Days of Shades

One of the recurring headaches in my remodeling project is the question of what to do about the attic ventilation baffles. See, I’m only adding 240 square feet of space, but the remodel permit requires me to bring the rest of the attic insulation up to current code — which I’m quite happy to do! I like to be cozy and not throw my money at the utility company! It has this one difficult aspect, though.

Blowing in insulation requires baffles — cardboard or cheapo plastic, doesn’t matter — up between the trusses to keep an air path from the eave to the ridge free of insulation.

Almost all of the ones my house had have fallen down, and have ot be replaced.

There are 30 of these things (my little house is actually quite well ventilated on the intake side of things! Now, if I had more outflow vents that might actually do something!).

I have a plane-jane boring 1960 ranch house. You know the kind. Single story rectangle, roof pitches of 3 or 4 in twelve? That means that in the place where you need to get to install the baffles, you’re looking at a foot between the joists and the roof. A foot to manipulate yourself, the baffle,and your tools.

Did I mention the roofing nails go all the way through and come out the bottom of the sheathing to stab you in the head? They do that.

So I’d finally given up on this insane prospect and decided I’d pay someone to do it for me, but my first quote arrived and…

1. they want almost as much as I paid the (highly skilled) electricians to replace the panel/weatherhead/grounding.

2. the estimator says they’ll do it by stapling cardboard to the bottom of the trusses rather than putting them up IN the trusses (to allow more insulation cover over the top-plate), which is wrong wrong wrong wrong according to every energy efficiency and ventilation source I’ve looked at, and specifically not what I asked for.

I’m really hoping the next estimator is better — at least if you’re going to charge a grand do the damn thing right! — but if not, I’m back to figuring out how to do it myself.

The actual project'll wait 'til it cools off this fall, I suppose. I can dread it quietly until then.

On Tuesday electricians came and replaced my electrical panel, all the cabling from the panel up to the weatherhead, and the weatherhead. They also fixed all but one of the little things I needed to do, like sinking the ground stakes a few inches farther and getting a cable clamp for the exterior outlet. It was awesome! ...I have to pay them a lot of money now, but it was awesome.

Calliope got very confused when the guy was under the house bonding to the water line. Where is that voice coming from? She's not a stupid cat; SHE knows voices don't come from the floor! So instead she looked in the reasonable places, like 'under the baseboard heater' and 'behind the shelf'. Y'know, places where a grown human male could conceivably hide. :P

Friday the electrical work got all inspected and I had a lovely visit with N, an older long-time musician friend of mine who's been struggling for awhile with not being able to play as much. She gave me a few pointers on a song she used to perform that I want to work up on my tenor -- the ostensible reason I went over -- but mostly we just had a nice visit.

I'd planned Saturday to be quiet, and full of writing and art, but I kinda forgot that my brother had promised me yard work for my birthday. When mom got fed up with him she brought him over, and since he was there and I really needed a plant moved (which gets more dangerous for the plant as spring progresses), we started in -- at 4 p.m. In the rain. The plant is six feet tall, my yarden is full of tree roots, and it took us three hours. In the mud. Now I'm just crossing my fingers that the darned thing lives.

Sunday dad came over and he started the last new circuit (240 to run floor heat) while I worked on low voltage. A lot of the day was spent buying stuff, but I've got the first two speaker wires cut and run, and the studio ethernet. By the end of the day I was tuckered and E and I bailed on the dinner I'd planned on making and went to the Thai House. I should be avoiding that kind of expense, but damn, I didn't want to stand up for another hour in the kitchen (and the Thai House is delicious).

It's really pretty exciting -- Dad's going to be gone or unavailable for the next three weekends, but there's a lot of work for me to do. I have to put up the rest of the heater circuit (he did the scary panel bit); cut holes for boxes for speakers and ethernet in the living room and ethernet in each bedroom; measure, cut, and run the cat6; and... damn, I think there was something else. That's enough for now, though. I've never actually fished wire through a wall, and cutting holes in the rooms that are finished is always exciting. And it involves wading through attic insulation! Always a fun time.

