April 9, 2008
into the void
5 Comments »
After 4 1/2 years in the house, we finally got the will together to bust up into the attic last week.
Given the things that we’ve found before, we completely expected the attic to be packed with bones and poop.
I’ve lost some sleep thinking about this wiring.
Dry! No poop! No evil clowns!
We installed a set of pull-down steps, with only one real bout of cursing. There were 2 miracle moments. The first occurred when we successfully lifted and attached the approximately 600 pound set of stairs. There was also a moment where a dropped section of 2×8 ricochet and bounced off of a toe and a leg without breaking any toe bones.
The knob and tube looks good. I’d worry about where the duct lay on top of it. have that part looked at. The general rule is to leave it alone unless you have to touch it. Have it replaced before you insulate up there.
Another question, if you had to bust a hole in the ceiling to get to the attic, how did previous owners get up there to do the duct work and the electical (which was (probably) not original to the house)?
I don’t like that clown. No more clown images. Thanks.
We’re going to rerun the electrical and the ductwork, hopefully in the next 2 months or so. Having insulation will be a nice change.
There is another access hole in the bathroom, but it is blocked by the ductwork. The ceiling in the back room is a half-assed drywall installation that seems to line up chronologically with the ductwork installation, so I’m guessing that is how they got up there.
Bones & Poop – that’s great! You have had some pretty interesting skeletons. We’ve had some run of the mill mice and a squirrel (which thankfully my husband bagged before I saw).
I think having insulation will make a big difference for you. My electrician left a bunch of our knob & tube – I think mostly the overhead lights. His advice was that those wouldn’t really make a difference.
I 2nd leaving the knob and tube alone — it will last forever as long as the rodents don’t chew it — true of any wire. Pull the duct off, but you need not even replace the wire when u insultate. Just insulate around it. If u use the rolls of pink insulation, just get the non-scratchy kind, and cut them to shape so they do not touch the wiring. I never bit the bullet myself, but need to. My attic is full of crushed wood pulp, common in most of the houses built in the late 20s by the builder who built my house. I need to get that shit out of there, but it will be such a mess.