Sunday, December 19, 2010

Living in an old house...

... drafts are pretty much a given.

Barry has been ripping down the old lath and plaster walls, room by room, and replacing them with insulated drywall, but we have not gotten to the two front rooms, and now they need to wait till he finishes his degree. And they are COLD. Last year we just closed the doors and shut the heat ducts to them and pretended they did not exist for all of January. This year we started early. (Did you know it's still officially autumn? and already below 0 Fahrenheit at night?) The big pocket doors and the standard-sized side door have been shut. Unfortunately the pocket doors don't like to stay closed, and sneak their way back into the walls, and there's a good 2-inch gap under all 3 of the doors.


So I finally did what I should have done a long time ago and made these snakey thingies out of scraps of upholstery fabric to stuff under the doorways.



Barry wanted to stuff them with keeshond fur.
He cited the excellent insulating qualities and easy availability of this particular commodity. It keeps Bo quite cozy, and I hear you can actually spin it into yarn and make sweaters out of it, so we know it's warm. And since Bo's "shedding season" seems to last 11.75 months of the year, the fur is pretty much all over the house, in clumps that blow around every time the furnace blower starts up. It's self renewing! So green.

Instead I insisted on crumpled-up plastic garbage sacks, of which I have hundreds. See, I can be green, too.

I can already tell a difference. The bumper under the pocket doors wedges them together so they can't work their way apart, and all of a sudden there's much less of a cold draft on my feet.

Success.

3 comments:

Missouri Michael said...

Your bumpers make me think back to when I first purchased my house. The old windows had never been properly maintained, and they didn't seal well at all. For the first few winters, every window in my house has old bath towels rolled up and laying where the two sashes meet, as well as heavy lined drapes that were closed all winter long. It was always dark in the house. But now, I sure love those new windows and the fact that I can keep the curtains open in the winter!

Thanks for the great glasses! They area great addition! Merry Christmas!

Catherine said...

Love the shedding dog bumper! I also have fur wafting across the floors. This is a funny post I can relate to. It`s my life too.

Felisol said...

Fur hair from dogs are spun for yarn, and actually quite expensive.
I you use saw dust or similar in your anti draft sausages, they will lay steadier and offer better insulation.
We used to similar when I was a child.

Now double glassing and insulated doors are a must.
Redecorating must be very expensive, especially since you must maintain the vintage, classy look of your beautiful home.
I wish you luck and a Happy Christmas
From Felisol