Should be working on the boat

[WetRaider]

We had some great weather this weekend.  Joe Poole provided me some practical advice via e-mail last week and I placed an order for some necessary parts.  I will be working on some upgrades to the house at the same time as I get this boat finished up for spring & thought I could use this weekend to separate hull from deck.

I thought that I'd spend my Friday evening scraping the awful "acoustical" popcorn off the living room ceiling so that the weekend was free to work on the boat.  Boy, did that reveal a mess.  The ceiling was original plaster (85 years old) and through a variety of previous owners, it had begun to sag.  Several repair attempts had taken place, including setting screws about an inch apart across a 3 foot section where the plaster was hanging about 3/4 inch from the lath ... which did nothing but turn that ceiling into a perforated "sheet" ready to tear apart.  I uncovered what seemed to be miles of fiberglass tape, a good 1/8 skim coat of drywall joint compound, and finally, to cover all of that up, somebody had used paintable wallpaper to hide all the booboos.  Then, they thought they could hide it further with popcorn.

There was no reasonable, nor safe way to "cover it up."  And I needed a flat ceiling - we'll be putting up some rustic timber beams and recessed lights.  I decided that rather than have my 8 year old destroy things on his video games, I'd give him a hammer and some safety goggles and let him play demolition crew at home.  He lasted about an hour and I took over.  My first pass through the room was texture.  Second pass was plaster.  The third and final pass was all the lath.  By midnight Saturday, I was carting out the last of the debris.  I borrowed a dump truck and left it parked in the yard all weekend so that I could load as I went, rather than making a big pile & having to move it into the truck later.  Sunday was spent cleaning.  

Sheetrock was paid for this morning and should get delivered tomorrow and I'll have all the new wiring done later today.  Hopefully I can get all the mudding and sanding and priming and painting done before my parts delivery.  I'll be excited to share pictures when it's done.  Nothing like home improvement to take a small project over budget.

[Jason]

Looks like fun!

I'll have to say is make sure you rent a sheet rock jack to lift those panels to the cieling!

[WetRaider]

Jason -
I looked at the rentals for a jack & for some scaffolding.  Out here I can get some help for $18/man hour.  It's only a living room ceiling, 267 square feet (9 sheets) ... I'm thinking with 3 guys they can have it up in an hour and be  on their way for about the cost of renting the scaffolding and jack.  I did our bathroom upstairs last fall & my shoulders shook like crazy trying to hold with one hand and use a screw gun with the other.

[Bayflite73]

Isn't home ownership just grand?

[Jason]

You don't need the scaffolding. ladders work. The nice thing with the jack is you can order real big 16' long pieces and hoist them right into place, screw them in, and minimize your seams, mudding, tapping, and the worst..........sanding!

You'll get it done. I've done it the 3-man way before too. It works. Just not as fun!

Let us know how it all turns out. I like working on the old house just as much as the old boats!

[Jerry]

Just for something to remember. I have scaffolding if anybody needs it.

Labor is extra

[WetRaider]

Jerry - I like the appropriate use of bold font.

If I were to hang it myself, I'd prefer the scaffolding over a ladder.  I fell off a dinky four foot ladder, broke my hand & shattered a knuckle ... surgery almost fixed it, although sometimes I'd almost prefer the finger have been amputated.  You know how hard it is to slip your hand into your pocket for a ringing cell phone when you're finger's bent up and won't lie straight?

My front door arrived today!  Solid mahogany, so it only weighs a little bit.  Hopefully after the dust settles from the sheetrock installation, I can lay it out and stain it, put a few coats (or 6) of spar urethane on it.

[Rosscoe]

Oh that is fun. Been there done that, although this winter it was just scraping off the texture and skim coating and the best part...sanding. I've been doing a room or two every winter and did the last one (kitchen) I'm going to do this winter. Need to wrap up the indoor stuff soon and get onto boats!
I agree with Jason. With a jack, you can do it yourself. I did the kitchen ceiling in my old house by myself and my neck has not been right since. Had one or two fall on me too. Funny, one screw just wont hold very long no matter how much you plead with it while moving your ladder. 

[75starflight]

Yep, had that happen while doing my kitchen too rosscoe, one screw just doesn't hold all that long.

[Jerry]

Had one or two fall on me too. Funny, one screw just wont hold very long no matter how much you plead with it while moving your ladder. 

Ya need a wife to hold the sheetrock Ross.

[bambam]

My father showed me a do it your self system that we used to hang the rock in his garage and in my basement.  it involved a few 2x6s and a gate hinge.  you would make a base out of the 2x6's with one vertical to 6" below the ceiling.  then you attached the hinge to the top with anouther 2x6 that can pivot to the ground, then you set the sheetrock on the pivot arm raise that up to the ceiling and brace with another 2x6.  It saves alot of ware on the back and makes the task much easier.

I'm on the road now but when I get home I'll see if I can find some picts of it.  if not I can sketch something up.

[WetRaider]

Brian, what you're saying makes sense.  It would be easy to make.
I'm not much for wasting lumber, so if I had a use for the 2x6's after the ceiling was up, it would be a nice way to do it.
The sheetrock was delivered this morning ... 4x12x5/8 ... only 110 lbs. each.  Not so much because of weight, but because of the clumsiness you get spreading that weight out over a 12 foot limp noodle, I'd prefer to spend $18 per man hour to get it done.  The first hour will cost me only $54 and it should be done.  I consider it money well spent when I know it would take me half a day (or more) to hang it by myself.

I'm gonna go be smart and put painters tape on the top of my walls where all the joists are.

[WetRaider]

Now some boat stuff .... all my parts and pieces have arrived.  The ignition switch was delivered this afternoon.  Hoping for a dry sky tomorrow so I can wheel her out from under the cover and start putting things together.

oh, and my sheetrock is installed, picked up tape and mud today, will do that in the morning so it has the day to dry, then some sanding, then another coat, then more sanding, then maybe one more coat, sanding again ... then primer and paint.  Thankfully the timber beams don't arrive until next wednesday, gives me time to get things done.