Insulation in Maine is Overrated

Everything outside seems to be in good order. The animals are doing their thing. Eating, butting heads with each other and bellies getting bigger. Winter is our time to work on the inside of the house. We have tried to make the animals more comfortable, now it's our turn. We love our farmhouse. We have been working on it for the last three years. The improvements have been drastic. This room is our project for a couple of days. It is our office. It is a small space, just big enough for us. It serves a purpose. However, when we sit at the computer we can feel a breeze. It gets darn cold in the winter. The previous owner hired a inept carpenter. I say inept in a nice way. I have said many other things about this carpenter. Why don't we call him a "handy man". We stuffed insulation under the window sill to stem the cold air. No, he didn't bother to have the wall board meet the window sill. We have found many other repairs done with this quality of craftsmanship. Room by room we are trying to make improvements. At first glance things don't look too bad.

Alex started the demo by removing the door frame. She will be framing in the doorway. There really isn't any space for a door. We don't need one, so there goes the door frame.

Why, no wonder it is cold. There isn't any insulation, at all. Notice the two layers of wallboard? Old with new added? I guess the "handy man" didn't look to see if there was insulation. Insulation in Maine. Nah, not necessary.

Double wall board. Insulation?

Evidently there was a window here at one time. This is the only insulation that we found in the room.

Wow, look at these boards. Yes, this was part of the original old barn.

Look at these worm markings that existed under the bark of this old tree.

I have an infatuation with insulating foam. I know they can build a house out of this stuff. It's great. As you can tell, I have foamed every hole that I could find. The reason for the breeze is that there were several holes that went to the outside. I even vacuumed up a dried old mouse. I didn't realize what had clogged up the vacuum till I grabbed it by the tail and pulled. Ewww..... I couldn't say anything but Ewwww..... It was probably older than me.

Now time for the Pink! Owens Corning is an excellent insulation. I just love the Pink Panther. I guess it comes from too many Saturday morning cartoons when I was a child.

Every time we rip out a wall we look for treasure. By "treasure" I mean little bits of the past. Things that other people would consider useless. Of course if we were to find thousands of dollars that would be okay too. I don't hold any hope of that. Remember when we planted the cherry trees in the yard last spring and dug up an old bike intact? That is not the treasure I mean. We decided to write a note for the next person who lives in our house to possibly find. Imagine someone tearing out this wall to build on to the house and they find our note telling them what and when we worked on this room. How cool would that be? Treasure for future residents.

Insulation in and ready for wall board.

Wall board will have to wait until tomorrow morning. My back hurts and everyone is ready for supper.

It is so much warmer already. Each remodel, each repair brings this old house closer to a place where it will survive for several more years. Water damage, neglect, and total lack of caring have almost caused this house to be lost. As we were ripping out the walls it made me think that we were giving back. Giving something special to future owners. I know as past owners lovingly repaired or rebuilt this house they probably felt the same way. Thank you so much to them for their gift. We really do appreciate this house. It is a home. One we love. Next, wall board. Did I mention that I hate sanding wall board? No, well that will come tomorrow. Tonight, I will sleep and dream of sanding wall board. Much love and prayers from Mainely Ewes Farm.

Kelly