insulation & bats in the attic (what???!)

I am continually researching ways to improve the comfort and value of our home. One of the ways that kept coming up was making sure your home is well insulated. I knew from our initial home inspection that our attic could use some extra insulation. I set out on a mission to tackle this easy and inexpensive project that I figured D and I could complete in a weekend.

Boy was I wrong.

We went up to the attic and measured the rough size to figure out how much R30 fiberglass insulation we would need to add an extra layer. We currently had about an R15 up there which doesn't serve us well in the Minnesota winters. This was also back in January or February, so I thought it was a great time to get it done. While measuring, D and I noticed what looked like mouse droppings on top of the insulation in one area so we knew we would have to take care of that problem before putting additional insulation up there. We set out to Menards to and purchased the large rolls of unfaced insulation, metal chicken wire to cover any holes to stop the mice from getting through, and some mouse traps. We also got large trash bags, work lights and some spray foam insulation. The plan was to seal up any cracks really well to solve our mice problem. 

Once we returned home, we set up all of our supplies and had the ladder ready to go into the attic. We decided it would be best to clean up the floors and patch any holes first. We removed the first small section of existing insulation from the corner and found what looked like a dead mouse. Of course, I screamed. But when D examined it, it moved and we realized it was a bat! D quickly grabbed a box to trap it and carried it outside. We realized later this was not the best idea, because bats cannot survive in the cold. We then got back to it and lifted up another piece of insulation and found 2 more bats!!!! OK. We stopped there. We put everything down, left the bats alone and began frantically searching the internet for what to do. I called my father and his advice was "it's basically just a rat with wings!" Wrong. It's actually illegal to kill bats in Minnesota because they are so essential to our ecosystem. They eat misquotes, which in turn make them hazardous because they carry many diseases. We talked to a few extermination companies and found out that they perform what is called a "bat exclusion". Instead of killing the bats, they seal up your house and install a 1 way exit so that when the bats leave the house, they can't return. We also learned that bats live in colonies, so its likely we had hundreds of bats in our attic, just sleeping. We did not want to find out. 

We scheduled the bat exclusion, which was not cheap. The guy basically went around the house and sealed up any holes that were larger than dime size and installed a little PVC tube for the bats to exit through when they wake up in the spring. This was around February, so we had some roomies for a few months. It was important to get it done before they woke up and had their babies though.

Finally, in May when the weather was consistently warm we decided to move the insulation that had been sitting in our basement up to the attic. D was the first one up to check and we were all clear of bats. It did not take him long to clean up the mess, making sure to wear a mask and gloves and throwing away any soiled pieces of insulation. It turns out that waste material of bats, also called guano, is really harmful and not good to breathe in. We are so glad we decided to do this project because otherwise we would have bats up there chillin' and we would be breathing in their nasty guano, possibly making us sick. 

2 lessons here. #1 Make sure your attic is well insulated because it can really save you money & heat in the winter. #2 Check periodically for  bats in your attic because they live in colonies and can be toxic for your health.

Now our attic is well insulated and we are bat free! 

Summer Update

Wow, it has been a really long time since my last blog post. I guess we have just been so busy doing things- having fun, house projects, working- that I haven't sat down to write a post. I will try to get better at it. There's definitely plenty to post about!

Some things that have happened in the past 6 months:

We adopted a puppy. His name is Duke. He is an adorable 5 1/2 month old golden retriever mix. We think he is mixed with german shepherd, but we are not certain. We did one of those dog DNA tests and it came back that he is half Chihuahua and a mixed other half with harrier hound and others- with no trace of golden retriever. I find that REALLY hard to believe so for now we will completely discredit the DNA results until he is fully grown. He's 30 pounds now so if he stays this size, I can see that he may be a Chihuahua mix. However, we are really hoping we are right in our estimate of 50-60 pounds.

