American Foursquare Remodel 7 - Dining Room Ceiling, Part 4 - Final Chapter

Alan finally convinced me he and friends could do the work necessary to fix the ceiling. His laser-level eye could see that more than just one floor joist was sagging. I could see that, too. He had a plan.

So, with the help of two construction friends on a weeknight during Christmas week, a power saw was set up outside on the porch to cut and notch several new floor joists that would sister the old joists on both sides. It was c-c-c-old and noisy work. But the pizza was great (my contribution). Of course, there was something devastatingly wrong  with the floor jack; its hydraulics had seized, rendering it useless. The guys were disappointed and very apologetic. But a lot of work had been done.

Add a few more days, buy a floor jack, and set it to lift the sagging joists - slowly - so as not to crack or otherwise damage the tile walls and floor of the bathroom above.

 

  

Alan finished the jacking/sistering work, meticulously applied new strapping - verifying the boards were level as he went. I hired another team of his friends to apply the sheet rock and plaster. It was New Year's Eve - more than two months after the initial leak from the cracked stack pipe on October 30.

These images have loads of focal distortion, but trust me, the ceiling is straight and level... And I have 9 inches above each window for my wallpaper border. : )

 

David, measuring the boards.

  

Larry, taping the seams.

  

  

  

  

  

  

(Yes, I should have removed the last of the old wallpaper before the plastering was done. It's not like I didn't have enough time; I just kept doing other things until it was too late.)

 

 Aaaaaaahhhhhh..... Beautiful!

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You may be wondering why I hired Gem Plumbing & Heating to do the construction work once the plumbing - their expertise - was finished, when I had a close contact with competent - and much cheaper - craftsmen.

Several reasons (several proven false): a bigger company has more workers to keep a job going; it's easier to schedule continuity of service and have only one point-person rather than a bunch of contractors for accountability; trade license and insurance; since this is the paid guns' full-time job, work would be done quicker, rather than in "spare time"; and probably the most important: it's easier to yell at a contractor you're paying, than one you have a relationship with who's giving you a discount or doing you a "favor." : )

One last note about the cursed ceiling: Larry the plasterer got some of the toxic mixture in his eye. Very bad! He tried to finish the job anyway, but the pain and irritation grew too great. His partner, David, took him to the nearby Our Lady of Fatima Hospital around the corner from the house, where the ER docs diagnosed a torn cornea.

A few days later, with a patch on his eye, Larry returned and the ceiling was finally finished on January 4, 2010.