Repair the plaster ceiling, Part I

This was the number one item on our Get 'Er Done list. And it was definitely the biggest project of all. The scope of the project not only turned our world upside down and kept the babies quarantined in their nursery for about 45 days, but it also forced us to re-schedule the birthday party and live with open windows for many a 60-degree night. I couldn't be happier to have this one done!

Let's begin with the ceiling circa May 2010:

Note the lovely coved ceiling on the left?
The ceiling on the right begins at the white. 

Another view. This is the view you'll keep
seeing throughout the progress photos.

One of the fun things about our house is that the flat below is a time capsule of our flat before any renovations were done. So we can look at how things used to be (that's a post for another day!). And we suspected this room used to have coved ceilings, like its downstairs twin. So one fateful day last October Chris decided to rip a hole around the light fixture, stick a camera up there and see what he could see.

Ceiling opening audience

In good news, this is what we found:

Major water damage, maybe the reason 
the ceiling was covered to begin with.

Cracks in the plaster

In bad news, that damage was no joke. And this is the ceiling we lived with for the next 2 months as we tried to decide whether or not this was a project worth tackling with little men in the house:

It's possible that electricity stayed
connected for 2 months and we
continued to use the light. #CaptainSafety

Then in early January, Chris found a wonderful apprentice carpenter on Craigslist and hired him to tear down the plaster ceiling and dissemble the beams to reveal the original ceiling.

Protecting little lungs from construction dust.
#CaptainSafety

I don't actually know what that extra box
hanging down is. Maybe Chris will post a
comment and enlighten us?

And here's where we stalled for awhile. Chris really wanted to do the work himself. But, as you can see, there was extensive damage to the original lathe and plaster ceiling and the repairs were going to be very labor- and skill-intensive. And so he read. And read. And read. 

And finally (after three visits asking questions and requesting quotes) hired Victor, the plaster expert who had painted the hallway the previous year. It was definitely a fascinating (and toxic/smelly) process to watch him work! He told Chris he would lie awake at night dreaming about the project. He's the kind of guy who loves restoring old homes and was excited about getting it right! It was a good physical and mental challenge that deserves its own post. Probably with a guest blogger to help me keep all the nitty gritty facts of the repair straight. So, until tomorrow...

Victor, mid-progress