After we realized that there was no way we were going to finish the
bathroom construction before my return to New York (because of the time needed to order and deliver the stone tiles), I decided to take a day to deal with a few small tasks that were becoming more and more pressing...particularly as the weather was getting colder and colder.
Back when we
leveled the floors at the beginning of the year, we did not install insulation. But now I feel strongly that we need to start making the flat more comfortable - not just bare-minimum livable - so with the temperature dropping and some drafts becoming apparent, it should be done soon. Plus - with the
radiator plumbing completed in the bedroom we no longer need access to the floor, so it's good time to do it. After some research, I ordered several very large bags of insulation...
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| The insulation being delivered |
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| The bags of insulation are quite large! |
In addition to the insulation, we also needed to patch a hole in the rear exterior brick wall. This hole was the result of removing the old waste pipe from the original bathroom - it was removed during the
plumbing's first fixing - right before the
scaffolding was taken down at the end of July.
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| The "hole" |
Not only did the hole let cold air into the cavity of the floor (a big source of drafts in between the joists), but we learned very quickly that a pair of pigeons had moved in! The pigeons did not bother us at all (they were under the floor and off to the side)...in fact "Aglaya" thought it was quite sweet to wake up every morning to the sound of their cooing (and they were LOUD!) But they really bothered a few of our neighbors. Because this would be a messy job (with the bricks & mortar), I figured it would make sense to patch the hole on the same day the floor was insulated.
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| After removing part of the closet and cutting away the floor boards |
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| The view from the hole (you can see one of the floor joists on the left) |
Patching the hole involved making mortar and fitting pieces of brick which meant cutting them individually. What made this difficult was having to work from the inside as there was a 3 story drop below. I should point out that this could not have been done when the scaffolding was up as it did not reach this far over...
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| The patched hole - sloppy but done |
Once the patch was completed, I moved onto the insulation. This was a relatively easy task, but (as usual) it took a bit more time than expected. Having recently been involved in a sound proofing project in New York, I wanted to be sure our floor also provided a decent amount of sound dampening between us and our neighbor below. A key element in sound dampening is to have insulation, but it's better if there's an air gap, so I decided to raise the insulation a few inches above the plaster ceiling using chicken wire to prevent it from slipping. The chicken wire was what took a little time, but within a few hours I had it completed...
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| Removing the plywood sub-floor to expose the cavity between the joists |
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| Installing the chicken wire between each joist (prevents the insulation from slipping) |
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| Half the insulation installed |
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| The completed insulation |
That night we noticed that
"the Box" was significantly warmer and the drafts had been minimized...mission accomplished!
