E Unum Pluribus
I am primed, ready, willing, able, bound and determined to finish the plaster in the foyer this weekend. As The Universe as my witness, I will put my trowel away on Sunday!
I hope….
This really has dragged on long enough, wouldn’t you say. It was probably 6 weeks ago that I said I would be finished in 2 weeks. I swear, you would think I was a licensed contractor with the way I’m estimating this job.
Two weeks ago I tore down the scaffolding in the stairwell. I threw the small stuff and ratty plywood in the truck, ready for the next dump run. I then listed the longer 2X4s on Craig’s List and offered them up for $20. I got 2 calls early that morning. As I was about to call the first person back it dawned on me that I was far from finished. I still had to do the foyer and work on the woodwork.
The ceiling in the foyer could be done on a ladder, but when I have an ample supply of 2X4s and ratty plywood laying around, what’s the point. The woodwork is mostly low enough that I can work on it standing or sitting, but of course stairs always present unique challenges. So I de-listed the wood and built some more scaffolding.
This will help me get to those odd places on the stairs that I could normally only get to if I had 8-foot long arms. Boy, 8-foot long arms would really come in handy from time to time.
This will help me get the ceiling and high places on the wall, as well as the trim around the 2 sets of big double doors.
5 comments:
Greg,
Good luck with finishing your foyer! It will look fabulous, no doubt :)
I had a quick question. I'm finally getting to the point with my house where I can hang pictures on the walls. My house is of the same vintage as yours [1895] and I still have all my old plaster. What I don't have is picture rails. If I have big heavy framed artwork, what would be the best way to hang it, without potentially cracking my walls?
Jenne,
That is a tough one and I may not be the person to answer. I would think that a big, heavy framed picture should either be hung from picture rail or a hanger nailed in to stud.
Put up picture rails, how cool would that be :-)
Putting up picture rails seems daunting to me, as none of the rooms in my house are square. I've got weird angles from bay windows, angled fireplace walls, angled ceilings.
So if I were to be brave and put up a picture rail, do you just screw it into the studs? Do you drill pilot holes to risk damage to the plaster? Is there a default size for picture rail? I don't want it to look out of proportion.
I use a nail gun to install the picture rial, and my walls are solid wood, so I don't need to worry about finding studs.
Once you picture spot for the rail you can do some tests with a drill to find the studs. The holes will be hidden by the rail.
With a Sliding Bevel and a Compass doing odd angles is no different than doing right angles. One you find the degree of the angle you divide by 2 and make your cut.
Post a Comment