Magic Wand to the Rescue

In November Jim and I attended Winterfest and purchased a very special, one-of-a-kind magic wand from a 9 year old budding artist who lives on Malcolm Island. He made our wand using a special piece of branch, mystic gems and magical adornments. We felt certain that this magic wand would help us to make the bulky mound of compressed Rockwool insulation disappear.





This was our massive pile of insulation, which took up the entire kitchen! R22 packages contain 5 batts and R28 batts contain 4 batts.   Ceiling will be R72 when the insulation is installed.

Jim holding the magic wand above the insulation.....

A few key chants, lots of bowing and nodding and bobbing to make sure it would work.

And it did!!!Just like that!!!


Ok...it wasn't quite that simple.  If you want to follow start to finish please continue below....

Our sloped ceiling in late September.  Notice the scaffolds Jim designed.  We've used it extensively ever since.

Jim designed and created the  ribs to enhance the curve of a wave...

And here it is finished with this beautiful, unusual ceiling shape.

Then the fun began right after New Year's.

Each space between the joists consumed 3 layers of insulation with 5 pieces per layer, all individually put in place.

It took a while to get into a routine.  I carried each batt up the scaffold and handed to Jim to be installed.

Batts ready for installation.  We also had to carve away insulation where we needed backing boards.
Time consuming but necessary so things will sit flat when the finished pine boards are eventually added. 

Each light fixture had to be covered in a wooden ring then sealed in plastic.

Once the insulation was up, the whole ceiling was covered in a vapour barrier.  Each light outlet
was gooped up with a flexible caulking so that the vapour barrier is never pierced.

A third of the way into the project, Jim designed and build the wooden box
to contain the future metal chimney for our Pacific Energy wood burning stove.  

Very hard on the neck and back but he managed to get it in place.  The box
was installed, primed and painted before the vapour barrier was added over top.

Getting closer to done!  Jim's working on the first roll of vapour barrier over the kitchen and powder room. 

We moved the rolling scaffolding across the house, caulking all seams after installing the vapour barrier.

Nailing strips of plywood over the caulking to attach the future ceiling boards.

And before you know it....it's done!

And that's how easy it is to put insulation into a ceiling!

Cheers for now.

Jim and Tricia Bowen