{Saving Energy and Our Attic}

With our low economy, we have to look UP for saving some money! Better insulating our attic as best as we can. That's exactly what we did; investing in the attic, in order to create a more energy efficient home and lowering our Carbon Footprint!

 On Monday, March 18, husband Pieter started with building a floor in our attic. That served two purposes: making it possible to walk on; without falling through the ceilings and also making it more energy efficient. We already did have Eco friendly white cellulose on our attic as an insulation.

Remember that in my post about {Our Hallway} I left the following note under the last photo: Looking up to the ceiling where a foldout staircase leads to the attic.

THAT will be another project...

Okay, here you will see what this was all about.

Behind the light you see the cord for pulling out the fold down staircase that leads up to the attic.

In the hallway you see two sheathing boards, that Pieter had cut in half at Home Depot in order to fit them through the opening, up to the attic.

Two by two, brought in through the front door; the shortest distance from the little trailer, behind our Toyota RAV4.

Wearing gloves, I did hand them up to Pieter, who grabbed them from the attic, reaching down.

Many Sheathing plates we handled...

Lots of dust we 'ate' for weeks!

For those of you, not familiar with the construction way in Georgia, USA as well as in many other states, this is under the roof. A very sturdy construction of solid red cedar beams. 

They just nailed plaster boards onto these red cedar wood beams and you could not WALK on them; only on the sections where the cedar wood beam is underneath!

So husband Pieter worked for weeks in order to hand cut those sheathing boards 

Using no nails but screws as to not damage the ceilings and creating lots of dust downstairs...

Many trips up and down the foldout staircase!

Here you also see the outlet and switch that Pieter first installed in order to have working light up there!

Pieter did compact and egalize the Eco friendly white cellulose to work it neatly under those sheathing boards.

Literally 'cutting corners'; many corners that is! Using a mask for the bulk of the dust but no matter how, you still 'eat lots of dust'...

Pieter did tighten up all those red cedar beams, many of which were rather loose.

He used screws for doing so.

Heavy duty time for his equipment...

He also had to crawl underneath those air-conditioning ducts... 

Pieter did not go all the way under the shallow part of the roof but he did place an upright plank to keep the insulation material neatly behind.

All the above photos I've taken on March 29 and this one is taken on April 9 when he was about done with this mega job. It took longer than estimated due to so many different corners to be cut out.

This is the short end of the 'T' section, looking towards our front porch.

That pipe is from the ventilation hood above my cooktop in the kitchen...

Now looking the other way of the short end of the 'T' towards our gazebo.

On the sides under the shallow parts of the roof there are the open cellulose insulation material 'beds' with only a plank in front to keep the material from spilling over.

Now we are under the long side of the 'T' section (shape of our home), facing the driveway.

This attic fan, Pieter installed already two years ago in 2011. You can read my previous post below: {Going GREEN with Attic Fan}

Stepping back for a better over view.

Now the attic looks neat and ready even for storage if necessary!

Turning around towards the bay window area (in the back).

It was quite a job to manage working around all those wires that are all over the attic like spaghetti...

Stepping back towards the driveway side and you can see again the opening down with the foldout staircase.

Quite a difference or not?

You see the tile floor in our hallway  down the staircase opening...

View from the other side towards the foldout staircase.

Pieter has changed the outlet and switch and installed better permanent light in all areas.

We were so glad to get rid of all the saw dust and I just managed to do a thorough cleaning down stairs, right before we left for our vacation in Curaçao! 

That was mission accomplished; quite a nasty job!

For sure such a floor makes a difference in insulation as well and it certainly will pay off.

Related link:

{Going GREEN with Attic Fan} | previous post by me

{Going GREEN with Attic Fan}

In an ongoing effort to lower the cost of energy, my dear husband Pieter did decide to install an attic fan after having worked in the HOT area under the roof. He had to climb up there for finding the wires to connect the newly installed ceiling fans in the living room and kitchen, as seen in {Our Energy Star ceiling fans from Wayfair + Superior Customer Service}. It was on May 15, that I took the first photo from the installation of this attic fan with thermostat (Home Depot). On May 17 Pieter completed it. We both are anxious to find out what the difference in energy consumption will be for next month's billing. Around 11:30 AM in the morning the thermostat starts the attic fan and we have since noticed that the air-conditioning has not been running much. Both of us wonder why a builder would not install such an attic fan right away... Maybe now, when energy prices become an issue, people will be more conscious about GOING GREEN. Let's hope so, because all together we can make a huge difference and it affects ones pocket in a positive way. The investment costs are not high at all; only the labor is rather intensive and working in the heat is not pleasant; even if a big fan is being used up there. All together we ought to lower our Carbon Footprint!

