Kitchen update!

We have a new window in the kitchen. It is higher off the ground to accommodate our casework. Here's a photo of the new window and some wonderful drawings by Dan of what our finished kitchen will look like! (note from Dan- drawings to follow in later post)

Energy Recovery Ventilator and Ductwork

A lot has happened in the last month or so, although the progress seems glacial to us since at this point we are itching to move in. We have a lot to catch up on blog-wise. So watch out for a spate of new posts.

Ductwork.

We're putting in an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV). Since we have steam heat, this is the only ductwork being installed in the house. The ERV will be installed in a small room off the attic. The supply is located at the bottom of the attic stairs on the 2nd floor. The returns are located in the bathroom, kitchen and media room. We struggled a lot with whether to buy an ERV or an HRV. We got advice from our Energy Rater, an independent rater in southern Ohio and our HVAC subcontractor that the ERV was the better option because it deals with humidity, while HRV's deal only with heat recovery, so it's more efficient. This will allow the house to be more humid in the winter, when the air is dry; and less humid in the summer. This works well for the Cleveland climate. The ERV itself hasn't shown up yet, but here are some exciting photos of the ductwork to tide you over

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Off the Walls!

The past few weekends we've been all about stripping wallpaper in the upstairs bedrooms. Yes, we are doing it "green" -- using only a steamer with water, no chemicals. The steamer actually works like a charm. There are about 5-6 layers in each room, but they're all paper, so the steam is able to get through it very effectively once we score the paper. We'd be in much worse shape dealing with vinyl. It's satisfying seeing the stuff fall off the wall in soggy sheets.



This work has really tapped into my life-long penchant for archaeology. It's fun, and a bit eerie, to see the different layers reveal themselves. It's a window into the house's past. In the photo below, you can see how one of the old layers in the smallest bedroom featured boys floating around in boats. The little boy's room, circa 1950! It looks like the walls of both the bedrooms we've done so far were originally painted gold-yellow, then mossy green. Then decades of wallpapering began.


We should be done with this work in the next three weeks or so. Heretofore unbeknownst to me, wallpaper stripping holds a mysterious appeal to others of our generation. So a couple of friends have been/will be helping us get this work done. Special shout-out to Fran and Jeff.

The plaster is in pretty bad shape, cracked in many places and with patches missing, but I'm hopeful that our contractors can patch it effectively.

Dan's parents came over this weekend too and helped out a TON with the backyard. The most exciting part of this work was the rediscovery of a completely intact stone patio just off the back porch. Again, urban archaeology, cool. The stones are all in perfect condition - they just need a little washing down. (Photos forthcoming!) They also tore out some old weeds and tree saplings from a small planting bed near the porch. They were able to save about a half dozen rose bushes, ferns and a hosta.