Operation Siding Transplant: Update

I began Operation Siding Transplant last week. So far, so good. So good, that in fact, I decided to add Operation Insulation, MacGyver style.

A couple of nights ago, I started peeling away some damaged siding, and I dutifully began fitting the donor siding in the empty space. Thankfully, they fit, but I didn't nail them in just yet.

I was thinking, Hey, while I've got the outside cavity open, why don't I look at the options of adding insulation? A couple of minutes on the Internets, and I had a plan.

The next morning I called the insulation company I used to blanket my attic. The salesman said they didn't do retrofit work, but explained how to get it done.

First, I peeled away a few more boards of siding to reveal some of the framing toward the top and the bottom.

Next, I unfurled the insulation (kraft paper backed, 23 inches wide, and 3 1/2 in depth) and began cutting to size. I got the right size by fishing my measuring tape into the cavity. After cutting the insulation to match the cavity, I slowly stuffed it in. On the full lengths, I stuffed them in increments, so I didn't have too long of a piece to navigate through the hole.

I'm about finished -- still have to stuff the space above the windows and figure out how to get into spaces that now are obstructed by pipes (such as a kitchen vent), but I'm pretty confident I can finish this up, button up the holes with the donor siding, then prime and paint. And voila, I will have three sides of my house painted.

Some tips:

-- I'm in the South, but the insulation folks recommended that I buy insulation with a vapor barrier, and face that toward the interior walls.

-- I hope the wood studs don't sweat and cause condensation within the cavity.

-- Don't work on insulation when it's 90 degrees out. Oy.

-- Take a break, so you don't make mistakes out of sheer exhaustion.

Operation siding

Success. Figured out how saw works, cut, pulled and extracted seven boards. All while wearing my pajamas.

Now I can come back and add insulation and look for some wallboard so I can hang organizers.

Cabin fever!

Haven't done a thing outside in three weeks -- traveling, crappy weekends, crappy weeks at work -- and I've got some DIY cabin fever.

So I'm distracting myself in the usual ways: knitting, watching the endless parade of Jenny Sanford appearances on television, and trying to stay warm.

It's all Drafty McDraftpants here. I dream of blown-in insulation in the walls. But until then...

I have hardwood floors above a crawl space, and while I've put plastic on some of the ground, it's not everywhere, and an insulation job a few years ago fell apart pretty easily. A friend suggested tacking tar paper to the floor from below. What do you think of that? Another wasted effort? Or economical solution?