Here we go!

It's insulation day! (1 of 3, anyway.)
We discovered fun things about the construction of my house, and what outlets are on the same circits as other outlets. It was exciting!

Working their way around the house.

They have been really good about trying to keep clean.

Hole waiting for insulation.

White paint over burgundy paint over white paint.

Well, there's your problem

See the little louvered vent above the second floor windows, right under the roof peak?
That's a gable vent.

Ian and Windy were over the last two days getting the ventilation set to right in advance of the insulation people coming on Monday. Part of the deal was to make sure that the gable end vents, visually obvious from the ground, were wide enough to ventilate correctly.
I got a text this morning, as I was on my way into work to call about the vents.
"It's blocked" he said, " the one in the old side of the house, away from the driveway. With drywall and insulation."
"Huh?"
"The opening. Is blocked. Also, the "opening" is low."

Ah. To open it completely would expose the gable vent to an area that is currently the master bedroom.

"Send a picture?"

Bonus: abandoned wasp nest.

The solution (of which there are no pictures) was to open as much as could be opened above the ceiling level, to at least get SOME airflow in that end of the house.
And other bonus: They left the clapboards on and just vinyl sided over it, so I know the house was white, and the trim looks burgundy*.

*Edit 10/17 - The more I look at it, it appears that the house was burgundy and then painted over white. I think that's siding, not trim.

Gutters!

The gutters guys from A&G were here today, exactly at 8 am.
I now am at full gutter strength all the way around, instead of just on the south side of the house.

Gutters!

The front (east) pitches off the far side. The driveway side (north) pitches off the front, otherwise in the winter I'd wind up with a glacier forming back there.

It sounds silly, but I can't wait for it to rain.

In other news, day three: poison ivy is still itchy.

The Roof, the roof, the roof is ...

...not on fire.

(Props to the Bloodhound Gang, who get referenced every time I have to deal with a roof. What can I say? I was impressionable in 2009.)

I met with John the Roofer this morning. He confirmed a few things - that no ridge vent will work because of the ridge beam, that there are no soffit vents because the construction method means it's solid there and unvent-able, that some sort of powered solution is going to be my best bet, and that the roof is nearing it's end of useful life.
He's going to work up a quote (itemized) that will include:
• installing two powered box fans, one in each crawl space. (He'll run the wires down, but the electrician will have to connect. Which is good, because I like Wayne the Electrician, but he's not as young and nimble as John the Roofer.)
• new roof (asphalt on top, and either rolled or metal on the lower)
• leveling out the roof over the bathroom
• run of gutter on the north and east side (he's up there anyway.)
• repointing the chimney (again, he's up there anyway. Just have to get some sacks of lime for him to use, and make sure he doesn't hit it with portland (unless that's what's up there.))

We talked about radon, electrical, and how the fewer holes in the roof the better. He suggested removing the un-used chimney, but I'm not ready to do that just yet. I will hold onto my hope of being able to reuse it somehow.