Here you see the cellulose on the attic, which is already a help in insulating the house. Pieter put in this beam newly, so he can walk over it, without having to 'toe' his way through the cellulose, in search for the nearest beam to step on. Our entire roof construction is made out of red cedar and is done in a very solid way; following Pieter's advice after he'd made the drawings for our home himself. The attic fan is being installed in front of those vents that are above the bedroom/garage side of the house.

My dear handy man and 'worker bee' in action. It cost him lots of t-shirt changes, because it was a brutal hot job up there. I am proud of him for being able to perform like this after his quadruple bypass surgery on September 3, 2010. When he saw his cardiologist a week prior to this job, he was told by him that Pieter was his best patient! Sure, he follows up with discipline and we both go to the Fitness Center to build up strength and it pays off. Never easy but that's life. It's not a pick nick to be on earth... But the satisfaction one has from things done with your bare hands is tremendous! It's all worth it.

Remember; he has to stand on those support beams as there is no solid flooring! Not easy to manage and he did hurt his knee while doing that for days on end. Hope it will only be a strained muscle...

Imagine if this would be glass wool, how it would itch...

So much for the invention of cordless drills to work wherever you want to!

Two days later by 8:00 PM I made this photo of the Attic Fan with thermostat being up and running!

A brand new outlet being installed with switch for new light. There was NONE; another neglect by the builder! Several times the people from the air-conditioning had to work on the attic and they too need light.

Light installed now on both ends of the attic. This is above our kitchen area. The silver colored ducts you see here are from the air-conditioning.

Next day, on May 18, the fan began running automatically and has done so every day. Good feeling for having it all installed before the heat starts really hitting us. Now it is already 90s in F or 30s in C and soon that will be 100s or 40s!

Are you ready for the heat too?

Energy wise that is...

Related link:

{Saving Energy and Our Attic} | post by me about energy saving

{Our Energy Star ceiling fans from Wayfair + Superior Customer Service} | post where Pieter had to find the wiring on the attic...

{Going Green for our Bedroom + Confederate Jasmine in bloom}

Just before we went to Florida on vacation, Pieter did complete quite a job. Last year in August I had been searching for the possibility of having sliding shutters for our bedroom's French doors. Well, due to Pieter's open heart surgery on September 3, that ended the entire plan... Let's have a look at our bedroom and balcony.

These sliding French doors exit onto our balcony and right now, the Confederate Jasmine is blooming at its best. This Jasmine is making a pretty evergreen arch and if you could only smell their perfume as well! This is also the south west side of the house so in summer when temperatures are between 35°C and 42°C it can really get hot. So that's why we do have solid oak indoor shutters on all our windows except in the kitchen and veranda. Also this French door had the linen shades that we did buy in The Netherlands and I added a hand crocheted filet lace border.

This photo lets you see my hand crocheted filet lace border and also the highly fragrant Confederate Jasmine Trachelospermum jasminoides, more in detail.

Two birdfeeders for chopped peanuts and nuts...

From the inside looking at the linen shades with my hand crocheted filet lace edging. I used French DMC Cébelia size 20 thread.

Removing all the old molding to fit a new molding for the sliding shutters in order to go Green. That will have quite an impact on our electricity bill as well for cooling in summer as heating in winter.

Instead of having some costly sliding shutters, Pieter worked out his own, more economic version!

Bye-bye linen shades after serving us for almost 18 years. But they never darkened the room at mid-day when Pieter needs to take his nap... One more reason for replacing them and going Green!

The new made-to-fit frame is on, and the Masonite bi-fold doors are hung from their rails.

Tomorrow I will show you photos of our entire bedroom so you can see how these six panel bi-folds go perfectly with our solid oak indoor shutters. We also have them on our build-in closet.

I felt mighty proud of Pieter for being able to manage such a project again, after his open heart surgery!

The third panel is being attached with two hinges each and folds outward on top of the bi-fold. On a cloudy day we can leave the center section open. It is even more romantic than having the shades pulled up partly, as that only worked for the full width. Clever design by my dear Pieter and for a fraction of the cost from those offered on line.

These photos I made yesterday while the Confederate Jasmine is still pretty.

It is so romantic to wake up to such a view... Two bird families have a nest on top of the pergola, in the Confederate Jasmine. They are protected underneath the roof extension and gutter. Often we get an early morning bird-concert when they want to express their happiness.

Tomorrow I will show you the bedroom itself! See link below...

Related link:

{Our 'GREEN' Bedroom} | All done...