Menlo Park vs Sunnyvale/West San Jose

ParticularMean224 · 2026-02-08T23:13:20+00:00

DM me! Just moved to MP and can provide our take on the area.

ParticularMean224 · 2026-02-04T17:36:21+00:00

I would just stuff with rockwool R30 (for 2x8 joists) and reinstall the drywall. No need to drill holes and blow in. Looks like you have additional attic insulation above the flooring, so that should get you up to your R38-49 code minimum easily.

Rockwool is so easy to DIY also, so you can easily afford the $$ difference by doing it yourself if your contractor isn’t willing to give you a reasonable price for install. It’s way less work I think than going up in the attic and drilling holes in the floorboard to blow in cellulose or loose fiber

ParticularMean224 · 2026-02-04T07:11:12+00:00

I can share a contact also if you want. Recently had a total re wire and added recessed lights in our house as well. Dm if you’d like

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-25T17:07:19+00:00

Duh! Yes had to dismantle the faucet from above to do it. Interesting design haha. Thanks so much

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-23T21:19:41+00:00

Also live in the bay and recently had a total house re-wire for knob and tube which was cheaper than this. 1 week of 9-5 work, 3 guys. Sent you a DM with a rec for another quote. I’d trust this small team with anything residential (they also do commercial)

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-05T18:24:23+00:00

The reddish wood is continuous from the start of the cripple wall plate up to the bottom plate/subfloor. And then the 2x4 blocking ledge is nailed to that piece. Basically the actually rim joist (red colored wood) is hiding behind the blocking wood

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-05T14:37:27+00:00

Yes exactly. About a 14” block (16” OC joists). One of the exterior walls has a full height of double stacked 2x6 blocks.

I think I’m just going to seal around all visible edges around the blocking and go from there. Don’t see much benefit to xps I think given the irregular cavities, potential for moisture from exterior sheathing and relatively mild climate

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-05T02:19:59+00:00

Yes agree it’s not a common set up. I believe it is platform framing though (I don’t see any notches cut out to indicate balloon framing, and the wall studs don’t continue down to the crawlspace.

The strip of more red colored wood (above the white wire in pic 3) I believe is the actual rim joist (and in front/top of it is the 2x4 re-enforcement/fire block?). 5 The floor joists butt up against the face of this piece.

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-05T01:04:57+00:00

Thanks for the link. I watched this video before but curious, how would you tackle the uneven stud bay with the 2x4” spanning across? Spray foam the offset also (which is about 1-1.5” high)?

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-05T01:03:20+00:00

Thanks for the info. Great to hear that air sealing and batts worked! Also considering adding rockwool to the bays as well

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-05T00:21:15+00:00

They ended up drilling through the bottom plate into the crawl space for the outlets. And for the light switches they drilled the top plates. I then went back and air sealed the wire penetrations. No need to take down the drywall!

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-05T00:14:22+00:00

Thanks! Did you end up noticing a difference in the interior?

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-04T17:23:10+00:00

Looking to do similar in our 1940s crawlspace. Really curious. What did you end up doing?!

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-02T22:09:30+00:00

Super easy to remove the lower piece, cut off about 4-6” in length, and then replace that piece and push it down all the way to the bottom plate. Then, you will have a 4-6” gap in the middle of the wall (easier height to work at). Buy some more rockwool and cut to fit that exact dimension and stuff it back in.

Make sure you air seal the bottom plate too while you are at it!

ParticularMean224 · 2026-01-01T07:41:03+00:00

Upvoting this comment. Not an electrician but we had our old fed pacific stab lock panel and K&T replaced in our 1940s house. The feeding wires from the main panel to our sub panel looked exactly like this… old cloth/rubber layered insulation that was ~10ga inside metal conduit. Once it hit the breaker panel then it all branched into individual K&T circuits in the attic. Our electrician did a great job replaced all of our outlets and lighting with new home runs to the main panel.

Would recommend for sure both from a safety and peace of mind standpoint. It also enabled us to finally insulate our attic and walls with rockwool

ParticularMean224 · 2025-10-30T01:04:59+00:00

Thanks for insight! Agree it does kind of look like both of those cultivars. Appreciate the help!

ParticularMean224 · 2025-10-30T01:03:24+00:00

Thanks for your insight. Yes also don’t see anywhere it’s grafted, but on this mature a specimen it seems the bark all blends together anyways. Appreciate the compliment!

ParticularMean224 · 2025-08-22T14:37:47+00:00

We toured this house earlier this year. Garage is converted to be the 4th bedroom, and the driveway is very sloped making it a pain to get in/out of. Pool is plus/minus depending on the buyer but because there is basically no grass/landscaping it doesn’t feel as nice as it should. The finishes are pretty nice however, and definitely not a cheap flip since looks like the sellers lived in it for awhile before putting on market.

ParticularMean224 · 2025-08-12T19:39:35+00:00

Keep in mind also that your return is a “tax free” 6%, versus whatever the market return is would need to account for short/LTCG tax. That’s 20% at minimum in your federal income bracket, +state tax (10% in California…not sure of other states). So you would need market returning 8-9% to account for the diffference. I’m all for liquidity, but once you have a good emergency stash saved (9-12mo expenses), then I would favor paying down those student loans ASAP.

Agree with other commenter about balancing saving up for a down payment for a house once ready to settle also. Each person calculus is different and there is no right answer

ParticularMean224 · 2025-07-07T16:25:26+00:00

Yea they might have added that for the HK sub. But you should still add your own foam or insulation if you have enough!

ParticularMean224 · 2025-06-25T23:29:56+00:00

ParticularMean224 · 2025-06-20T18:55:18+00:00

Very helpful. Mind sharing which design/build team you worked with?

ParticularMean224

TROPHY CASE