Impromptu Renovations!

I guess I should preface this story by saying that we do not exactly have what I would call 'shirt-sleeves comfortable' temperatures in our home during the winter time. I find I am getting more and more like my Dad as I age. I am not very easy-going when it comes to change...I like things a certain way and will work diligently to make sure things go 'right'...If people would just do things correctly the first time, then they would not need to be 'controlled' to do it right! Therefore, they wouldn't need to complain about me being 'controlling'! And I am cheap. Since the utilities come out of my piece of the pie, so to speak, we keep it around 68 or 69 during the day and around 10pm, I turn the heat down to 63 degrees. We all have electric blankets, so we are pretty comfortable even though the house temperature is a bit chilly. Morgan complains all the time, but she can find a lot to complain about sometimes! :-)

So imagine my shock and horror when I opened the gas/electric bill to find a combined total of almost $400 for the month that we owe Duke Energy! Gasp! We never had a bill that high even in the horrible, oppressive heat of a Mobile, Alabama August! So immediately, Phillip begins knocking tiny holes in the walls to see if we have any insulation on the perimeter walls. We don't. I guess they didn't 'do' insulation in the 1920's. Right then and there Phillip suggests that we take the perimeter walls down (one at a time) add insulation and put up sheetrock in place of the plaster. Also, since there are only two electrical outlets per room, he wanted to add more, take out the knob and tube wiring (original with the house) and replace that with grounded, up-to-date electricity. Keep in mind that I am very familiar with how the Duttons operate...they get really excited about a project, get everything all messy and at a point of no return, then quickly lose interest. I'm sure Linda my Mom-in-law can probably vouch for that!

So I make it very clear that this project cannot last forever. I will not live for weeks, months or years with my walls half up and half down. Wall comes down, electricity goes in, wall goes up, then primer, finally paint. In quick order. Then we can begin on the next wall. We agree and start knocking down the wall that very night! Archie was super excited. Phillip was too. I was skeptical, but I wanted to get the darn thing started and finished already. It was quickly decided that the two boys would wield the hammers. You could feel the sheer excitement in the air! Destroying stuff with hammers! What could be better! I took the job no one else wanted...I was the clean up crew, meaning I put all the knocked down plaster in garbage bags. Archie said I had the easy job. I just had the much less exciting job.

Here are the boys as they began the project:

If I had been able to get a shot from the other side, you would have seen a look of sheer joy and excitement on both their faces! Archie stayed at it the whole time we were working. He did all of this by himself:

This job is quite dusty and a bit more work than was originally thought through. The brick behind the fireplace was a pain because all the plaster was stuck to the brick and it had to be scraped. Very labour intensive. It took about two hours per side of the fireplace. And there's this metal fencing material which forms the top of the wall, the window area and the door areas. That was another unpleasant surprise which took longer than originally calculated. We've found yet another neat cubbyhole in our house that we didn't know was there. We found some newspapers from January 1932 'insulating' some of the walls in the basement. That was sort of a neat find. The paper as a whole was too delicate to read anymore...it just crumbles in your hands. But the pieces that I could get out of it and read are really neat. The Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper cost 3 cents to purchase in January of 1932. You could get a bottle of mouthwash for 50 cents. And so forth. I love stuff like that. I wish I could've read some of the articles. I saved it so perhaps I can piece some of it together when I have a quiet moment.

Phillip is working in Paducah this week, but he got the additional electrical outlets wired in, some of the insulation up, and the switches that turn off and on the light fixtures are working and are no longer a part of the old knob and tube system. I was very proud of Phillip. Although his hands are kind of torn up and bruised, there were no injuries that required hospitalization. But we're not done yet. We still have the rest of the insulation and the sheetrock to hang.

Fortunately the dusty part is over, for this wall anyway. The dust and mess was making me a little crabby. Come to find out, most folks in our neighbourhood are paying out small fortunes for their heating bills. We weren't as bad as some...the lady across the street paid $600! I've heard people at church talking about theirs being $700 and more! Granted, we all live in houses that are 100 years old or more. But they live in 'shirtsleeves comfort'. I'll wear a sweatshirt to save a few hundred dollars! Spring is coming...spring is coming...spring is coming...

On the pregnancy front, we are through the first trimester. Archie and I heard the baby's heart beat during my last appointment at my doctor's office. I'm still really tired...I'm anxiously awaiting that supposed 'honeymoon' phase were I'm supposed to have a bunch of energy. Still waiting...*sigh*