Oh, the Horror
So, y’all know that I am…fussy about basement windows. Such windows are often overlooked, even in otherwise carefully restored houses. At the Cross House, there was this particularly egregious example. In order to fix this horror, I first had to, at great expenses, remove all the AC lines and bury them. Only then could I attend to…
…restoring the sash, which was intact (minus glass). As you may well imagine, my joy was great.
Last week, I posted this new horror: the basement in the carriage house, under the kitchen. There are three windows in this image. Really! To the far right is one covered over (see the two arrows, upper right?). In the right middle is another covered-over window and with a AC duct running through it. In the middle is yet another covered-over window, facing east. Sigh.
Today, I uncovered the window to the right. It faces south. And…huh? It has a curved top! How cool is this? But, what in the hell is covering over the glass? Now, is your seatbelt fastened?
For…EEK!!!!!!!! This is what the exterior of the two south-facing windows looks like. I gasped when I saw this.
Both windows are UNDER the south porch. I have never before crawled under the porch, so never knew about this horror. What you are looking at is gobs and gobs and gobs of spray foam, covering the underside of the porch, the two windows, one AC duct, and adjacent foundation. WTF????????
Yep, WTF?
I had to lie on my side to chip chip chip away at the mounds of hard foam. I was in an orange hell. Ross NOT happy.
Using the claw end of a hammer, I chipped chipped chipped away to suddenly…REVEAL SOME WOOD! My heart raced! And look how thick the foam shit is!
SQUEE!!!!!!!! Look, a sill! Look, some side trim! Look, the edge of the sash! Look, plywood where there should be glass!
After what was, surely, 385 hours, enough foam was off the plywood so that it could be removed! Revealing Scott!
And Ross. Note the remaining fucking foam.
Remember this horror?
Ta-da!!!!!!!! Note also that much of the spaghetti wiring is gone, too! ALL will soon be gone! You can see the arched window to the right, still smothered by foam, the newly uncovered window in the middle, and the still-covered east window. There is a fourth window to the far left, out of the image. What is highly curious is that all four windows are different in style and size. My guess is that each was recycled when the structure was converted into a house circa-1921. Cool. I love this eccentric detail.
I do not have the sash for the east window. No matter, as I plan to transform the opening into a large louvered vent for an air intake. A new fan will infill another window missing its sash way far away in the NW corner. During the good weather months the fan will be on 24/7 and pull air through the basement keeping it fresh and free of damp.
The newly uncovered sash is extant but it had four muntins which were smashed out. So, the sash originally had nine panes of glass. I could beg Dr. Doug to recreate this lost feature but I think I will just put one large glass panel in.
Soon, new AC ducts will be installed BETWEEN the joists rather than snaking up/down and all around and…oh, the horror…through windows.
Even though the two south windows are under a porch floor, they still offer a view and daylight. This makes Ross very happy.
Tomorrow, if I am very brave, I will tackle the arched window.
Pray for me.
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This post makes one hungry… spaghetti wiring, tomato sauce spray foam. 😉 Saluti! Cheers!
A rare sighting of… ROSS! and looking gorgeous taking on the blob that ate Manhattan. I just love your before and after shots. It is so satisfying to see all of that new light in the basement.
Oh, how I LOVE before and after shots!
It is looking GOOD!
That orange spray foam was the weirdest discovery ever!!!
Good job outta you!
That’s a terrifying amount of foam, oh my goodness. I can’t imagine how awful it is to tear that gunk out! Why so much? What’s it for??
Wow – I had to reexamine the “before” photo, to even figure out there are 3 windows in the shot! What a nightmarish tangle of crap – just looking at it is overwhelming.
So, what about the underside of the spray-foamy porch, Ross? How has all that foam effected the porch, itself – is it ok? I’m curious.
That foam is crazy! I understand wanting to thoroughly insulate, but why spray EVERYTHING?!?! it looks like an alien landscape!