Here's a pic of when we first got him at 10 weeks (ignore my crazy hair- it was really windy that day):

And now at 5 1/2 months:

Other happenings:

I finally finished my basement stairs project. Yay! It only took me 6 months. 

We built a small patio in the front. It's quite lovely. 

We had bats in our attic and had to get them removed. Yikes!

I gave our garage door a makeover. One of my favorite projects so far. 

I will try my best to post on the above topics in the following weeks. We are soaking up summer right now and trying to enjoy the beautiful outdoors in Minneapolis!

Cheers!

DIY radiator covers

Awhile back, I asked D what his favorite project I had done so far was. To my surprise, he said the radiator covers. Of course this was music to my ears because it was a project that when I first started, he looked at me like I was crazy. So when he said that, I thought "Success! I was right."

I knew from the beginning that this project would make a huge difference. The radiators were cool and all, but didn't serve any function besides heat and took up a lot of space. Other radiators in our house have metal tops so they can be used as shelves. The radiator in the bathroom and kitchen had no shelf so I decided to make covers.

I did a lot of research on pinterest looking for construction methods and style inspiration. I referenced this link for construction method, and I was inspired by the mission look as pictured below that I found online:

You can actually buy these pre-made but they are not cheap. There are a lot of DIY covers out there that use decorate metal grates instead of the wood flats, but looking into it the sheets of metal were more than I wanted to spend. So after deciding on the style, I planned out how much wood I would need and the construction method. I took measurements of the radiators and left some clearance around the sides and top. For the kitchen, I thought it would look best if the radiator cover sat right beneath the window and was the same width of the window ledge/trim.  Here's a look before the covers:

I then used the measurements to create drawings in illustrator to scale so I could plan out the wood. Here is a drawing of the different components:

Off to Menards we went. As I was looking for the right board sizes, D asked "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" I said "umm... yes. I have a drawing!" I guess I can't blame him for not seeing 2 radiator covers in this pile of wood.

I started by assembling the sides of the radiator cover. I only had to create 3 sides so that it would sit nicely over the radiator and could be easily pulled away for access. It was easier to build both radiators at once. I cut all pieces according to the dimensions in my drawing and laid them out to make sure they all fit properly. 

I purchased a kreg mini jig kit for making the pocket hole screws. This made assembly go pretty quickly. You have to purchase special screws for the kreg kit but I think it was well worth it. I marked all pieces that I would need to make a pocket hole in, making sure the nicer side of the wood would be facing the front with the screws in the back. After joining all of the pieces, the joints looked like this:

Next, I stood the pieces up and used my new finishing nailer and compressor to nail them together. I measured and cut the top to fit, leaving some overhang on 3 sides. I spent time sanding it with my palm sander so the surface would be smooth for painting.

They were looking pretty good at this point! Before I went any further, I brought them upstairs to make sure they fit how I wanted them to. 

I have to admit, I was tempted to leave them a natural wood finish. But I decided they would blend in more if they were white. I wanted to camouflage them and make them functional, not stand out. As you can see from the above image, the radiator cover in the kitchen needed a small adjustment to make the top fit snugly under the window trim with a minimal gap. This was not because my radiators were uneven, but the window ledge actually wan't level. I also had to make some adjustment sto the bathroom cover because the radiator was higher in the center than I had measured. Oops. I remedied this by getting some little black rubber feet that I hammered into the bottom. After the adjustments were made, I secured the top with a few finishing nails. From there, I primed them and added a coat of white paint. Luckily I had trim paint leftover from the kitchen and bathroom wall paint leftover so they would match perfectly. I should also note that before I installed the cover, I used the extra white paint I had to put a quick coat on the radiator to cover the nasty yellowish paint. It probably wasn't necessary with the cover, but it didn't hurt. The final results turned out better than I expected!

