What I did at my house today...

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awomanwithahammer
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Re: What I did at my house today...

Post by awomanwithahammer »

Lord amighty, what have I gotten myself into! :crying-yellow: I chipped out more rotting plaster and thought I was ready to start repairing.
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It rained overnight (remnants of Irma) and when I came in yesterday morning, the whole corner was wet. I think it was a blessing in disguise, because if I had covered it over, I wouldn't have known it was still leaking. I don't know where the leak is, but I suspect it is coming down from the gutter. The painters removed the downspout from that corner, and didn't replace it. I didn't think to, either. Anyway, I climbed up and put the downspout back for now until I can replace all the gutters, and I've got the fan going full blast in the corner. I'm hoping that solves the problem! If it doesn't, I don't know where else to look.

I also ended up taking down all the casing from around the big window because there was a huge crack at the corner of the window. Turns out that the wood header over the window had twisted over the years. It broke the plaster and pushed it out. So all of that had to come out. I debated replacing the header, but it seems to be holding strong, and there's room in front of it for a new even layer of plaster.

This room is even worse than I thought it was! It's hard for me imagine living with this all the years that the POs did. There had been attempts to fix it, but it was more of a patch than anything, and then they wallpapered over the whole thing, so wet, moldy wallpaper. I know that, as imperfect as my repair may be, it will still be better than what was there before.
Bonnie

phil
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Re: What I did at my house today...

Post by phil »

what that plaster needs is a Woman with a hammer;-) ten minutes of knocking on the walls and the plaster will be taken care of and you can drywall. I personally dont' see any reason muck about with saving plaster like that.. others might argue it's "historical" .. could the wall be insulated? I know I see the brick behind... good time to pull any wire you need in. Hopefuly the gutter solved the water issue. also with the storm maybe the rain blew against the wall more than normal?

the quick and dirty way is just to leave it like that and screw 1/4" drywall right over the plaster. you'd need to add 1/4" strips where the casings meet the window frames. If it were me I'd use 5/8 drywall and remove the plaster.. but the leak is another issue and you dont' want water in there obviously.

maybe an option would be to add this stuff, since there is no room to insulate.
the foil layer is also the vapor barier. . It's closed cell so it won't absorb water but I'd maybe question if you want a vapor barrier there..

I think you can get that stuff in 4x8 sheets and in 1/2" thckness , at least it would be some insulation?

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.1001 ... lhEALw_wcB

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awomanwithahammer
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Re: What I did at my house today...

Post by awomanwithahammer »

That's a good suggestion, Phil, but I actually think drywalling it would be more labor intensive than fixing the plaster. I think I've removed all the problem areas, so once I get the water issue taken care of, it shouldn't take very long to fix. The experience of hanging drywall over all the plaster ceilings was enough to convince me I don't want to do that again!

Not only was the plaster damaged, but the flooring, subfloor, and possibly the joists in that corner are rotted. I'm a big ol' chicken when it comes to crawling around in damp, dirty crawlspaces, so I haven't gone under there to see. I've got a guy for that! And he can fix it while he's there.
Bonnie

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awomanwithahammer
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Re: What I did at my house today...

Post by awomanwithahammer »

And, there isn't room for insulation. There's two layers of brick with an air space between. I've thought about spraying in some expanding foam between the layers but I don't know if that would cause more problems than it would solve. It might be a good vapor barrier, though. What think you?
Bonnie

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awomanwithahammer
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Re: What I did at my house today...

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And, there isn't room for insulation. There's two layers of brick with an air space between. I've thought about spraying in some expanding foam between the layers but I don't know if that would cause more problems than it would solve. It might be a good vapor barrier, though. What think you?
Bonnie

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Re: What I did at my house today...

Post by phil »

I couldn't calculate the difference in R value but I would think that having that dead air space is insulation in itself.. after all most insulation like fiberglass basically just stops the air from moving, the fiberglass in itself isn't' the insulator in so much that it stops the air from moving. also you dont' want to trap water and usually if you have any sort of vapor barrier you'd want it inside, not between the walls. if water gets between layers of vapor barrier that's where you have real problems. if you can fix the plaster sure, you can go that route and it's nice to keep the sills and the casings in the same orientation. You could add more insulation inside but then whatever thickness you add will affect how the sill and casings sit in relation to the new wall It might make it more comfortable but it's a trade off. It depends how you use the room.

my basement just had empty studs and cardboard boxes nailed to the walls when I bought. shiplap and cedar siding or shingles outside. when I insulated and drywalled those walls I sure did notice a reduction in the chimney effect. that cold air was drifting right up through the whole house..

there were some 2 inch knot holes in the shiplap and I sprayed some foam in those and my dad came by and said what I'd done with the knot holes is ok but he said dont' go crazy spray foaming the shiplap at every joint. you want the walls to be able to breathe so moisture can get out of there.
Last edited by phil on Wed Sep 13, 2017 9:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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awomanwithahammer
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Re: What I did at my house today...

