Squirrelly Wires, and a Rotten Beam (yes, BEAM, not bean)
For the last few months the upstairs renovation project has been coming along very nicely. We have been working on it as our schedule permits. Back in June when we decided to remove all of the ceilings upstairs (I insisted on this, as the previous ceilings were a cardboard substance that looked cheap and ugly); we actually found that our decision was a blessing as we discovered something dangerous lurking: exposed electrical wires!
In order to be able to examine the wiring properly, we had to be able to get behind the upstairs ceiling. There is no attic space above either bedroom ceiling. Upon removal of the cardboard we had discovered that there was a lot of dirt, dirt dauber nests, and dust behind the ship lap siding. There was no evidence of rats, or mice-- nice, but it was apparent that squirrels had crawled into the space and chewed up some of the wiring. Waylon and his dad, Benny, were able to go in and rewire all of the upstairs lights, replacing most of the old wiring, and installing recessed lights in both upstairs bedrooms. They installed ten lights in the upstairs bedrooms, in addition to the lights installed for the closets, and bathroom.
After completing the upstairs wiring, the guys moved downstairs to work on removing the old floors; a project that is currently ongoing. We had originally hoped to keep the old hardwood floors, but had at some point decided that the thick cut-back glue was just too difficult to remove, and too time consuming. The decision was to take out the old floors, which doubled as sub-floors, and install new, more sturdy sub-floors. I tried to convince Waylon that we should cover the old floors with new ones-- as it would be more simple than cutting them out, and perhaps less expensive, but he insisted on removing the old ones. He wanted to install something better-- more sturdy, with open cell spray insulation applied to the bottom side of the floor to make it nice and insulated. Good thing Waylon didn't listen to me because while tearing out the flooring last week, the guys discovered that we have a rotting beam beneath the area where the staircase meets the downstairs floor. This would explain the dip that did not go away after the house was leveled. The beam will be replaced, along with a floor joist that needs repair. This problem likely would not have been discovered had they not torn out the old flooring; thanks to Waylon's insistence.
There is a bit of good news to go with this. The company that did the leveling for us a few months ago was supposed to replace any rotten beams, and their work is under warranty, so we will be calling them to come back and finish the job correctly. Poop to more delays, but YAY for warranties!
The small amount I've contributed lately has mainly been in scraping paint upstairs in the bathroom. I will move on to scraping the trim around the bedroom windows when the bathroom is finished. Of course, school and the holidays have been taking up a lot of the kids' and my time; projects, Christmas shopping, friends, fellowship. I can't complain, this time of year is one of my favorite times of year!
In order to be able to examine the wiring properly, we had to be able to get behind the upstairs ceiling. There is no attic space above either bedroom ceiling. Upon removal of the cardboard we had discovered that there was a lot of dirt, dirt dauber nests, and dust behind the ship lap siding. There was no evidence of rats, or mice-- nice, but it was apparent that squirrels had crawled into the space and chewed up some of the wiring. Waylon and his dad, Benny, were able to go in and rewire all of the upstairs lights, replacing most of the old wiring, and installing recessed lights in both upstairs bedrooms. They installed ten lights in the upstairs bedrooms, in addition to the lights installed for the closets, and bathroom.
After completing the upstairs wiring, the guys moved downstairs to work on removing the old floors; a project that is currently ongoing. We had originally hoped to keep the old hardwood floors, but had at some point decided that the thick cut-back glue was just too difficult to remove, and too time consuming. The decision was to take out the old floors, which doubled as sub-floors, and install new, more sturdy sub-floors. I tried to convince Waylon that we should cover the old floors with new ones-- as it would be more simple than cutting them out, and perhaps less expensive, but he insisted on removing the old ones. He wanted to install something better-- more sturdy, with open cell spray insulation applied to the bottom side of the floor to make it nice and insulated. Good thing Waylon didn't listen to me because while tearing out the flooring last week, the guys discovered that we have a rotting beam beneath the area where the staircase meets the downstairs floor. This would explain the dip that did not go away after the house was leveled. The beam will be replaced, along with a floor joist that needs repair. This problem likely would not have been discovered had they not torn out the old flooring; thanks to Waylon's insistence.
There is a bit of good news to go with this. The company that did the leveling for us a few months ago was supposed to replace any rotten beams, and their work is under warranty, so we will be calling them to come back and finish the job correctly. Poop to more delays, but YAY for warranties!
The small amount I've contributed lately has mainly been in scraping paint upstairs in the bathroom. I will move on to scraping the trim around the bedroom windows when the bathroom is finished. Of course, school and the holidays have been taking up a lot of the kids' and my time; projects, Christmas shopping, friends, fellowship. I can't complain, this time of year is one of my favorite times of year!
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