The kitchen cover turned out to be a perfect spot for the cats to sit and look out the window. The bathroom cover added some extra shelf space for things like tissues and toilet paper. Honestly, the most surprising thing about this project was how much it changed my view of the bathroom. I embraced the pink and black of the bathroom by adding a plush black bath mat and a fresh white shower curtain. The white towels we purchased from our wedding registry were a nice fit. The bathroom had the original charm without the mismatched and grungy look of the radiator and old accessories. After seeing it all together, D and I decided we can wait awhile on our bathroom redo and focus on other things. I thought I would never like the pink and black tile, but now it's growing on me :).

Curb Appeal

My favorite phrase when it comes to homeownership: curb appeal. Improving the curb appeal can be as easy as painting the front door a different color, or as complex as new windows and siding. I think our house already had pretty decent curb appeal when we purchased it, but a continually fun challenge for me is improving the curb appeal even more.

Last year, we started by painting the front door and shutters. We also did a bit of landscaping by adding some hydrangeas, hostas and mulch. So far this year, we cut down a large tree. There is still so much to be done! D and I have been discussing other updates we can make to improve the curb appeal even more. Some of the things we have talked about include:

washing the house- a must do for spring
more landscaping- including boxwoods in the front of the house
painting the trim- but what color?
adding flower boxes to the front of the house
reseeding the lawn- may have to wait until fall
garage door makeover
landscape lighting- the dollar solar lights just aren't cutting it

So we have a pretty long list of projects for spring. We most definitely have spring fever and can't wait to start. The first step will be to wash the stucco exterior of the house. It's very dirty and grungy looking. This should be a fairly easy project with a hose and gallon of house wash. From there, I'd love to paint the trim a different color from the house to give it more contrast. The trim and house are about the same ivory-yellowish color right now. The snow makes it especially dirty looking. Here's a picture of the house in it's current state (the wreath was a pinterest DIY project made from coffee filters):

Yuck. OK, I am going to use a picture of the house from last summer so it looks a little nicer:

So I have been looking online for some inspiration on trim colors that would make it look a bit fresher. Right now, D and I are thinking a nice white would clean it up a bit. This is the best image I found that shows what it might look like with the black shutters and ivory/yellow:

I would also love to strip the paint off of the porch so that the natural brick is exposed. Right now its painted a maroon color. We also want to add boxwoods and flower boxes so here's a rendering of what that might look like:

OK, maybe the window boxes are a bit much. Here's a render without all of them:

Hmm. I may like that better. Depends on how big the hydrangeas get under the windows. There is an existing window box under the bathroom window that we will definitely be utilizing this year. I like the brighter white trim. I took the liberty of making the existing concrete pathway into brick. I think it looks so much nicer! Looking online, we may be able to lay thin brick pavers right over the existing concrete. Definitely elevates the look. Brick is so much prettier than concrete.

What else could we do to the exterior to improve the curb appeal? Any ideas?

Steel Magnolia

Have you ever seen the movie "Steel Magnolias"? It's an excellent movie. A classic tear jerker. Urban dictionary defines steel magnolia as "a southern woman who is strong and independant yet very feminine." I'd like to think I am a steel magnolia. If only I was from the South. 

The reason I bring this up is because we are getting a tree cut down in our yard today. It's a pretty large tree, but nothing special and it is leaning towards the house. We figured better to be safe than sorry and cut it down before it falls onto our house in a storm. 

D and I have been talking about what to plant in it's place. I have always LOVED flowering trees. The kinds with light pink petals that cover the ground beneath them like a blanket. There's nothing prettier. Like this:

I started doing research on flowering trees that would be hardy for Minnesota winters. We are in zone 4, so I used this key piece of info and decided on a Magnolia tree. There are many different kinds of Magnolia trees, but not all are hardy in zone 4. I used the website Monrovia.com and searched through their plant catalog to narrowed to a few different types (images are from google):

