Thanks to bill, live wire oak and Springtimehomes. Things moved very quickly. Instead of insulation company, sheetrock company insulated, Cost was the same but sheetrockers did a lot of removing of old plaster, rock, wood and old insulation. Used batts, R-13 in walls and R-30 in ceiling, We do have knob and tube. I brought baffles and they were installed in some places. I think I should have had the insulation company insulate and then had the sheetrockers come in but done is done. House has been in reno mode for a full year and I am done. We will blow the remainder of the attic after we have some of the K & T replaced. Many thanks for your inputs.

Greetings from the lush Pacific NW, Seattle, Washington! Congratulations on your darling new home. What a find!!! I too, tend to agree this is a late Victorian, rather than an Edwardian or even later, a 1920's residence. This is not a four-square as they appear here in Seattle. Architecturally, the four-square has perfect symetry, which the subject home does not. It features a "turret" sort of structure which then offers lovely bay window sort of enclave. To be envied indeed! The give-away as to the style of architecture additionally, is the fireplace. Many of the 1920's homes have that traditional "Tudor" or pointy-topped fireplace surround. Some even have niches for objects of art. The subject home has far more fussy details than the stripped down Arts & Crafts style, favored in the early 1900's. Yes, I too would go hunting for Victorian furniture in rich mahogany. Even Eastlake furniture would be great. Personally, 1920's style furniture (which I have in a portion of my own home) tends to be very straight-lined. One sees the beginnings of the Art Deco Age. My display cabinet has sloped outward angles and has a lovely wood panel/fret work sort of thing as the door. Compared to Victorian, the wood of the 20's furniture I have found to be lighter in tone, often fruit wood too, compared to mahogany. In my spare time, I am a historical costumer here in Seattle. My husband (Sir Harry of Essex) and I have appeared in historical documentaries filmed here as well. If you are a Facebook fan, feel free to find me as: Lady Victoria Seattle. I also moderate on FB and on the Yahoo Groups: Victorian Revival which discuss furnishings, table settings, Victorian-inspired lifestyle, etc. Great fun for those of us kinda "stuck back there", unwilling to wear 21st century clothing all the time! (wink) Please post photos of your efforts in decorating! I'm sure all of us out here would love to see your lastest "find" from garage sale or thrift store. Also feel free to post images to the Victorian Revival site as I can assure you folks will love to see photos there too. Wishing you much joy, health, prosperity, and time to enjoy all three in your new home.... Lady Victoria of Essex Here is a link that might be useful: Facebook: Victorian Revival

We added on a screened in porch to the rear of our house as part of the reno. It has glass windows that can be put in for the cold months, so some call it a Florida room. I wanted an old style outdoor space that lives like an indoor space and where we won't get bitten by mosquitoes. Before adding it on, we never ate on our porch because of not wanting to be chewed up. We used the porch only for big bbqs with lots of citronella candles and bug spray. We intend to decorate it to be like a sun porch. We love how we can leave our back door open and don't have any screens on our back windows because the room works as our screens. With the ceiling fans in our house and in the porch, it really lets us have natural air & breezes instead of refrigerated a/c all summer. Several people have seen it and mentioned turning it into another indoor room, but with the den adjacent, we have no use for more indoor space. It is meant to be a place we can be outdoors even if it rains or is hot in the sun as it provides shade from the midday heat. I can't wait to have it set up with comfy seating so I can enjoy a cup of coffee out there while working online or just plain old surfing for fun.

My son just had the cellulose checked in the attic of his 1930 built one story house. Most of it has disappeared over the years. He paid $350, I think for the test, and it is asbestos free cellulose. The insulation looked like newsprint in little circles about the size of the top of a marker pen. Next he will add insulation to the attic. There is no attic floor, only the space between the joists and the ceiling below. We have a question about insulating the crawl space. Their house has probably no insulation in the walls, and the windows are wood and leaky. He will live with them for now. They crank open like double doors, though there are new windows in the kitchen and dining room. Does it pay to insulate the crawl space to reduce heating and cooling costs and increase comfort? This is a house that is a little over 1300 square feet. We know no way that they could easily, economically insulate the walls. But I am wondering if doing the crawl space under the wood floor would be helpful.