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The plastic-on-the-windows project is done. At least done enough, for now.
Not really to my satisfaction really, but there’s nothing to be done about it.
Liam’s windows still have shades on them (with sheers over the top just for my own edification really) because his window is the only one really on ground level.
To put plastic on Liam’s windows would mean I would have to cover the shades (the plastic goes on the window frame), which means Liam wouldn’t be able to peek behind them to see who was in the driveway, or if there was a weird noise outside.
Liam prefers to keep relying on his space heater when it gets really cold.
And Oliver just straight up doesn’t want plastic on his windows.
And the dining room windows are complicated because the sheers are held on by a tension rod between the tops of the frames. So I couldn’t go to the top of the frame with the plastic.
Porter’s room is a maybe later. But his room is in the middle of house and it’s typically the hottest room in the house anyway naturally.
And the kitchen is also a maybe, though that room doesn’t really get cold.
And so: the plastic is on the double doors in the living room, and the windows in our bedroom.
Our bedroom is the coldest room in the house. Our room is above the almost-walk-in crawlspace/basement and I’ve been thinking about going to get some more roll insulation to put in the ceiling of the crawlspace/basement, between the joists. It’s a thought, though I haven’t talked to Jared about it yet.
At the very least, the styrofoam tubing I shoved in the wider, disjointed gaps at the base of both double doors in the living room, along with the plastic sweeeps we put to block the air last winter, will help, in addition to the plastic on the window portions of the double doors. That was the biggest insulation worry, since I removed the heavy blackout drapes.
The goal really wasn’t to bring our energy bills down from what they already are. The goal was to prevent them from skyrocketing despite the very necessary aesthetic changes made to the windows in the house, for my mental health.
If anybody is interested in the plastic I bought, you can find it here.
It was the cheapest plastics solution I could find, though admittedly I dealt with an awful lot of waste. But the tape, despite the reviews, seem decent enough. And the hair dryer trick (waving the hair dryer briefly over the edges covering the tape) really does shrink wrap the plastic to the frame .
And one thing I really was not prepared for was the mishaps: The first window I did, I didn’t know that I should keep the hair dryer to the edges by the tape, and I melted two holes that had to be patched. And the patching, while functional, takes away from the aesthetic. I really need to redo that window.
Similarly, I hadn’t counted on the dogs seeing cats through the sheers outside and going berzerk. Trixie punched a hole in the bottom of the plastic in one of the doors in the living room, that had to be patched.
At any rate, I am calling the project a success.
You can read more about me here.
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