30 May 2009

Quick note from our place...

After a long, busy week I had a great friday night with the kids and Granny here at home. WHEW!
This morning Aaron went to be a helper at the Special Olympics held at the Emory University athletic fields. He worked with our troop committee chairman and some of his fellow scouts. We are all happy that he did this and proud about his involvement. Uncle Denny had no comment, but as a former competitor I am sure he approves.
A BIG PROJECT BEGUN...
Early this morning Victoria and I went to Home Depot and got a bunch of rolls of insulation to improve the old stuff in our attic. I mention my wonderful daughter mainly because she did a great job of getting the staff at the store in line and figuring out the best value for the money. Being a penny-pinching Harris decendant can come in handy when you have a big project to plan and pay for. Thanks Torie!
THE TOUGH PART WAS NEXT...
I had been wanting to double-up the attic insulation for a while, but could never get time, money, help and schedule all together. Today, however, was the day!!!
I had arranged for some scouts from the troop to do the job, but in the end, only one showed up. As it turned out, he was as good as having a whole crew on the job!
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PLANNING...
We got started as early as possible, despite a bit of car trouble for Brant, my hired help. After a quick re-organization of the few items in the attic we got busy.
First we used large leaf rakes to smooth out and fill in all the existing insulation and prepare the whole attic.
As you can see, the old stuff (on the right) was blown in by machine and was still OK by 1980 standards, but it was time for an upgrade. The new R19 batts are really great and easy to install. Especially after we got the old stuff leveled out with the joists.
My able contractor went to work and did a GREAT job! I was the support guy, bringing fresh batts up from the trailer and helping cut around obstructions.Once we got past the stair opening things really flew! It took us about four hours, start to finish, to get the job done. And yes, it was really HOT up there. We even used a fan to keep cool and had both stairwells open for ventilation.
TIME FOR A COOL ONE...As you can see, we were glad to get back down into the cooler space and fill up on some nice cool water. It was a job well done.
Until Brant tried to leave and his car would not start. We got under the hood and discovered why he had no power steering and no electrical power.The power steering pump disintegrated, lost it's main shaft and pulley and put the belt into the main serpentine. We got it squared away by removing the belt and letting the car go with no power steering. He made it home, so all must be well.
TIME TO UNWIND...
Beside posting this BLOG, I am just trying to relax on the sofa and regain my strength by veggin' out in front of the TV.
Ya' know, I think it feels cooler in here already...

6 comments:

Bill T said...

That was a full days work for a day off.

Victoria said...

Enjoy the cool fruits of your labor! And don't forget you have control of the remote control, now! ;)

JP2E said...

I will try to use this power for good, not evil...

Katie said...

Sounds like a lot of work, but sounds like it will be worth it with the hot summer months ahead!! :)

Peggie said...

Sounds like you got a lot of work done in a short day's time. I know you are relaxing and wondering why you didn't do this work sooner!!

Glad all went well.

Talk to you soon.

Love ya!!

CShore said...

Nice job on your hard work. I've thought about doing more in my attic too, but I'm not sure the rest of the house is energy efficient enough yet to go for that first off.

I forgot to tell you, while my dad was in town we made it out to the range again and fired a few shots.

Rest up!