Oh, and brother and I also restacked the whole drywall pile this weekend. Twice.

I got a lengthy to-do list from the electrical inspector, and I'm going to try to get it in some sort of order, in hopes that it'll look smaller. And cheaper. (highly unlikely).

Easy and cheap

• Buy and install missing romex connector for exterior outlet
• tie gas line into ground wire. Purchased extra wire and stake clamp Friday, still need bonding clamp.

Moderate

• Remove ALL the outlets already wired, wait until drywall, and replace them ALL with Tamper Proof outlets now required by code (contrary to what I was told at home depot when I spent money on normal outlets). Incredible stroke of luck/generosity: One of dad's friends had an old house totally rewired a year or two back, and after they moved in his wife decided she wanted black outlets instead of white (to match age of house), so he has a bucket of perfectly good tamper proof outlets he's giving me! Yay, 25-30 bucks saved!
• Replace the existing 64 year old 12-2 cable to the water heater with 10-2 cable. 'Moderate' because it's thankfully all easily accessible.
• Tie electrical system to water lain and drain(s). 'Moderate' because it requires mucking under the house. It may already have been done, or partially done, but if any sections of plumbing were replaced with plastic the system is no longer cohesive and doesn't count.

Hard and/or Expensive

• Replace the 150 amp cables running from the meter into the back of the panel with 200 amp. (requires utility disconnect farther up the line, costing over $200 instead of $30 I was expecting for pulling meter)
• Replace the old weather abused cables running from weather head down to meter (which I'd always assumed was the utility company's problem and didn't even realize was my responsibility, beyond being totally out of the scope of my project)

The inspector seemed to think that replacing the run from the weatherhead down was something we could do, and he reassured me that the material wasn't expensive, but my dad is understandably scared of messing with the giant cables supplying power to the whole house. I can't blame him. So it looks like I'll need to get a contractor in to do it, and anyone who's had a house knows that means the price just more than doubled. At least.

On the upside, mom came over Saturday and we got the exterior walls insulated (minus the studbay where I'm missing the romex connector and the one containing the electrical panel). The total cash-out for that was only about $35, because I already had half a bundle and it turned out I had money left on the Lowes gift card I bought awhile back (I bought it so I could send my brother back to the store for something without trusting him w/ cash or card).

Also, now that I've squirted disgusting orange fireblock foam into all the wiring holes I know where cheetos come from.

Pinniped is going to play at the Little Creek Casino (in the lounge bit, not the giant real stage with lighting bit) on St. Patrick's day, for more money than we've ever played for before! Because booking agents are pretty cool! Now, the agent gets 15%, and we're probably going to pay someone to do sound, and we just pre-spent $250 on another nice monitor, so we'll each take home a pretty standard amount -- but we'll do it having invested in the band and (hopefully) had a much easier show. :D

Spurred by that, we had a really long, productive practice on Sunday. We're working on a bunch of new songs, and helping dad work up to his lead vocal debut. I got my first on-stage lead singing thing out of the way last year, and it was frankly horrible, as was the next time, and the time after that -- but each one improved a tiny, and I feel like I'm almost comfortable now. So I'm glad to see dad starting that process, even though I suspect the first few times will be a disaster, just like they were for me. :P

Before practice dad and I worked in the studio. I started air-sealing -- inserted foam cord all around the windows -- but it was too cold to use the caulk, so couldn't finish the job. Knocked out an electrical box that was too small and replaced it, cleaned up, etc -- all sorts of little things while dad went around and finished dressing out outlets, which is something that's almost impossible for me to do if my fingers are cold (I can do it just fine if it's not cold; I did all the ones inside the house). I did wire one of the switches, and I got down and pretended to be an electron* with my finger so I could be sure I understood how the switched outlet was wired.

