The rest of the weekend was spent on a fairly major project with great but not really photographable results. We found the early stages of mold in the basement, which felt very, very damp. So I set off looking for a dehumidifier. Silly me, I assumed a hardware store would have something decent.... Turns out the Home Depot by us only carries three models in-store, and all three were on back-order. At all their local stores. But I could drive thirty miles to a store that had one left. Lowe's was also sold out of all the models large enough for our damp and extensive basement, but their other store had a floor model left which they were willing to sell. And this was only a 10 mile drive. Sold!
Apparently, we got lucky enough to get not only the last dehumidifier in the area, but also a good one. The thing has reduced the basement from damp to pleasant in three days (the readout has dropped from 80% to 30%). While that was running, we also bought and installed bathroom fans in both the bathrooms. Working in the attic was h highly uncomfortable, but dad did most of that, saint that he is.He also did the 'scary' parts--cutting holes in the roof for the vents and switching out the fuses for GFI ones. S far, everything is working beautifully, and the house feels great.
Now I just have to clean up the mold. It's just the start of it really, that pale grey film that looks like dust. Hopefully, that means almost everything is salvageable. Updates on that as I figure it out. Oh well, rearranging and reorganizing my basement sewing room was on my list anyway.
