I came very close to not writing and publishing this post. The effort involved in putting up insulation in the cabin walls, combined with a heat index in the mid-90s, nearly felled me.
The farther I got into my Saturday morning, despite little sleep Friday night, the more I felt like beginning the insulation project. It wouldn’t be complicated — measure, cut, place, staple, repeat — but it was a learn-by-doing thing for me, something I’d never tackled before.
I dressed for the work, not the weather, to limit the chance that I’d end up with glass fibers in my skin, eyes, and lungs. The getup was necessary, but it would exact a price.
The job started out well. I began on the north wall, to fill gaps left open after finishing the woodstove installation. Not long after I made the turn onto the all-important west wall, my DeWalt corded electric staple gun jammed — inexplicably, the carriage had shattered. It was dead.
At that point I did two things. First, I texted Jeff and asked if I could borrow his. And second, while awaiting his reply, I got out a manual staple gun and kept working.
Eventually I did run down to Jeff’s and picked up his electric — “Keep it for as long as you need it” — but by 3pm my bundled-up body had had enough of the heat. I was cooked. I stopped.
I used three of the five 32-foot rolls I brought home last Sunday, plus about ten feet of faced R-13 left over from insulating the walls adjacent to the woodstove. That got me almost to the front door.
There’s a skinny (considerably less than 16-on-center) void next to the door frame that’ll require some fitting. Two voids behind the chifferobe, which serves as my pantry, also are waiting for insulation — I’ll need to empty the shelves to move the cabinet for access to the wall.
If I figure that most of the north wall and almost half of the west wall are done, and I account for the short run of insulation behind the shower surround, and I recognize that the runs left to do include three windows and two doors, I can deduce that 25% of the cabin’s walls are insulated.
Now, does that make any practical difference at all?
Yes — yes, it does.
The day was mostly sunny, the kind of conditions that make the interior of the cabin uncomfortably warm. I came in from taking the dogs out around 5pm to find the entry, kitchen, and living room noticeably cooler than it was outside.
That’s a first. It’s by no means a meat locker, but it’s an improvement. I’m anxious to see how much of a change there’ll be after I insulate the entire west wall.
Ideally, work would resume today. I’d have to say that’s unlikely — what I did yesterday in the heat really wrung it out of me. I’ll regroup, then get back at it.
But I made progress yesterday. That feels good.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable