-2 Walls + .5 Walls
My Dad came up Saturday and we finally got some work done! Much more productive than the previous weekend. Saturday we took out the wall next to the stairs, the wall next to the small bathroom, and built the half wall next to the stairs. And it's awesome. We also got to play with some new tools like the reciprocating saw and the miter saw. I probably should have had a reciprocating saw a long time ago. That would have sped up a lot of the demolition. Instead I spent a lot of energy just smashing wood with a crowbar.
It looks really similar to the sketch I did Friday. Bryan came over and we talked about how I'm going to insulate. Once again he told me to tear it all down. But I think we've finally come up with a good plan. I'm still going to build the wall down 6 inches in the back where there's no space between the ceiling joists and roof rafters and insulate the dropped ceiling (not to be confused with a drop ceiling... this one will be made of 2x4's and drywall). The in rest of the ceiling I'm going to blow in cellulose and lay fiberglass batts against the skylight. In places that are hard to get to, like around the skylight, I'm going to open up small hole for me to squeeze through and blow insulation.
Speaking of insulation, I've been reading this really good publication that Terra Logos put together about how to make Baltimore Rowhouses more environmentally friendly. There's great stuff about insulating a row house in it. Also info on green materials and plenty of resources for further research. Read the PDF: Green Building Template: A Guide to Sustainable Design Renovating for Baltimore Rowhouses
One interesting point in it is that insulating your rowhome doesn't save you as much money as insulating a freestanding home. This makes sense because all these rowhouses sharing walls gives you less wall, window and roof area exposed to the outdoors. But this also makes me really glad I don't have a house with a breezeway. For those who don't know, a breezeway design in a rowhouse is made where on one side of the house, half of the wall isn't connected to the house next door. There is a gap and the house gets narrower at this point. This allow you to put windows along more wall space but also allows a lot more heat to escape. Every place I've ever lived with a breeze way has been very cold to live in in the winter.