The original fieldstone crawlspace had crumbling sill, sagging fiberglass, and no vapor barrier. I poured a new concrete pad, hung a vapor barrier ceiling against the joists, and re-insulated the joist bays with Rockwool R23. Sister-jacked the floor with adjustable steel posts where the old framing had given up. PEX and PVC drains all got rerun while the bays were open.
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Before Before — crumbling sill, charred-looking subfloor, exposed wiring above. Worst part of the cottage.
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Before Sagging insulation, exposed joists, and a single concrete pier doing more work than it should.
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Before Old fiberglass falling out of the bays. None of it was doing anything anymore.
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Cinder block pier and the original conduit run. I kept the pier but everything else got redone.
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During Selfie with the headlamp down in the crawlspace against the old stone wall. Tight quarters.
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During Joists exposed with the old insulation gone. From here I could see every plumbing and wire run.
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Copper, PVC drain, and the Taco zone control all visible. Nothing buried where I couldn't service it.
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Joists, copper, and electrical above the new concrete pad. Clean slate for insulation.
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During Fresh concrete meeting the original stone wall. Two centuries of construction in one frame.
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During New PVC drains and baseboard heat copper run along the foundation wall.
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During Vapor barrier stapled tight against new framing. No air gap means no condensation later.
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During Adjustable steel jack posts next to the basement stairs taking load off the failing original posts.
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During Steel columns shoring the joists above. Permanent supports, set on a footing, not jacked temporarily.
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Before Two bags of Rockwool Comfortbatt R23 dropped at the cottage, waiting on me.
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Before Stacks of Rockwool indoors. I bring it inside the day before so it's not full of frost when I open it.
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During The hatchback packed inside and on top. Two trips to the supply house instead of paying for delivery.
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Before Rockwool bundles staged in the basement near the boiler before install.
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Before Batts staged in the crawlspace ready to go between the joists.
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During Insulation and panel sticker in the same frame. Almost everything closed up.
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During Knee wall opened with rewired outlets ready to close back in.
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After Crawlspace done — concrete floor, vapor barrier overhead, original fieldstone wall intact.
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