This old house

I should have known. This wasn't the first time events unfolded in this manner. This past spring Sara and I took out the suspended ceiling in the bathroom. Suspended ceilings are usually a sign of a patch job over something you really shouldn't ignore. That was the case. After the ceiling was taken out we removed all the plaster and lathe and then put up a layer of plastic to keep the dust contained while we dealt with life.

We decided that since we had a few weeks before school started this would be a good time to take down the plastic and throw up some sheet rock and 'improve' the bathroom which was the dingiest room in the house. But upon closer inspection, all was not well. I've written previously on the series of morons, cheapskates and degenerates that owned this house before us. We have only just begun to explore the depths of their depravity.

Take a look at the pictures above. You'll see a number of beams 'sistered' together. Look closely...they're sagging. Why? Look closely, you'll some rough cut 2'x4's that are perpendicular to the sistered beams and cut off roughly level with the beams. What are they? Those are the studs of the the exterior wall of the upper story. When Dingbat and Dunceman added on the addition some time ago they just cut through the exterior supporting wall and sistered some beams into the original ceiling joists. Its simple physics!

So what now? Well the ceiling joists all have differing levels of sag so even if we were a couple of lazy, unimaginative DIY home owners we couldn't sheet rock over it (unless we wanted lots of cracked gypsum). I've gotten some advice and here's what we're thinking. I'm going to lay some beams from wall to wall to add some strength for starters. We don't have the time, money or expertise to consider jacking up the house. But we can prevent it from further settling. The addition has been there a very long time. Long enough for knob and tube wiring to be installed, rough hewn lumber to be used and square nails to be used as well. I suspect its not settling very much, but it worries me nontheless.

Once the cieling's been reinforced we'll use 2x4's to create a 'level playing field' to attach sheetrock onto.

There has been a decision made however, its time to start living in a construction site. We can't keep chipping away at this monstrosity some folks call a house. Not if we want to make it into a home. Sheetrock, wiring and insulation are relatively inexpensive and demolition is very cheap. Sara and I have have decided to start gutting the house. It will ultimately be better to stare at bare timber and be able to access old wiring, insulation, and plumbing easily than try to second guess all the different problems that we'll encounter.

More to follow.