Post by awomanwithahammer »

Yeah, that's kind of what I thought. I knew the air space was insulating; I just wasn't sure about spraying foam in there. The house stays extremely comfortable winter and summer, so I know the air space works. I'm just worried about how the water is getting in, and how to stop it. Thanks for your input, Phil.
Bonnie

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Re: What I did at my house today...

Post by Gothichome »

AWH, do not even think about insulation between you brick walls. The space between is a moisture/ thermal break. And there should be air movement in the space. Some were low on the outer brick there should be a couple of grates or even air brick opening up to the cavity. The cavity should be open to the attic. The system uses the chimney effect to move air, allowing the outer brick to dry. Insulation will stop the air flow. No good would come of it.

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Re: What I did at my house today...

Post by Texas_Ranger »

On Monday my mom complained about a late-80s IKEA upper cabinet in her kitchen threatening to collapse (the middle shelf already fell out a few years ago, breaking some glass so the cabinet was only half-full anyway) so I searched the classifieds for cheap kitchens. Around 8 PM I found a free 1960s kitchen nearby, sent it to her and she called, only to get an appointment for Tue 10 AM. I went with my parents and we showed up first at 9:45, none of the other people who'd called were there yet. Turned out to be a 1967 mansion with extremely sturdy custom-built kitchen, including stuff like a fold-out bread cutter and whatnot, uppers are white with a narrow blue band 1 1/2" from the bottom of the doors, lowers have white drawers and dark blue doors. The units are chipboard covered in formica after they were built and most parts are still extremely sturdy. Some repairs are needed though and we need to cut down some cabinets to make them fit - my parents' kitchen is a whole lot smaller than the one the cabinets came from!

Anyway, getting ahead of myself. We said we were interested and expected to pick up the kitchen in a few weeks or even a months time. WRONG! "Have you got tools? Can you start taking everything out right now? We'd love to see it gone today!" Blessed be my parents' 96 vintage Mitsubishi L300 (Delica) van that we came in, three trips in that and one with my uncle's Renault Kangoo and the kitchen was empty! The under-sink cabinet is badly affected by water leaks so we may or may not have to replace some parts of it and we got rid of the huuuuuuge corner cabinet since it doesn't fit anywhere. Besides the side facing the cooker was lined with asbestos!

They even threw in a couple of chandeliers and sconces for free, plus we can get some curtains and once they're done with their renovation a nice kitchen table with chairs that match the cabinets. And probably a pedestal sink and - coolest of it all - a 1930s Electrolux fridge! It's small and totally useless, but how often are you offered something like that?

Yesterday I took down the collapsing IKEA unit and hung the first new old one with my dad, looking nice so far! They're a bear to hang on brick walls though because they have no height adjustment whatsoever, just brackets that slide over two hooks drilled into the wall. We might do another upper today but I work evening shift and I'm not sure when my dad's home so it may or may not happen.

My parents only need two uppers, their two lowers are shot too but none of the new old ones fit - the existing ones are 100 cm wide and the new ones 120, plus there's only one with drawers, the other has only doors. The under-sink cabinet, lower with drawers and remaining uppers will go into another kitchen we're renovating at the moment (we've got 2 1/2 kitchen renovations going at the moment, gotta love big families!) so that'll end up being a nice vintage kitchen. Now I just need to find a distributor and installer for VCT tile, I'd say white and blue should look nice :) The kitchen where we got the cabinets had white 15x15 cm floor tiles with a blue pattern, would have been nice to get those but they're going to stay, as unlikely as that sounds. The owners inherited the house and rented it out fully furnished for a while, mostly to diplomats but now proespective tenants complained so much that they decided to do a full renovation - rewire, new bathrooms and kitchen, new floors upstairs etc. - moss green and sand coloured carpet doesn't cut it anymore these days, not in a house that probably fetches some 2k rent/month. Peeling asbestos vinyl tile doesn't really pick up the ambiance either.

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awomanwithahammer
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Re: What I did at my house today...

Post by awomanwithahammer »

Gothichome wrote:AWH, do not even think about insulation between you brick walls. The space between is a moisture/ thermal break. And there should be air movement in the space. Some were low on the outer brick there should be a couple of grates or even air brick opening up to the cavity. The cavity should be open to the attic. The system uses the chimney effect to move air, allowing the outer brick to dry. Insulation will stop the air flow. No good would come of it.

No, I won't, and thank you for the advice. It was an idea only. I haven't seen any grates or vents, and I have no idea if it is open to the attic. I can't find any openings that would have allowed water in high on the walls, so I still don't know how it is getting in. The only thing I can figure is that it has been splashing on the foundation and wicking up through the brick. I know the water has been coming in that way even before the downspout was removed for painting because I've been in the basement when it rains and have seen water streaming in from that corner, but not lately. The water damage has occurred over many, many years.
Bonnie

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