With all the bobcat-related excitement around here, I forgot to post last weekend's other project - replacing the basement door. As usual with an old house, there were a few complications getting the new door in, all stemming from the fact that the opening no longer was (or never had been) square. But with a little chipping away at the brick and concrete, we got the new door to fit and trust that it will do a much better job keeping the heat in and cold out than the old wooden door used to do. As an added bonus, we found that the old door had been insulated, in part, with newspaper stuffed around the frame. The paper itself was dated December 11, 1955 and it looks like Calvert Liquor Shop was offering wines for $.59...we certainly could have stocked up at that price! I wonder if that was the precursor to one of our favorite stores now, Calvert Woodley Wines. I was tempted to add a little newspaper around the door frame as we installed this one for the next time the door is replaced but given the uncertain R-value of old paper, we opted for regular door foam instead. Guess we'll just have to leave a time capsule somewhere else in the house...
Don't you just love the time capsule elements that include dates? 59 cent wine! Gotta love it! In our old house that we just finished renovating, I found a private investigator's report from the 60's. Evidently the spouse was suspected of fooling around. I'll be they never thought someone would find the report 50 years later!
ReplyDeleteLaurel at SoPo Cottage
Wow, Laurel, sounds like your find was more exciting than ours :) I do love coming across these old things, though - it's such a nice reminder of all that came before us. I just hope our door holds up as long as theirs did!
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