Saturday night I bussed down to traditions (in the snow!) to see Randal Bays play, and had a lovely evening with Jesse, who happened to be there as well. I had lots of offers of rides home -- including from Randal, who's a sweetheart -- but since I live up a mini-mountain I called Erik to rescue me. Ex-Connecticut boy is far more comfortable driving in snow than most of the people here. That meant I was stuck hanging out at Traditions for awhile after everyone else had left, so I bussed other people's tables and helped Dick coil mic cables and such. It was kind of nice. Really a lovely evening all told -- good people and warm soup and cheer inside, pretty snow outside. We sat by the window so we could watch it.

I also wrote a lot this weekend, but since I ended up cutting most of it, I'm not sure where to count it on the 'productivity' meter. I am The Un Writer. :P

*Yes,  I know it doesn't really work that way with AC, but it was close enough, darn it. Leave me to be an electron in peace.

Dad and I only worked for a few hours Saturday, but they were an eventful few hours. I made a lighting decision! As with so many of my favorite solutions, it's very Cinderella (from Into the Woods): "I know what my decision is -- which is not to decide!"

The non-painting lighting in the studio is going to be track lighting, which only requires one electrical box. I know where it starts, and since it's all modular I can just build on from there. So there'll be a track over the desk area and along that wall, and at some point in the future I can decide to have it either T or turn a corner if I want more light in the other half of the room -- and I can figure out how I deal with it running into the painting fluorescent then. Track lighting looks a lot better than it used to, so it should work out pretty well. I also bought a new panel, and we worked out what we need to do to fit that in. We should be able to finish the rough wiring next weekend and have it inspected next week; then I can start with air-sealing and insulation while we figure out how/when we're switching over the panel.

That was the main accomplishment of a busy weekend. I also went to Trik's son's first birthday*, visited my former fiddle teacher and talked writing shop, went to a Jim Malcolm concert with E, and somehow ended up at the tail end of a (low key) superbowl party at my parents' house. I only showed up -- at the end of the third quarter -- because Anthea (former fiddle teacher) was planning on going and was seriously cajoling me, and I thought there'd be more music and writing talk. The her daughter got sick and only her husband came. (Hopefully B feels better soon -- that family's had really bad luck with illnesses the last few months).

Erik sat in the living room and made cheer and grunting noises at all the appropriate places; I practiced my tenor guitar in the kitchen and chatted with mom.

I also wrote over 2,000 words this weekend, painted minis, and died once in nethack.


*And then another former SO called me today to let me know he has a two year old. This week's theme is exes-with-toddlers, apparently. :P

BTW, I have determined that my cats are at least as amusing as even a cute, happy one-year-old. You can do many of the same amusing activities, like giving them boxes, putting tissue paper on their heads, and seeing how they react to funny noises. I become more interested in kids once they start picking up language, because language acquisition is really fun to watch. Before that... it's really just going through the motions. 

I'm still fretting mightily about lights -- Should they be recessed, track, or tube? How many lumens do I need to paint? Where do I want them? How much of my meager warchest are they going to end up costing me?

Before I dissolve into a little stress puddle, though, I promised to share a floor plan!


(click to embiggen so the text is legible).

I've grayed in the areas where I'm planning on furniture. The easel is positioned to catch the north light during the day time, which should be great -- and helps me not at all at night, which starts at 4 in the afternoon during the winter. That's for acrylic and oil painting (also for panel prep, because it's a fancy easel that lays down horizontally if so needed). The computer area is in a darker corner, with a few feet of safe zone between fragile equipment and ground zero for oil paint* -- that's computer, printer (assuming I ever fix it or buy a new one), scanner-I-don't-own-yet, office-y stuff, etc. The drawing areas -- which would also be for watercolor and inking -- are harder to figure out, mostly because I'm not sure which furniture I'll use. I have a small wooden drafting table, and dad has offered me his big old metal one (which is what I learned to draft on). I also have a lightbox (courtesy Westrider/Tinierpurplefishes!) that'd love a semi-permanent home somewhere. And then there has to be some kind of Thing for holding inks and pencils and colored pencils and water colors and... er... have I ever mentioned on this journal that I have a really hard time focusing on only one medium?

