Saturday Jan 23 we did the first home in the 50 Houses project.
ABOVE: Typical shotgun in Ninth Ward eligible for weatherization
Let's call it a soft start, I wanted to get started even when everything was not in place.
However with 50 Houses to complete it was time to get started, time to break the egg.
The plan calls for homes in the Ninth Ward, owner-occupied, to be mini weatherized with weatherstripping for two doors, front and back along, with 5 tubes of caulk for air sealing. Add to that now some spray foam from FOMO and Dow.
There are plenty of housed to do and as I continue to spread the work likely candidates are appearing.
We had not been in this house before arriving ready to weatherize so and the usual surprises were there.
The front door is 7 feet 6 inches, taller than the donated weatherstrip we have. Some of the latch hardware was missing and the sweep or door bottom was leaking as well.
This will be repaired at a later date.
The back door however was closer to the current standard of 6 feet 8 inches. So this is where we focused our efforts. And our efforts were most of the day.
ABOVE: Notice the laser lines, the left side of the door jamb, the strike side, is nearly 3/4 inch out of plumb. To make matters worse the right side, the hinge side, was not parallel so the door was a bit wider at the bottom. and of course the head is not square with the jambs. Make sense? In other words the door frame was not square.
We spent a couple of hours tweaking the door so it had an even gap all around the perimeter where it met the door jamb.
Then we had to re-position the strikes for the door knob and the dead bolt.
Then we were able to install the door weatherstrip on the rear door.
ABOVE: Using a Vix bit to pre-drill the holes for installing the Jamb-up weatherstrip
There is more work to be done, we did leave the homeowner with some suggestions on how to improve comfort and energy efficiency.
Lessons learned:
- Must do a preliminary site assessment before sending the work crew.
- Better organize the tools and supplies.
- Will need to locate or create a weatherization ready team for door and window repair.
- Need three person teams.
- Have fun.
Next session is scheduled for Thursday January 28, location TBD.
If you would like to participate to contribute to the effort contact me here on this blog and we will see what can be done.
An interesting response from one homeowner: "No foam in my home!"
Turns out the owner is involved in grants for historic home renovation.
And lives in one herself.
The debate is how much should you do when renovating historic homes.
Do we focus on the home or the homeowner?
How can we provide efficiency, durability and comfort blending modern expectations into older homes?
This debate will continue, more later.