Spray foam is a treacherous bitch! While it does offer insulating qualities, it can cover up a multitude of old house sins.
A neighbor’s house, a school house originally, had that crap EVERYWHERE. In every crawlspace, just everywhere. And it covered up dryrot, missing framing, and a seriously rotten sill, among other things. IMO it should be illegal.
I feel for you, Ross. But I know you will prevail, and all will be well with the world.
100% agreed. foam abuse.
You, Ross? FUSSY? No, say it ain’t so! But that’s what we love about you. 🙂
That arched window screams Coach House to me. Not sure why.
I love that they are all repurposed.
Vent and fan are excellent ideas.
The arched window is under the porch? That is a waste of a perfectly lovely window. Can it be relocated to a more prominent and appreciative location?
What an amazing difference! Your back and arms will be sore! Hot tub? OR another lovely big shower!? 🙂
This will be so much better once you’re finished! The previous owners of our house used spray foam for all kinds of things it shouldn’t be used for, like replacing missing mortar in brick walls! Why!!!???
This before-and-after combination is inspiring me to get after the horrible wiring in my basement. It’s hidden by a hung ceiling, but I know it’s up there. I would love to tear that ceiling out, fix all the weirdness, and put something pretty up in its place. It’s finished basement, so I can’t just leave the ceiling down. If anyone has any ideas for solution, I’d be grateful for them.
The underside of the porch reminded me of the Martian landscape, and Ross (a man) being there reminded me of the Blondie song “Rapture” about the man from Mars…”Cause the man from Mars stopped eatin’ cars and eatin’ bars, and now he only eats…….muntins?” LOL… It is seriously scary sometimes, uncovering what previous owners did in our houses years ago. I worked at a DIY home improvement store in the 80s, and it was the era of spray foam and other space-age wonders that people grabbed up by the truckload. PLEASE NOTE: Be careful while picking away at this stuff; some forms of it contained some really nasty and harmful ingredients that become airborn particles when the cured foam is disturbed. You really should be wearing some sort of breathing filter apparatus while working with it.
That foam is awful. I didn’t have to deal with nearly as much as you, but I had three window air conditioners that were “permanently” installed on my main floor and the used the spray foam around the openings to make it weathertight. The worst problem I ran into was that the windows have integral interlocking weather-strip, so the little U shaped channels and their dozens of tiny flathead flush screws were choked with the stuff. It is not easy to get out and not damage anything!
If you put in those fans, consult with someone who makes sure you don’t go below the dewpoint on the foundation walls or floors with your fresh air! Otherwise you’ll achieve exactly the opposite of what you want.
You see, warm air can hold much more water than cold air. What you normally talk about is relative humidity – per cent of the total amount of water (vapour) a given volume of air can hold. At or above 100% that water will turn liquid, it condensates. Trouble is, if you cool down air, you reduce its ability to store humidity. So if warm summer air reaches a cold surface, like a glass of a cold drink, or a basement wall, the water in it quite suddenly condensates and you get droplets. On the outside of a cold drink that’s mildly annoying at worst, in a basement it can become a serious problem. I’ve seen a basement that had puddles of water on the floor every summer. As soon as the existing vent grilles were taped over with a bit of plastic (really just a shopping bag) the puddles disappeared within a week, only to return when the plastic blew away in a storm. Now the basement has a fan on a dewpoint controller, which wasn’t very expensive but is quite efficient at keeping the humidity bearable. The controller has inside and outside sensors that constantly monitor temperature, relative humidity and absolute humidity.
Golly! That all makes perfect sense, Ragnar! Thank you!
However, the issue is now moot, as Modern Air suggested that all the new ductwork in the basement ALSO heat/cool the basement. They explained why this would hugely help, and alleviate the need for bringing in outside air.
I said YES!
That does sound like a great solution!
Ragnar said precisely what I was about to say, only probably better than I would have.
Huge upgrade by removing the assault of foam, wires and ducts, oh my! Inch by inch!