexpensive versus R49 (recommended for our area). While I wanted to install blown-in cellulose or Roxul, I'm not certain the plaster ceilings will support the weight over the long term. Yes, I've done the calculations and the weight differences are substantial. Instead, blown-in fiberglass will be used. It should make a huge difference in the indoor comfort, especially on those really cold days and nights. There should, also, be some benefit in the Summer against radiant heat from the attic.
When I'm done, there are some who would consider the painful detail and work I have done is overkill. But, this is a house we'll live in for a very long time--no plans to "move up" or "downsize". I believe 830 sq ft is already downsized... :)
No pics this time, but when we're done, I'll post some before and afters.
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