oh boy, mugginess

[dragonlady7]

So, it rained, finally.
Blinding lightning, crashing thunder, all night long, and several times it rained hard enough to get me up out of bed to check the windows to see if it was coming in. Because of course it was over eighty in the house regardless, so I had to have windows open to stay alive.

This morning, checking the bucket sitting in the middle of the driveway, it looks like we got...

A half-inch. Somewhat less.

But, I had a garbage can under the downspout, so at least I have some rainwater to water plants with for the next couple days. Sigh.
And it's just as muggy and sticky as when it started raining. I'm stuck to the chair already.

Rained hard enough to damage a few flowers here and there, and to splash mud up over the leaves of the beans and lettuce. (By the way, when does lettuce ripen? I think it's ready to eat. I'm trepidatious.)

I am exhausted, as I didn't sleep, but it's too sticky to sleep any more. Maybe later I'll move the papasan down to the basement and take a nap where it's cool.

Have to work at 2 today. So much for my week off, which turned out not to be. I haven't goten much done.



So in order to upgrade any of the outlets to modern codes (grounded wiring), we'll have to knock out the walls. That's simply what it boils down to. Any other possibilities are pretty ramshackle. How dodgy would it be to come into a house and notice that there are two outlets within two feet of one another, and one has an old-fashioned two-prong plug? Ghettooo.

The thing is, the house is very small. It seems logical that most possible future owners of it would want it to be bigger. So it seems likely that at some point in its life, the house would get an addition put on. To add to it would probably involve moving some of the internal walls. Hence, knocking out the existing ones. At a time like that it would be opportune for updating the wiring.

So really, we shouldn't bother. I may put in an additional outlet in my room just so I have a grounded computer outlet. It would be possible to put one in maybe in the wall against the stairwell, and from that new outlet, run a new outlet up to the attic. Then there'd be power up there and it'd be a usable space. (And up to two other new outlets could be run off of it.)

But I feel I shouldn't get too involved in finishing the attic, since the second storey is the most likely place for an addition. No point making it really nice up there.

Still, I don't think it would be futile to 1) properly vent it, 2) insulate it, and 3) put up some sheet rock in at least a couple places so that the insulation doesn't fall down. (Failing sheet rock, I could simply put cardboard up just like is in there now. Roll eyes.) Then I could use it as a workshop year-round, and have the sewing machine and maybe my computer and some of my plants up there. That would be minimally expensive.

I dunno. What's the point of doing everything when there's so much to be done, is the question? And the house doesn't belong to us, it belongs to Dave's mom. But I can't manage another winter stuffed together into the tiny first floor. I need someplace to retreat that's not also the place I sleep.

And should we bother putting effort into this place? How long will we stay? Dave said last night he's got no plans to leave, provided he finds a job he likes. How long will we stay here?

I don't know about myself. I really am distressingly lacking in any insight into myself, or for that matter, any future plans at all. I dunno. I have a vague notion that I want somplace with more room. I want to eventually live in a house with a yard big enough for a tree. But, uh, I sorta need a career, and some other ideas. I kinda think maybe I want a family someday. I have all sorts of nebulous ideas, some mutually exclusive.

Urgh, I dunno. I need a nap.

Comments

[kkatowll.livejournal.com]

This probably won't help your urge, but at some point you may have to get a building permit. (Sorry.) And the assessment of the house is based, in part, on the fact that the second story is not finished. Any non-livable spaces don't count toward the total square footage for an assessment. So if you improved the second story by adding electricity and insulation, you might end up wiht higher taxes, so you might want to check with Dave's mom before you do that. And you would need to have it inspected by the building department...so you may want to give them a call and find out how much work you can do before you have to get a permit and all that jazz.

[mother2012.livejournal.com]

The previous commenter said some true things, which I can't see from this window. Now I'm going to tell you some different true things.

1) It is illegal to finish off an attic. This is because:
a) they don't want anyone living up there because (generally) there is only one exit, so it's too possible to get caught up there in case of fire.
b) if it isn't properly done, the the roof can rot; and/or conversely it can get so hot in places that it catches fire.

With all of that in mind, we did it anyway. Technically, you need a building permit if you're going to spend more than $500. So

2) Just don't tell anyone.

3) Make SURE than the insulation does not touch the roof boards. Leave AT LEAST a half inch clearance.

4) Level off the 'ceiling' at the peak, so that there is a triangular area under the peak, and put fans at both ends. Better than fans, is the new system of a ventilated peak, but that's hard and expensive.

Points 3 and 4 boil down to: make sure there is air flow over every inch of attic roof.

In my opinion it is worth doing even if you don't use the space, because of heating and cooling issues for the rest of the house.

We only had crashing thunder for about 2 hours. And yep, everything is all dried up already, and it's smotheringly hot.