QotD: Weekend Plans

What are your plans for the weekend?

Homeownin' takes center stage this weekend as I try to decide what to do about a plaster wall that's giving up the ghost. What got me to where I am now with it? First I noticed some moisture issues on that and an adjacent wall. There are some cracks forming around the window, the paint (that I had put on just a year ago) was peeling in places and the baseboard looked like it needed to be replaced. Contractor number one comes in and finds the root cause of the problem, a sagging gutter and fascia board that needs replacing so that the gutter nails have something to grab on to. He does all that and I feel alright about it. But I still have the inside wall troubles. Contractor number one has other jobs to do, and moves on.

I bring in another dude to see what he can do about the wall. His exploratory surgery and experimentation looks less than promising. The drywall side is no problem, but the plaster seems to reject layers of compound put on top of it. And what's more, pulling off the baseboard reveals some rot in wood back there. Not good. There's a strong suspicion that big expanses of wall may need to be replaced at some point. It's an old house. It happens. But I don't want it to happen *right now*. Right now I just want to find a way to smooth out the wall, slap some paint on it, and live with it for a while. Here's to hoping a solution is found over the weekend that won't involve a third mortgage or weekly plasma donation. For those of you who are into vintage wall disaster porn, I'll snap some photos along the way.

Oh, and since I've been working on that wall (which is in the bedroom),
I've uprooted myself to the living room for the past few days and
that's thrown the whole place into a tailspin of unholy mess. I'll probably try to tame that.

I also need a new floor lamp to replace one I bought from West Elm that broke within a year, so i'll probably head to Victory Vintage in Decatur. Love that place.

Tonight: dinner and The Departed with friends.

Read and post comments |
Send to a friend

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *