It's gettin' hot in here...I hope...

So, after assessing the insulation quote we got, and then (as previously mentioned) finding out that the HCBA had run out of funding for its Energy$avers grant this year, we decided that insulating the first floor brick walls can wait. First of all, it would cost us as much as it would to insulate the portions of the second floor that need insulation, in effect, doubling our ultimate bill. Secondly, I'm not entirely sold on the effectiveness of insulating the gap between the lathe/plaster and three wythes of brick. I mean, these bungalows were built originally to be energy efficient, in a sense...the brick is thick enough to keep the air out, and I'm not sold on the fact that foam is going to make a major difference, honestly. Maybe I'm wrong...if I am, and there's some evidence out there that supports it, please, let me know. I'm just operating on common sense here! :)

So, we're gonna get the floor in between the first and second floors filled with ProPink blown-in insulation, the knee wall on the slanted side of the roof insulated and house-wrapped (though I need to ask them about what that might do to the storage in the crawlspace--make it cold? make it "damp"? That would be bad. Also, there are two areas that we currently do not have access to in the corners of the dormered side. They'll cut an access hole in the wall to each and insulate behind there and under the floors there too. The only "disappointment" is that they can't get access to the flat dormered roof...I was hoping to have that insulated as well...particularly in the hopes that it would help to soundproof it, since we hear the rain falling on the roof a lot of times, and that's kinda distracting, particularly at night when you're trying to sleep. But they couldn't do it, apparently...oh well.

All in all, I'm hoping that this, coupled with weatherstripping the stupid casement windows up there (I HATE casements, especially since they have no storms and the screens are on the inside of the windows), will help us out on our gas bill, and possibly on our electric bill in the summer.

The insulation company did tell us that a lot of the upstairs is insulated and that the kitchen addition is insulated also. So that's good.

In terms of the Energy$avers grant, we're hoping that next year, we'll be able to use it to replace our water heater, furnace or see about installing some sort of energy-efficient central air system. The grant is awesome, and I'd like to get as much money out of it as I'm eligible for -- which is probably what everyone did this year, and that's why they ran out. It's not greedy...it's smart! :)

Anyway, the insulators are scheduled to come the week after Thanksgiving, so we might even get to feel some positive effects of all the insulation this winter. And that's good! So we'll see how it goes...I will certainly keep you all posted!

Minor changes and updates...

new window film 2
Originally uploaded by southsideandy

Yesterday Gina and I went to Home Depot to look at and possibly buy new blinds for the nursery. The ones in there are a tan color that doesn't match and looks really horrible, actually, against the light green on the walls now.

We backed off on buying the blinds, and we've actually decided that we'll probably just switch the tan ones in the nursery with the white ones in our master bedroom -- assuming they measure up right, as they are expected to do. We shall see.

While there, I checked out the Artscapes product...it's a static cling window film made to look like stained glass. Our first floor bathroom faces pretty much a brick wall with a glass block bathroom window for "variety" next door. But the PO installed blinds for privacy. That's cool, except the blinds weren't a perfect vertical fit, and they were dark brown (which is nice, except they made the room very dark). There isn't much in the way of ambient light from the fixtures in there, so I wanted to brighten it up some.

I followed all the directions in the package, so we'll see if it sticks and for how long. I figured, for $20 or whatever it was exactly, it was worth a shot. And it definitely looks pretty and is easy to use. Plus, it goes with the Arts & Crafts motif -- this design, anyway. Furthermore, the bathroom is done in gold and beige, so this matches pretty much spot-on. It's better than plain clear frosted film, in my opinion.

You can also head on over to Flickr to see how the nursery's coming along and see a picture of the room with the furniture hanging out, waiting for baby. We've got one month and one day to the supposed due date, so it's just a waiting game now. :)

Have a great rest of the weekend, everyone!

Storm windows--they're dear to my heart...

So, I happened to notice a bungalow owner on Craigslist selling what appear to be original wood storm windows and screens. I'm so tempted, but I don't understand why...well, I kind of do.

My parents, who don't have what one would call a bungalow (although it is a precursor to the Chicago-style bungalow and shares some similarities), have the original wood storms and screens that have to be put in and taken out every season change. They're held in with little wingnut-type clamp thingies, and they fit the windows nicely.

Furthermore, one of the few things I can remember really clearly about my grandparents' bungalow was the storm windows--simply because it's one of the things I actually helped my grandparents with. I can remember one time, by the time I was old enough by their count to climb on and be trusted on a ladder, that I think my grandma had me wash the storms, which were installed on the windows. It was funny, because I didn't use rags or paper towels...my grandma had me use windex and newspaper to clean the glass...I don't quite remember why--I believe it prevented streaking or something. But I do remember being up there and feeling a sense of duty, especially since my grandma left me alone to do the job, unsupervised. At this particular age in my life, this was a big deal, because even if my parents gave me something to do, they were always watching over my shoulder to make sure I did it right and/or did it at all. :) It was much different at my grandparents' house. :)

My grandparents either (a) didn't care, or (b) trusted me a lot more. They let me be a kid when sometimes my parents wouldn't. I'm not saying my parents were wrong for that or anything...not at all. I wouldn't change it one bit. But it's part of why I love the bungalows so much, really...they're associated with fun for me. I remember my grandparents' kitchen sink...one of those old-fashioned, basin-type ones that people now probably pay hundreds of dollars for. I remember that because I had to do the dishes at my grandparents' house--but they then let me play with my toy boats in the sink afterward, and didn't care if I got a little overzealous with the splashing. My grandma used to let me also just go into the fridge and mix up a bunch of stuff and make up my own "recipes" or whatever. She didn't stifle my creativity either...she let me just grab whatever, mix it together and try it. Honestly, it's really amazing that I didn't go into some culinary field or something, based on that.

But, anyway, back to the storms...we don't need storms or screens, as we have newer, metal ones, and triple-track storm screens in the front even. They're all painted and in good shape, so there's no reason to go through the trouble. But, part of my heart wishes that we had those original wooden ones...with the three weep holes drilled out of the bottom.

Functional, restored wood windows...

Crazy week of travel this has been for me. But at least today, after landing at O'Hare at 3am last night and finally getting to bed at 4am, I woke up to the Chicago Bungalow's best friend, Just Sashes. :) You may have seen John and/or his son on other bungalow blogs restoring windows. He's very knowledgable about these wonderful houses--I believe he said he has one himself...and he was telling us all about the woodwork and window work and such. He knows his stuff, that's for sure. Let me tell you, for the money (in other words, to replace the windows entirely), John's firm is worth its weight in gold if you're looking to restore your windows.

Instead of replacing 5 windows with vinyl replacements at a cost nearing $3,000, we were able to have Just Sashes restore all 11 vintage windows in the house for significantly less. So now we can open the front windows and actually use them! That's awesome. And, of course, now our house is safer too, since this:

Has been replaced by these:So, we're happy about that...maybe tomorrow I will pull out the window air conditioners and see if they're working and which we could put in the dining room and/or 1st floor office. Also, we can clean out the attic crawl while we're up there. For once, we don't have much to do on a Saturday, which is amazing.

John also pointed out that our two bedroom windowsills are quartersawn oak. He says that's funny, because probably when they built the house, some dumb kid just threw it in for the carpenter, but obviously, quartersawn oak is a really expensive wood (in comparison). Here's a pic of the windowsill in the 1st floor office. I knew what quartersawn oak was, but I didn't realize these two sills were quartersawn oak. :)

Well, now it's on to bigger, better things...since Gina is pregnant--I didn't announce that here, I guess...well, Gina's pregnant--we're going to have to fix the upstairs bathroom toilet...which means having to spend money on the low-water pressure problem before anticipated. Then, if that doesn't fix the toilet, we'll have to replace the toilet. But I want to try the water pressure issue first. And go from there...have a good weekend, everyone!