Back a while ago I had discovered old knob and tube wiring in the farm house.
When I had opened up the kitchen ceiling to access the source of a leak I revealed the ancient wiring. It looked like it was in pretty good shape – soft and supple after all those years. I rhetorically asked “do I really have to replace it? – Cant I just repair the ceiling and cover it up as if I never had seen it? After all it looked like it was in pretty good condition.”
Comments soon followed that post….. (replace replace replace) each comment echoing the next.
What a job. Replacing the knob and tube is not a pleasurable task by any means but it is a necessary one.
replacing knob and tube
I‘m headed to farm today to further evaluate my list of projects in the restoration of the farmhouse and repair a plaster ceiling in one of the upstairs bedrooms.
The house, built around 1820, needs work. Structurally it is sound except for the porch which needs to be rebuilt. Eventually the vinyl siding will come off and the clapboard restored. Luckily the original molding is on the outside of the windows and doors. I have also discovered that the vinyl siding is hiding some other interesting wood work details and a window in the gable.
Throughout the inside the plaster walls are in good shape– smooth and solid with very few cracks. Some of the plaster ceilings have been covered with ferring strips and fiber ceiling tiles which will all have to come off.
read more about saving plaster ceilings
