historic home

Found Friday #48: A Look Inside

/ Katie / 13 Comments

Work on the ceiling is coming along nicely. Thankfully. And as part of the process to make it structurally sound and safe, the contractors had to put a beam inside one of the dining room walls. This wall is actually part of the original house, and it was so, so cool to see it open.

Seriously, they just don’t make them like this anymore.

The lath and plaster is neat, but what really caught my eye – and you can see it in the side at the right side of the opening – is the timber. Y’all, it’s beautiful, and solid, and only planed down on two sides, so you can see a lot of detail in the wood. It’s also solid as a rock, even after 200 years.

I’ve long said the old section of the house is the easy section. We’ve had no problems. It’s sturdy. Seeing that timber, I definitely understand why.

Well, that was entirely expected…

/ Katie / 12 Comments

Work on the ceiling officially started yesterday.

Things always look (at least) a little worse before they look better when it comes to restoration and renovation, so I’m excited to see where we go from here.

BUT…

As has been the case with almost every piece of work we’ve done in this house, we discovered an interesting and complicated problem.

THERE ARE NO ACTUAL FLOOR JOISTS. Seriously – there are no true, actual floor joists holding up our bathroom floor. The wood that we thought was decorative, and that was not put together in a way that is terribly structurally sound, and that is not at all in good shape…

…is actually the only thing holding up our bathroom floor.

So, that’s fun. And by that I mean: Well, that sucks.

This ceiling project has suddenly become the most important thing that we’re doing in the house. And knowing that, I am especially happy to get it done. And especially, especially happy that the basement bathroom is usable. And especially, especially, especially happy that our contractors found it so early in this process.

They can fix it. I don’t know quite what that will look like, but I know it will be done. And for now, that’s just going to have to be enough.

Hit the Ceiling

/ Katie / 16 Comments

I knew this day would come, and frankly, it’s overdue, but it makes me a little sad nonetheless.

It’s happening. We’re finally replacing the water-damaged ceiling in our dining room. I’m relieved, because it just isn’t in good shape anymore. But I’m a touch sad about it, too, because I can see that once upon a time, it was really lovely.

That, and the fact that there are some Civil War bullets in it.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to find a new place for those.  

Maybe I’m just sentimental. I know that many other people wouldn’t be bothered at all by replacing a worn-out ceiling. And I know that it will look better – we’re using boards from the fencing around our property, which is cool and will look very nice. But then, many people also wouldn’t be terribly interesting in living in a 200-year-old house with a pages long laundry list of repairs.

I am, though. This house is so special, and I’m grateful that Graham and I get to be its stewards for a while. I hope that we do the right things. I feel like we are.

Anyway, I’ll post an update when the project’s done. And same for the bathroom, which I know many of you were interested in seeing. It’s nearly there! So, check back. 😊

This house has lots of stories left to tell.