DIY & Home Improvement

We bought an older house, 30s built, that had blown in celulose insulation where they could and where they didn't flat ass miss. The ceiling was blown in also. The cavities in the walls that were filled at one time had settled about 18 inches so the top 18 inches of our walls were not insulated any longer. In the attic I could see that when they blew the cellulose in that they put a 6 inch layer but it too had settled between the ceiling joist to where it was maybe 3 inches of insulation. When we bought the house we bought it with intention of changing the floor plan as when it was built they had bedrooms that were 10 ft by 9 ft, a kitchen that was 8 foot by 9 foot with a 7 foot ceiling, the dining room was 8 foot by 8 foot and I could go on, oh the living room was 32 feet long, who needs a living room that is 32 feet on one dimension. So you can see that a total rebuild from the inside out to the inside of the outside walls and the underside of the decking and all other than load bearing interior walls were removed to allow me to completely change the floor plan and complete re-wire the house properly and to completely re do the plumbing. We moved our bathroom, added another bathroom, all this requires re-plumbing and re-wiring anyway. I put fiberglass insulation in the walls and ceiling and I use Johns Mansvile insulation, it is encapsulated in plastic on the three sides that are not the vapor barrier, even thought those sides and back were covered with plastic the plastic was full of small holes to allow water vapor to not collect in the insulation and wood studs and cause the wood to rot. In some places I found 7 layers of drywall and paneling with some layers of the drywall painted and some were wall papered. I ripped up all the flooring, carpet, and put hardwood, bamboo and tile down so they are 3 layers thick. Our walls are 8 ft 2 and 1/2 inch tall so I had room to do that with out lowering our ceiling which is still over 8 ft high. Our kitchen and dining room I turned those into cathedral ceilings and that really gave out home a new look. I planned our kitchen/dinning and living room in one big tee shape with the kitchen stove in the cabinets that are a break in between the living room and kitchen so my wife can watch the tv or visit with friends while fixing a meal.
Sorry bout the long winded but I'm pretty proud of what I've done to this old, now new house. This last summer I replaced all the windows with double pane low e vinyl and removed the vinyl siding and put house wrap over the entire house gluing the house wrap to the flanges to the windows using caulk so that no air will get in between the window and the house wrap and then replaced the siding. The person who originally put the vinyl siding on, Mennonite workers, low priced cheap labor, were pretty lazy or chintzy, not sure which, but there were places where the siding wasn't even nailed for 6 to 8 feet, its now nailed every stud. The new windows and house wrap made a big difference in the comfort level in here. We heat with wood pellets and I can already tell we're going to save more that the house wrap cost and probably the price of one of the windows this year alone in heating cost.

I guess other than the bragging I'm wanting to say if at all possible stay away from blown in insulation, especially cellulose as it settles and it settles a lot. I plan to add another 6 inches of fiberglass batts to the ceilings as soon as I get to it. We're getting old and I don't want my wife to have to worry with her home in her retirement after I've gone to be with the ghost of the world. Hence the extra steps I've taken to ensure that she/we have a good, up to date, old house. I used PEX for my plumbing, with the waste water in all PVC all anchored at the most 3 foot intervals, no block or rocks that the plumbing is setting on either,, used plumbers tape, which is a 3/4 inch steel strap with nail hole on about an inch and a half centers anchored to the floor joist. I used 1 inch PVC pipe from the meter to the hot water tank and to the kitchen sink. When some one is in a shower and someone else turns cold water on in another place you will never know it in the shower.

I took an old well built house and turned it into a doll house for my wife, I know no other way to put it.

I've got one small room we're going to turn into a sun room to do yet as that is where I keep my tools, table saws etc so I can do this work on the house without making trips to and from the shop. As I say to my wife when I finish this room I'm moving these tools to the storage shed to never have to bring them back in. I know that I'm going to be changing some of the oak flooring that I put in the kitchen and dining room with Cork and bamboo, respectively, both we like real well.

I plan to insulate under the floor too as soon as I get to that.

Drywall is relatively cheap and is easy to finish if you just give it a try so my first suggestion is to remove the drywall on the walls so you can insulate with fiberglass insulation as in all my years I've never witnessed, other that in trailer homes where they don't anchor the insulation and never put in a full cavity so I can guarantee the insulation will settle in them. Other than that never seen fiberglass insulation sag.