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| Old Window on Front Porch |
Over the last few days, the original windows have been returned to the house, in nearly pristine condition.
Some seven months ago, the original windows on the old house were carefully removed and carted off to a workshop to be painstakingly restored to their former glory. Included in the rehabilitation was the removal of untold layers of paint, replacement of broken panes with old wavy glass, cleanup of the slides and replacement of the worn-down pin system that holds the windows open.
The pin system itself speaks to the age of the house, and is one of the clues we have been following to validate the approximate year of construction (itself the subject of an upcoming post). Only one window has a weight and pulley system, which was "later technology" according to our window contractor. All the others simply have a spring-loaded pin which holds the window open in 2-3 preset locations.
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| Spray Foam Insulation in Stairwell |
Also, this week marked the completion of the weather insulation of the interior of both the new and old portions of the house. The interesting part of this was in dealing with the old house, which readers may recall was essentially heart pine siding nailed directly to the balloon framing, without the benefit of sheathing or vapor barrier.
To address this, we had a layer of spray foam insulation adhered to the inside of the joist cavities to create a vapor and thermal seal, with batt insulation filling the rest. For the first time in months, we can no longer see through the siding out into the yard. From the outside, the spray foam seeped through all the holes in the siding, which will be cut, sanded and finish painted when the project completes.
