To The Farm: Plaster Ceilings, Wall, More Discoveries – and Decisions Made

I’ve been out at the farm again working on fixing plaster. I did get quite a bit accomplished. All the fiber ceiling tiles that were put up sometime in the 70s and the furring strips were completely removed and taken out to the burn pile. I lit them up and stood back and enjoyed the flames – it was a nice way to end their horrific existence.

The exterior of the farm house currently has vinyl siding which I plan to remove this spring. Before doing so I decided I should open up a section of the wall – through the plaster to find out whether I should try to insulate from the inside or do some sort of blow fill from the outside. If insulating from the inside I had to decide whether or not to keep the plaster on the exterior walls or completely remove it, insulate and then replace with drywall.

I opened up a small section of wall and made another discovery: the exterior walls are constructed with 3″x3″ studs spaced 12″ on center. On the exterior of the studs I found 2″x12″ boards nailed vertically – similar to board and batten method. The next layer is the exterior clapboard siding which is a hefty 1″ thick on the fat side. This is some pretty heavy duty construction. The wall cavity between the inch thick plaster and and the 2″ thick boards is only 3 inches.

This does not provide enough room to lay battens of insulation nor do I see it worth the hell of blow fill. Even on the windiest days I feel no drafts in the house through any walls or electrical sockets. The only drafts that I have been able to detect come from just a couple of the windows and that will be solved shortly. The attic is very well insulated and the house retains heat well.

I do not see need to insulate the exterior walls so I will indeed be keeping my thick plaster walls. They are solid and smooth as marble.

I carefully replaced the lath and this coming week will re-plaster that section of the wall – using the old methods of true plastering of scratch-coat, brown-coat and then the finished surface.

In addition I will be finishing up with all the plastering this coming week as all the walls have been patched, skimmed and prepared.

I will be finishing up running the new wiring in the kitchen – which an electrical contractor buddy has agreed to check/inspect my work and make the final connection. Then I’ll finally be able to close the ceiling.

I have made some decisions on the kitchen as well. The current cruddy 1970s vinyl floor in the kitchen will be ripped out and a new true linoleum floor will be laid – an alternating black and white square on a diagonal – with a boarder – a common and classic kitchen floor of the 1920s.

I have located a couple of old school house light fixtures which will hang over the center work table/counter and will be installing a 1920s porcelain farm sink as seen in the photo.

The kitchen will also boast a 1920s Frigidaire refrigerator and my 1928 Magic Chef 1000. I’ll stick with a free standing kitchen furniture instead of built in cabinetry – a hutch or two and a Hoosier and open shelving on the walls.

I’ll be repainting the existing classic bead board wainscoting and chair rail white and the plaster walls a soft butter yellow. A simple white crown molding will frame the ceiling nicely. The kitchen will be a recreation of a late 1920s early 1930s kitchen – functional with clean lines and character.

There is a small adjoining room that was once a pantry. A buddy of mine has already offered to build the pantry cabinets for me complete with inset doors and drawers in a classic butler’s pantry style of the turn of the century.

I’m headed back out to the farm on Monday evening to spend the following several days finishing up and prepping to paint the living room. I’ll also be painting the bedrooms and then prepping the pine floors in the upstairs bedrooms for wax.

1 comment