AC Insulates Under Floor of 120 Year Old Crawlspace

[AC_Hacker]

I have done a fairly robust job of insulating the walls of the kitchen in my house that was built on or before 1892.

But the wisdom of heat conservation trends tells me that heat loss through the floors over an unheated crawlspace can be 30%. In my case, since my kitchen walls are now 6" solid EPS & XPS, the loss is certain to be a much higher percentage.

It's now the end of August, and the thought of yet another winter with a kitchen that has an uninsulated floor is completely unappealing, so I'm giving the renovation an early start.

My son is suffering from a still sour economy, and to help him with his under employment, I've hired him as my primary mover on the project.

The first task was to clean out from under the crawl space, any refuse that got 'left' there during the last 120 years.

There were some real historical curiosities...

I'm not a car expert, but I would guess that this is a trailer (1060'?) and a Caddy (late 1960's)

Here is a tiny piece of a newspaper. I looked for a date, but no luck. My guess is any where from WWI to 1930's.

Top is a badly rusted hammer head (upholser's hammer?). I do know from historical records that the original owner was a carpenter. THis looks old enough to have been his, but it doesn't look like a carpenter's hammer.

Bottom are three bottles, some still with corks and residue. Previously, when I was digging my loop field, I found many bottles. Some were 'patent medicine' bottles, which in the time that this house was built could contain opium, sometimes even heroine. Seems it was included to relieve the ladies during their 'special days'. Since opiates cause constipation, many users of opiates also used laxatives. I have also found laxative bottles on this property. The residue could be either of these things. Interesting to note, the highest percentage of drug addiction in the US was in the late 1800's, and it was white women.

Also a medicine bottle, probably to help the men during their 'special days'.

Here is a badly decomposed hat, probably a derby, is my guess. I noticed that where the user's head came in contact with the hat, the material of the had was rotted or consumed by something

Here is a close-up of the roll of the brim... I remember seeing old flickering films of derby wearing men with brims rolled just like this. This is a Charlie Chaplin era hat... Probably dropped and lost by a workman, is my guess.

Here's a shot of actual work... 6 mil vapor barrier in place

Here's a detail of the spacers fastened to the sub floor, right next to the floor joists, to provide a 1/2" space above the foil faced EPS.

Whew!! Lotta work, lotta work to go...

Best,

-AC