30 September 2008

Insulation (or Lack Thereof)

Is attic insulation reeeally that important, I say (tongue in cheek)? Yes, yes it is if you want to be warm and not have outrageous heating bills in the winter. On the flip side, it'd help keep the heat out in the summer too (this house gets hella hot when the temperatures outside rise, and it doesn't cool down in the night). We've had an estimator come in and give us the heart attack of bids *cough*3+k*cough* (we didn't realize there was much more the house needed to make it energy efficient), then I had another company come today. He showed up two hours later than I expected (I said 10am, he wrote down noon), but didn't take long and tried saving us money in the meantime... Good advice that we can do ourselves:
  • mortise the duct work (matter of finger painting the goop into the crevices of the duct joins)
  • wrap the water pipes with Home Depot stuff (it's about 99 cents for 6')
  • pin the water pipes against the studs so they don't clang when we have the washer going
  • send the 8yr old below to spread the vapor barrier in the crawl space (there's even a roll already laying down there)

After talking about the bobcats and coyotes stealing his chickens (his lucky red hen wasn't so lucky recently - may she RIP), he went out the garage door to load up his ladder.

His is RED with yellow accents (have you seen my kitchen?) and I became covetous.

"Hey, wanna trade ladders? I love your red one!" I said with excitement (momma always said it never hurts to ask).

He looked at our less than six month old green with black ladder that is pretty much identical to his and said, "Sure, why not!" and walked out of the garage leaving me a happy girl.

Pretty sure we'll be fine with his insulating estimate... it's all about making the customer happy, right?

7 comments:

  1. La Yen30/9/08 4:35 PM

    You are the ONLY person I know who signs up for an estimate and gets a matching ladder. If I heard this story through the grapevine, I would know it was you.

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  2. sue-donym30/9/08 8:37 PM

    I love that you asked him to trade. You are awesome.

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  3. Becky1/10/08 8:21 AM

    You make me laugh! You're right..it never hurts to ask (though I would never dare!)

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  4. Jenny2/10/08 12:03 AM

    Shannon, you are hilarious! Glad you got your matching ladder :)

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  5. Anonymous2/10/08 4:38 PM

    You rock!

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  6. luckyzmom3/10/08 3:37 PM

    YOu are, and always have been, truly unique and adorable. My fave is still the McDonald franchise owner who invited you and a few of your friends in their home while his family was sitting in the kitchen eating hotdogs, because you thought their newly built gated home behind was cool and would like to see it.

    I know I told you that it never hurts to ask, but you have taken it to a whole new level. And I am a proud momma!

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  7. Just Plain Jackie5/10/08 8:10 AM

    (Jake's sister Jackie here)
    Congrats on the ladder acquisition - you're gooooood!

    Was it cheaper to have the kid installing vapor barrier, vs the husband? Good call on that - save money where possible, I say!

    And PS: I know for a fact that at least ONE of your brothers-in-law has put up insulation in a house/attic/basement/*misc room - because I was there too. :)

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