Royal Star Magnolia: white flowers,  grows 10-15 ft tall

Ann Magnolia: reddish purple flowers,  grows 10-15 ft tall

Leonard Messel Magnolia: pink and white flowers,  grows 10-15 ft tall

Saucer Magnolia: white and pink flowers,  grows 20-25 ft tall

While all of these are INCREDIBLY GORGEOUS, I had envisioned a bit larger tree- like the saucer magnolia. When we informed our neighbor that we would be cutting down a tree just to give him a heads up and be neighborly, he pointed to a little tree in his yard that turned out to be an Ann Magnolia. How cool will it be to have 2 magnolia trees next to each other?! The Ann is beautiful, but pretty small. Even his tree is only about 10' tall. I can already start to see buds on it. I know it will probably take years for our tree to get as tall as the trees in the image above, but I know they will be stunning when they do. 

We have spring fever already in Minnesota and it's only January! We will have to wait until at least April to plant the tree, but until then we will keep our eyes out for the saucer magnolias. :)

UPDATE- OK, so the tree is cut down and I have to apologize to Mother Nature because I do feel guilty killing a perfectly good tree. It just wasn't worth it falling on the house at some point. We decided to take the cheapest route possible with the tree, having the arborist just basically lay it on the ground. Definitely a job to leave to a professional, even though my tree climbing husband assured me he could have done it himself. I think not. Ha. What remains of the tree is a huge mess in our yard since we decided to do all the cutting and clean up ourselves. By ourselves I mean my husband. 

Yikes. Luckily we have a good friend that is letting us borrow his chainsaw. With the tree down, it has definitely made a difference in how the house looks. It's much more visible. I think a flowering tree will look great in it's place! We may actually end up going with a smaller magnolia tree, possibly the Leonard Messel because D thinks a Saucer magnolia will be too tall. We will see what we can find come spring time. It may also be worth checking out local parks and arboretums that have magnolia trees for us to compare. 

DIY corner work bench

So I guess I was a good girl this year and Santa must really love me because he brought me a nice RIGID corded drill and a worm saw. I actually decided it would be more useful to have a miter saw so Santa was nice enough to let me return the worm saw and pick out my own miter saw. I ended up selecting the Craftsman 10" single bevel sliding compound miter saw. This thing is awesome!!

But alas, it was too large to be really functional on my tiny workbench. So I decided to make another work bench just for the miter saw (and to have extra work space). We have a utility sink in our basement that is for some reason placed about 2 feet from the wall. A very inefficient use of space. It's connected to some old pipes so I don't think it would have been easy to move. I decided this corner would be a perfect spot to build a workbench! I used some blue tape to mark the area where I wanted it to go. (Excuse our gross basement walls)

I figured giving it an angled front would allow me to more easily operate the saw without the corner of the bench stabbing my abdomen.  I started like any project, planning out the dimensions and how much material I would need. I looked to pinterest and other DIY work benches for inspiration. I decided to use particle board for the top to match the existing work bench and 2x4s for the frame. I went to HD to purchase all of my supplies for less than $50. I had to purchase a 4'x8' sheet of particle board which was pretty cheap, but I had to get it cut in half and then some because I couldn't fit it into our CRV. 

Since the area where the workbench is going is kind of cramped, I built it in the center of the laundry room and planned to move it into place after the frame was built.

I had to cut some long 2x4s so I couldn't really use the miter saw on the workbench. Santa was really nice though and let me get a miter saw stand :) Like my dad always says, "measure twice and cut once"!

Wow! Now we are really rocking! I felt super hard-core at this point lol. Apparently I didn't take many pictures of the building process, but I can guarantee there was plenty of cursing. At the least I can show you a plan of how I built it using Adobe illustrator. This program has been super awesome for my DIY projects because I am able to quickly draw things to scale.

So this is a top view of how I built the frame. The purple rectangles represent the 2x4 legs. I measured carefully so that the new workbench would be the same height as the existing work bench. I started by building the top frame, then added the legs. Notice I added cross bars to support the weight of the saw so that the particle board wouldn't sag in the middle.  I used 3" screws for everything. After I had the frame built,  I wrestled with it to get it in place in the corner of the basement. It took some maneuvering and me lifting it up over my head to the best of my abilities, but I eventually got it in place. From there, I just laid the piece of particle board on top which was cut to the same shape as the top view of the frame. I also made a shelf underneath to store my tools with the leftover particle board. I used leftover 2x4 pieces and screwed them to the insides of the feet to rest the shelf on top of. It was pretty easy! 

It worked out perfectly to fit my miter saw and store other tools. I added hook on the side to hold my clamps and air compressor hose. I was also able to fold up the portable miter saw stand and fit it under the workbench so I can easily pull it out and set it up when I need to cut larger material. 

Overall, pretty easy and fun DIY project. It was a great chance to test drive my new miter saw. I also love that its so customizable to your space- do what works best for you and how you like to work.

DIY fabric headboard

Buying an upholstered headboard can get very expensive. Making an upholstered headboard is CHEAP and EASY.  It's a super fun, quick project that you can have done in a day.

If you are redesigning a bedroom, I think a nice headboard can really set up the room. It will kick it up a couple notches and help round out the design.

There are so many options for DIY headboards and they are all so customizable which makes this an awesome project for any DIY-er.

The materials you will need for this project are:

- a sheet of plywood or other sheet material ( I actually used OSB board because it's cheaper. Some people have concerns about the glue used but I have found the smell goes away after a couple days and it hasn't been a problem)

- fabric (you can use anything that is large enough to cover at least one side of the headboard. I actually used a curtain for mine!)

- batting (the thickness will depend on how padded you want yours to be. 1-2 layers of batting over the front of the headboard should be good) I bought this at Joanns.

- a jigsaw to cut out the shape of the headboard (if you want a simple rectangular shape you can have HD or other store where you purchase the wood cut it to size) I got this at Target. It's a great tool to have for DIY projects!

- staple gun

That is basically it! Super easy and inexpensive. The first step is to determine the size of your bed. I would recommend looking up measurements of your mattress size online or measuring the width yourself. You can also adjust the height depending on your bed frame and how high you want your headboard to come up the wall.

After you have your basic size, create a template with paper or draw on the wood with the shape of your headboard. Some shape examples (as found on http://www.thriftydecorchick.com), or you can make your own!

After you have the shape you want, you really only need to do one side, then you can flip it over for the other side as shown below:

Once you have your design drawn, use your jigsaw to cut it out. You may want to have a second set of hands to help you keep the board steady while you cut. I recommend having it on a table with just the edge that needs to be cut hanging off. 

The next step is to staple on the fabric and batting. I brought the wood inside and laid the curtain on the floor and put the batting on top. 

Next, Start to stretch the fabric over the edges and staple to the wood. I tried to fold the batting over the edges of the wood so that it would look nice and smooth and you wouldn't be able to tell where the batting stopped. I ended up leaving the curtain rings on the fabric because no one would see them anyway! Make sure you staple one or two times at the top, then the bottom, then the sides and keep repeating this and going around the edges until it is secure. It's much like stretching a canvas if you have ever done that. This prevents the fabric from bunching up at any one spot and helps make it nice and tight.

And thats it! You can then attached the headboard to your wall or bed frame, but I decided just to prop it up against the wall.

We have a pretty high king size bed from Ikea so the bed was actually a bit tall for the headboard. I was initially going to attach the headboard to the wall, but since we have plaster walls I instead decided to attach wood to the bottom of the headboard to make feet. It's a little janky, but no one will see it anyway! They will just be impressed with your mad headboard-making skills! You can see how much taller the bed was in the image below.

The final look (it was a coincidence that the fabric matched the walls perfectly!):

The plus about this project is that if you ever get sick of the fabric, you can easily attach new fabric right over top! I used a striped fabric so you can see where it got a little wavy in the middle. Oh well, I can eventually cover it with new solid fabric :) Just something to be aware of when you are selecting your fabric.