Anyhow, that's the studio.

This past weekend I did almost nothing on the studio, and instead finished a kitchen project. It was a very small project (cut board, paint board, mount board), but I took it from "Hey, I need that!" to "finished" in a week, which is doing pretty damn well for me. Behold: a shelf!



Yes, my kitchen is actually that red. It's more overwhelming in the photo than in actuality because the phone camera really picks up the reflected reds... and because Erik happened to be using the red dutch oven. And I have a red teakettle. And towels. :P The other walls have white cabinets, which breaks it up a bit.

If I had the time and energy, I might paint an 18" strip behind the shelf the same white, to make the oils and vinegars and things pop -- but I'm really hoping to tear down that wall with a sledgehammer in the next five years, so I don't care that much. :P

On the right you can just about see the pot rack, which was my invention and one I keep shamelessly patting myself on the back over god damn it sometimes I can be brilliant. A couple of eye bolts are mounted in the studs with a chain slung between 'em, and the pots hang on S-hooks. About $20 at the hardware store for vastly increased storage space, right where you can get it. It was one of the first things I installed in the house. I'd come up with the idea back in the apartment, where I had even less space, and it made it much more workable.

Anyhow, that's two sections of my house. Who knows what you'll see next -- messy bedrooms? Bathroom mold? It could be anything!

*Oil paint travels. You can never actually keep the oils where they belong, you can only try, and sigh philosophically when you sit in wet paint. That's the downside of taking days to fully dry.

Doing better today.

I emailed Des and my uncle W about my lighting dilemmas, so I can get advice from actual professional people (a theatre lighting person and an architect, respectively). YAY for knowing nice, interesting people!

As a byproduct of that, I now have an annotated floor plan, so if anyone is curious I can post that somewhere.

Also, one of the bus drivers found the bill and insurance stuff that fell out of my pocket and mailed them to me, because she's a sweety, so I have stuff back and no longer have to freak out about my information being who-knows-where. (I received them last week; I didn't know it was her until I rode her bus again this morning).

Pinniped has a gig tonight (Business After Hours local business people thing) and one on Saturday (as the showcase group at the Bainbridge Open Mic), so that's cool.

In uncool news, Monkey has to go to the vet again. Because he couldn't get in a big fight and get all infected BEFORE his regular checkup, oh no, he had to wait for three days after. I'm kind of pleased that as of this morning it's clearly a wound infection, though -- yesterday the only symptom was a swollen lymph node, and I was kind of freaked out, since one of the first things that comes up for "Swollen lymph node in the absence of other symptoms" is leukemia. I'm hoping it's just his immune system working overtime to combat the cut on his silly little noggin.

I wish Mister Monkey Moo the Cuddlebeast would get in fewer fights. :( Or maybe start winning. It makes me think I should keep them both indoors all the time, but that's a LOT of energy in a smallish house. Going to think about building a cat gym in the studio (maybe attached to the wall) to bleed off a little zoom and make indoors more fun.

My hand is telling me I'm more stressed than I thought. It tells me this by itching like crazy, then breaking out in little whitish wheals. (Physical Uticaria and dermatographism with no apparent physical triggers = probably stress reaction, especially given the history of when it happens).

I spent the weekend drilling holes, placing electrical outlet boxes, and running outlet wire. Once the lights are wired I should be able to get the two studio circuits inspected and start thinking about drywall (okay, panel first, but I could at least start insulating, which would make it nicer to work in there).

But.

Lights are a huge issue. They're incredibly important to defining space even in your living room; in the studio they have to both do the design-y space-defining thing (since it needs to be comfortable) and be functional -- and in my case, functional for a pretty wide variety of tasks. I've mostly been thinking in terms of large oil and acrylic paintings, since that's the hardest to light for, but it also needs to be comfy for dorking around on the internet and playing video games, since my desktop will live there, and for all manner of drawing.

