When we bought our house, it was in quite a state of disrepair. It has eight (yes, eight) doors to the outside, and only two of them locked properly. The carpets stank, most of the first floor windowpanes were broken, and one of the actual wooden window muntins had been smashed. On the second floor there was a giant hole in the wall and a bird was nesting in between the flapping vinyl siding and the better wooden siding. What follows is our first set of house photos. Lots of photos, don't say I didn't warn you.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Plaster over metal lath
If you own a house with plaster over metal lath, I pity you. I pity myself more, since I've lost more blood and man-hours to The Metal Menace than probably anything else in all of the PolyCottage.
We removed an entire attic wall of this awful stuff, but most of that wall was windows. It still took the two of us two hours to remove a 30-inch by 16 foot section. I was hoping that would be the end of it, but the wiring on the adjoining wall is inaccessible without removing some of it. To compound matters, the entrance to the overhead crawlspace comes in between, so we'll have to remove even more, probably the entire lower 2/3rds. I managed to beat a large hole into it so I could see what was going on behind it. I got my flashlight and started to stick my head into the opening, when ..ouch! Scratched right over the eyebrow with the stupid metal lath. I hate it.
The aforementioned wall, after removing both the horrible falling-apart paneling that had been put over the crumbling plaster and the plaster and rusted lath. Note that this wasn't quite the end of it, as you can see ragged bits that we had to come back and clean up later.
What on earth could the people have been thinking who came up with this? It makes refits so difficult; cutting one tiny hole takes an hour. And God forbid it ever gets damp (as shown, from the inside of the wall) - it rusts out from behind and makes the entire wall look like cottage cheese. Crumbling, dusty cottage cheese. The bonus there is that at least the lath tears when you pull on it hard enough.
I am big on preservation, and I want to maintain the historical aspects of my home wherever possible - but metal lath is not worthy of keeping around (IMHO). The plaster over rock lath on the ground floor, now THAT is some nice wall material.
My method? I hit it with a sledgehammer anywhere there's not a stud, then when I have enough bare lath showing I use my snips to cut through it until I have a flap, which I then pull. I save the larger, intact chunks of plaster that fall to use for patches.
Definitely need lots of fresh air, a good dust mask, eye protection, and tough clothes and gloves. A good crow bar, a flat pry bar, and metal snips are musts.
If you plan on removing small pieces, then you need some kind of rotary tool (I have a RotoZip as well as a Craftsman cut-out saw - the cordless nature of the latter is a definite advantage for me) with a plaster bit to first cut through the plaster in the shape you desire, and then cut the lath underneath with your snips. A steady hand and a good pencil line to follow are very helpful, as is a circle guide for cutting those perfectly round openings we all like so much. Good music helps as well, to make the horrible time-munching seem less bad.
We removed an entire attic wall of this awful stuff, but most of that wall was windows. It still took the two of us two hours to remove a 30-inch by 16 foot section. I was hoping that would be the end of it, but the wiring on the adjoining wall is inaccessible without removing some of it. To compound matters, the entrance to the overhead crawlspace comes in between, so we'll have to remove even more, probably the entire lower 2/3rds. I managed to beat a large hole into it so I could see what was going on behind it. I got my flashlight and started to stick my head into the opening, when ..ouch! Scratched right over the eyebrow with the stupid metal lath. I hate it.
I am big on preservation, and I want to maintain the historical aspects of my home wherever possible - but metal lath is not worthy of keeping around (IMHO). The plaster over rock lath on the ground floor, now THAT is some nice wall material.
My method? I hit it with a sledgehammer anywhere there's not a stud, then when I have enough bare lath showing I use my snips to cut through it until I have a flap, which I then pull. I save the larger, intact chunks of plaster that fall to use for patches.
Definitely need lots of fresh air, a good dust mask, eye protection, and tough clothes and gloves. A good crow bar, a flat pry bar, and metal snips are musts.
If you plan on removing small pieces, then you need some kind of rotary tool (I have a RotoZip as well as a Craftsman cut-out saw - the cordless nature of the latter is a definite advantage for me) with a plaster bit to first cut through the plaster in the shape you desire, and then cut the lath underneath with your snips. A steady hand and a good pencil line to follow are very helpful, as is a circle guide for cutting those perfectly round openings we all like so much. Good music helps as well, to make the horrible time-munching seem less bad.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Our old house
Almost exactly one year ago, we purchased a house. What a house. A fixer-upper, definitely. But so much charm! So much charm and such an inviting price that we couldn't let it get away from us, so we made an offer that was 1500 over the asking price, even knowing it was a fixer-upper.
We have learned much in the interval between then and now. We have benefitted from the blogs of other people with old houses, and feel it is time to share as well.
We are unable to work on the house 24/7, though we might want to. It would be finished by now if that was the case. It's not anywhere near it. But we have completed some monumental tasks, and I am very proud of the work we've done. We mostly work during the weekends, though the summer is a different animal and we work during the week then as well.
Future posts will include topics such as:
In-place restoration of both steel casement and wooden sash windows
Wiring
Plumbing
Chimneys
Putting in a new window
And many others of varying scopes.
I'm excited to share with everyone!
We have learned much in the interval between then and now. We have benefitted from the blogs of other people with old houses, and feel it is time to share as well.
We are unable to work on the house 24/7, though we might want to. It would be finished by now if that was the case. It's not anywhere near it. But we have completed some monumental tasks, and I am very proud of the work we've done. We mostly work during the weekends, though the summer is a different animal and we work during the week then as well.
Future posts will include topics such as:
In-place restoration of both steel casement and wooden sash windows
Wiring
Plumbing
Chimneys
Putting in a new window
And many others of varying scopes.
I'm excited to share with everyone!
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