Insulation

Putting in insulation was perhaps the only single-day step of this entire project, and it was oddly fun.

I splurged on getting rock wool instead of traditional fiberglass. While it's about twice the cost, it's just about rigid and solid rather than fluffy/squishy like fiberglass. I had to carve out space for any obstructions like electrical wires or boxes (featuring the return of the insulation machete) but I was also confident that it was actually fully filling up the space around those obstructions. And since it holds its shape so well and I don't need any real vapor barrier in this climate, I could save myself the frustration of having to staple up the kraft paper facing of traditional fiberglass.

And then I showered. A lot.