Digging deeper into this old house

Archaeological Adventure at Painted Hand Farm: Part Two

HORESEHAIR PLASTER CEILING REMOVAL

 Well, the rest of the ceiling in the living room finally came down. It turned out to be a HUGE job--much, much bigger than I had ever imagined.

 I was extremely fortunate (and very grateful) to have some help from a demolition-loving friend. Similarly, he, too, did not realize what an intense project he signed on for and I applaud  him for not walking out after the first day. But then again, the tearing down was fun....it was the cleaning up (especially the broken water pipe) that really sucked.

 There was a minor mishap that resulted in a break where copper met galvanized piping under the bathroom sink. Fortunately, there was a huge plastic tarp covering the floor and the water cut down on the dust.

 Yes, that's the entire living room ceiling on the floor.

 I remember my mom talking about how she felt when she saw the gaping hole in her living room when the old picture was torn out and before the bow window was installed. I think this is how she must have felt. Or worse yet, people who have experienced disasters. To think I brought this all on myself.

 But as I looked up and saw the lovely beams, my dread passed.

 Steve tearing out the last little bit of plaster of the project.

  Instead of carrying all the debris out the front door, it was much easier to heft it out the window directly into the bucket of the tractor.

 Dust masks, shop vac, brooms and plastic sheeting were our friends.  As the cleaning continued, the room began to once again come alive.

 Having every piece of furniture out of the room for the first time since moving to the farm in 2000, I was tempted to do a full hardwood floor restoration, complete with drum sander and multiple coats of a finish, but the scope of the original project of tearing down the ceiling had worn me down and I just wanted to get my furniture back into the room and be done with it.

 So I gave the floors a thorough cleaning and applied a few coats of commercial polyurethane finish. The floor was gorgeous! 

 

 There was,  however, one thing I could not bring myself to return to my beautiful living room--the old feather ticking pull-out sleeper sofa I'd had since 1990. It had served it purpose well over the years, but had been shredded and stained by too many animals and it was time to let it go. So it was only fitting that it grace the top of the ceiling's funeral pyre. What a bonfire!