I've been trying to remind myself that it's just another  decision and anything I make will be better than working at the dining room table with one 100 watt (equiv) bulb blazing over my shoulder, but for all this money, time, and stress, I want to end up with more than just 'better than I had.'

(The room does have lovely natural light! My windows are working out GREAT. But I can't rely on natural light alone -- in the winter here it gets full dark at 4, and really, most things'll require some supplemental light even at noon in summer).

The plan, such as it is, is:

• bright overhead recessed LEDs on a dimmer for painting
• a switched outlet for a floor lamp by the desk
• two outlets in the ceiling with pipes near them to hold up clamp lamps for supplemental lighting.

I don't know how to place the overheads, and I don't know if it's a good plan. Would it be better to just do aimable track lighting for the overheads? Or have the overheads near the desk on a separate switched circuit, instead of using a floor or desk lamp for the desk area? Should more than one outlet be switched? Will the ceiling pipes be ridiculous overkill or a kind of awesome thing to have? Where the hell do the recessed lights go such that they both illuminate the painting spot as evenly as possible and are useful for drawing/computer stuff/anything against a wall? Are the recessed floods going to be useful enough to make up for their high cost, or will I end up having to do it all with supplemental light anyway?

ARGH.

I CAN HAS GIANT WINDOW!



It's so cool you can have another picture, taken right before I walked to work this morning. This one has sunshine and everything:


It works from the inside, too:


My coworker helped me pick up all the drywall (26 sheets, oh, my aching arms) Wednesday, which was the last thing we were waiting for before the window. Not that drywall and windows usually have anything to do with each other, but because it was far easier to have Nancy back her truck up to the open window hole than it would've been to carry the drywall around the entire house. For awhile I was afraid we'd have to tear open all the drywall pairs so we could move it one sheet at a time, but the home depot guy and I persevered, and got it onto the cart and then onto the truck, and Xed and E were waiting at home to help unload.

Now the drywall gets to sit there for weeks while we try to figure out the electrics, which is what we started in on Sunday. We didn't have a lot of time -- we have three gigs in November, so band rehearsal HAD to happen, and we got a late start -- but we bought a whole bunch of boxes and I decided on an outlet height, so I can start drilling holes in studs and wiring the receptacle circuits. I'm still very confused about LED floods, how many I'll need, what kind of cans, etc, so we can't start wiring for lights just yet, but the idea is to get the studio wiring as complete as possible without actually attaching it to the panel, and then redo the panel.

I have no idea how that's going to work, because my options are "Several days without electricity" or "hire a licensed electrician," neither of which appeal to me.

Installing the window was a pain in the butt, by the way. The four little ones were easy peasy, despite needing to use ladders. With the big one the bendiness of the vinyl comes into play, and trying to get it in square without any torque such that both vents slide easily was a finicky nightmare. We eventually called it good after an hour and a half, despite the vents not being quite as smooth as the identical professionally-installed one in the living room, because we were pretty sure we could keep tweaking it all day without any improvement.

Mom came to help with the giant-window-hoisting part, and she did a bunch of ivy-and-blackberry clean-up, too, so that was cool. It did mean a bit more familial friction than when dad and I are working alone (it's hard to be the third person at a mostly-two-person job, we'd all been up late the night before, and I work better with either parent than they work together, so nerves were frazzled), but it did give me the opportunity to say "What did you do this weekend? On Saturday, I flashed with my family!" To which mom added "In the driveway!"

(Flashing, for those that don't know, is the water-proofing stuff you put around the window). :P

Looking west (and a tad north) before we reorganized all the tools into the studio:



And the same direction but a bit south, showing the tool bench in the spot where computer stuff will likely live:



The wall directly behind the new minimalist stud wall is the one I get to destroy.