I did some house forensics and ventured into the attic. The hatch is in the bathroom, and I had to use a step ladder to wedge myself up and into.
Oddly the basement the first floor joists are full 2x10’s that are impressive, then the joists for the second floor I see in my kitchen, dining room and hallway are all full 2x8’s (only ceiling I did not demo is the living room/parlor which is the original plaster and lathe), but in the attic the 2x6’s are only 5 1/2 inches and is not full sized lumber like the floors below.
In the upstairs hallway the ceiling is sheet rock, and I wondered if there ever was a pull down stairway in the hall to gain access to the attic. I ended pulling up a piece of plywood to see if anything had been sistered in the past, but found no evidence.
Evidently the hatch is the original access to the attic. I’m kinda skinny, but my guess is some big guys just would not fit through the hatch.
Anyways there is a pretty large space to create a walk-in closet that we need. I can see me framing a room and insulating a space so that the walk-in closet is basically part of the house. Pretty much I just want to open the stairway and be able to go up and not to get either fire or ice as an environment.
Now I have to obsess how to allow access to an air handler that would be mounted in the attic and all the ductwork. Perhaps a layered sandwich of plywood rigid insulation flowed by another exterior layer of plywood that could be a removable wall.
Anyways I sold the idea to “Maggie” and she likes it. I think I will store some of my clothes there too. Will likely add some cedar to repel moths.
Anyways sometimes I’m a penis, and sometimes a genius.
Another lazy-slacker solution. Next I will be looking at pull down stairs.
So this also liberates some space in the basement. Eventually things will get moved out into the two studios from the basement. In the end the basement will be my warehouse. I have a beat up Bilco door that I think I will get replaced because garden tools, power tools, woodworking machinery will get stored in the warehouse and pulled out when needed, along with the pergola/patio furniture.
In effect my basement will be like a big garage.
I’m thinking I can get a nice router and router table so I can build out screened frames and windows to convert my front porch. Basically either a screened porch, or a closed porch by exchanging frames. I think the windowed frames will have to resemble double hung windows as to not to look so modern, but solid big screens will be EZ-PZ because I can recycle and incorporate the metal screens from the Jello-C windows.
In the end a cleaner more open look. The screens with the windows work like neutral density filters and block some light. No bueno. With double hung windows it gets complicated, complex and expensive, but my slacker’s way lets more light enter through the windows, gives me a brighter view of outside, provides more solar gain; and in the summer converts into a more elegant and simple look of just a screened in porch.
All I need is a router table, wood and some time. Not too complex. Also no building permit required because I’m only replacing existing windows, and nothing structural is modified or changed.
SMUT: you should know that the previous owner of our house was a bitch and was universally disliked. She called the city on my diagonal neighbor for working on his house without a permit. She called the city on my next door neighbor for a noise complaint when they Reno’ed their house. She and my dead end neighbor were caught “chest-bumping” and getting ready to have a street fight that got broken up.
She also was caught inside my neighbor’s garage on camera.
The previous owner it appears was a compulsive liar.
She said she worked from home, but we learned that with the pandemic she lost her job. She said she was moving to Arizona, but in fact she moved not so far away just further north.
My next door neighbor reports that her other neighbor rents part of their house, and at one time they had a tenant that use to cook in the kitchen nude all the time. Know and understand that my next door neighbor’s kitchen faced the next door neighbor’s tenant’s kitchen. Pretty much they put up some shrubs to obscure the “Nudie Show.”
Then there is a neighbor who is a bit of a busy body that is intrusive further up the block…
So I’m not exaggerating that I’m a bit hill-billy. LOL.
Anyways Peekskill is kind of a desert where there are not any Asians. About as many Latinos as Whites, some black population, but no Asians unless you count my stalker. Lots of young people, and there definitely is a Brooklyn vibe in Peekskill.
Also I’m 40 feet above sea level, and further north in Peekskill I get to 340 feet. Elevation is measured by the GPS in my Audi A4. Also I’m not so far from the Hudson River, in fact I hear the trains on the Hudson Line.
Cal