07/11/2026
Surgical Tub Extractions, 1938 Time Capsules, and the $19k Crawlspace Victory
It's Saturday, and we are back with our weekly dose of architectural forensics, structural dust, and pure old-house chaos. This week, our 1895 Queen Anne Victorian house in Elkton threw a few more fascinating puzzle pieces at our feet—along with a massive sigh of relief.
We’ve been staring down a 1.5-inch structural sag stretching across our 11-foot interior kitchen arch. But before our upcoming diagnostic site visit with a structural engineer to map out a permanent leveling game plan, we have some fantastic news from the underground.
Here is the official breakdown of what we uncovered, dismantled, and decoded this week:
1. The $19k Crawlspace Payoff
We managed to get underneath the house to inspect the load paths firsthand. Fortunately, it appears we do indeed have the arch ends sitting directly on solid ground support! This is an absolute game-changer for our peace of mind—it means there is no immediate fear of a structural failure while we finalize our long-term leveling strategy.
Seeing how pristine it is under there reminded us of exactly one year ago today, when we had to completely encapsulate the crawlspace after the big flood. We brought in Crawl Space Techs out of Clarksville to do a full cleanout, encapsulation, sump basin and pump installation, commercial dehumidifier setup, and extend all gutter downspouts 8 feet away from the foundation. It was an exceptionally well-spent $19,000, and it is officially performing with distinction.
2. The Great 350-Pound Tub Exorcism (A Flashback)
After watching rainwater stream in the upstairs bathroom ceiling, run across the floor, and empty into the kitchen ceiling below, we knew this was a longstanding issue causing unknown damage. To relieve the pressure on those kitchen joists, we previously had to get the dead weight of the old second-floor bathroom tub out of the house. That 350-pound cast-iron beast absolutely refused to fit through our historic door frames, no matter what angle we tried. It ultimately required a surgical extraction a month ago by our heavy-lifting friends at Problem Packers, who had to cut it into pieces just to get it out. An unfortunate antique casualty of ensuring the supports didn't collapse.
3. Unlocking the 1938 Timeline
Our house forensics took a massive leap forward this week. While exposing the wall framing, we found handwritten layout notes left behind by a past carpenter. But the real prize was stuffed deep inside the cavity: fragments of an old newspaper time capsule.
As you can see in our pictures, we unrolled pieces of a November 1938 edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal, complete with iconic Walter Winchell columns!
The Verdict: Finding 1938 newsprint aligns beautifully with the 1.75-inch nominal framing studs we uncovered.
This officially confirms that the original open porch was enclosed and turned into interior kitchen space right around 1938.
The 1982 newspaper fragments we found earlier were just from a much later fiberglass insulation retrofit applied from the EXTERIOR side of the house.
4. Dumpster Tetris & The Electrician Timeline
Our progress can officially be measured in tonnage. We have completely filled two massive 5-yard dumpsters so far, which you've seen parked outside the past several weeks. Even our local wildlife and feline site supervisors are dropping by to inspect the debris pile. Dumpster number three arrives Monday to handle the rest of the floor demolition.
On the mechanical front, our electrical team had a scheduling shift—they won't be back on-site until July 14 to tackle the removal of our temporary island breaker stand and trace out that dead utility room circuit.
5. Pivoting to the Future: The Design Plan
Because this total kitchen gut was entirely unplanned and unbudgeted, we are playing it smart and pivoting to the fun part: aesthetics. We just picked up our paint supplies and finalized a late-Victorian, nature-inspired palette:
▪︎ Walls: Clary Sage (a beautiful, period-accurate muted green popular in the 1890s).
▪︎ Ceiling: Alabaster White (soft, warm, and light-reflecting).
▪︎ Cabinets: A beautiful creme with tan/brown line accents to mimic historic furniture detailing. They are all premier wood construction and only 2 weeks out!
▪︎ Countertops: Since high-end stone isn't in the budget cards right now, we are going with an easy-maintenance laminate with brown marbling. It perfectly mimics the look of the luxury marble pastry slabs prized by 1890s bakers, and we can always upgrade to quartz a few years down the road.
The Next 7 Days: What’s on the Horizon?
We aren’t slowing down. Here is our master punch list for the upcoming week:
> The Wood Shield: We are applying a heavy coat of Bora-Care to all the raw interior wood inside our open wall cavities, floor sill plates, and under the ceiling joists. It penetrates deep into the timber to eradicate any hidden pests or fungus and shields the house against future rot or bugs.
> The Great Reclaim Check: When the structural engineering team arrives for our structural assessment, we're also having them audit the 1960s/70s era drop ceiling frame. If they give us the green light, we'll be ripping it out entirely to reclaim the kitchen's original, grand Victorian height!
> Buttoning Up the Walls: Once the Bora-Care dries, we are packing the open framing with Rockwool R15 mineral wool batts for top-tier insulation, fire resistance, and sound dampening.
> A Shocking Return: Preparing the space for our electricians who officially land on July 14 to clean up the temporary island panel and dead wiring.
> A Splash of Color Elsewhere: While the kitchen dries and waits for engineering sign-offs, we are moving the aesthetic party to the rest of the house. We're prepping the upstairs bedroom for a dramatic coat of Borscht (a rich historic plum) and the downstairs bedroom for Naval (a deep, bold statement navy).
> Trim Therapy: We are beginning the meticulous task of stripping back generations of old paint on our exterior door trim to prep it for its historically accurate final coat: Jasper (a gorgeous, deep forest green-black).
Current Status: Dust in our hair, old newspapers in our hands, and a massive checklist ahead. The history is unmasked, the foundation is dry, and the rebuild is officially on the horizon!
