There was quite a bit of cracked and sagging plaster. I decided that rather than tear out the plaster I would do my best to repair. I started by using “Big Wally’s Plaster Magic“. I won’t go into the particulars, as Wally provides the instructions that I followed here. Big Wally’s works just as advertised, but its an expensive undertaking for a 16×20 room that has cracks and sags on each wall and the ceiling. Like four figure expensive. So I started looking for alternatives. A couple were self leveling masonry caulk and P&L Construction adhesive. I finished the majority of the project using P&L and a squirt bottle of water as a substitute for Big Wally’s. So far the results have been fantastic.
I had to completely patch a few places. There was a water damaged spot in the ceiling that was rotted through the plaster and lath. Cut the hole back to the joists and patched with new plaster and metal lath. There were two spots on the walls that were similar, both on the west wall, one under the window and the other to the north of the door. Same process, cut the hole, wire lath and plaster.
The ceiling was much more difficult as gravity had been assisting with the sagging and cracking for 100 years. Additionally doing the plaster repair overhead was tiring. Hours upon hours up on the ladder, drilling, screwing, filling and sanding overhead. My shoulders still hurt.
Once the walls and ceiling were finished in terms of plaster repair, I coated the entire surface with Gardz. Gardz sealed and hardened the surface and made a great surface to paint. and paint and paint and paint. The paint job was fun. There are two wall colors, an orange (Invigorate) and a cream (Biscuit). The trim was all painted brown (Rugged Brown). All paints were sourced from Sherwin-Williams as I love the service and the quality of their paint.
After the painting I was ready to tear into the floor, literally. Near the radiator the floor had a dip that was 3/4 of an inch over 2 feet. Yikes! I tore up the existing subfloor in that area and made a repair. I sistered 2x stock to the joist and cut new plywood to rest on the sisters 3/4 of an inch below the joist,actually integrating the last two joists into the subfloor. I think I can get away with this as the joists are right against the wall and won’t get any foot traffic. The alternative was to shim up the rest of the joists over the 20 foot span of the room.
Getting the subfloor finished was a big task, then came the layout and installation of the new floor. 3/4″ hardwood that I purchased for $1.67/ sq ft from World Wide Liquidators in St. Ann. 30 bundles were purchased. I bought a flooring nailer at Harbor Freight and away we went. My dad not only lent a big hand painting but he also helped install the floor.
