The Crater in the Wall

Progress was actually made today - can you believe it?!

The main goals I had for today were: 1) the crack in the wall; 2) wainscoating; & 3) The project I do not want to talk about.

Two out of three ain't bad, considering some of the typical, run of the mill chores I needed to get done as well.

So, that crack in the wall, the one that looks like someone head-butted the wall. Well. it is now a crater.

Yeah...I know, all that work I did skim coating the wall...sheesh...

Here is the crater.

Turns out it was a bit bigger than I thought it would be.






The interesting thing is that it is right on top of a lath.

The lath is kind of bouncy and I can't figure out what is causing it to move. All I can chalk it up to is the normal vibrations of the house.

So, I now have a nicely prepped crater to patch. In reality, the first layer of plaster is already up and is drying. The actually 'patching' will be tomorrow.

You should be able to see that the crater is shiny and there are some streaks on the wall. After removing the skim coat, the original plaster, cleaning it out, and scoring the edges, I spritzed it with water. Doing this helps when patching plaster.

After putting up the scratch coat I inspected the rest of the wall. Clear on the other end were a few more hairline cracks. I went ahead and patched them like normal.

So now I'm thinking...something has got to be up with this wall. It isn't a support wall and isn't load bearing so what's the deal?! Well, if these cracks come back I WILL be ripping the plaster out and replacing it with sheet rock!!!

Since we are on the topic of patching plaster...

How many of you know what this is?

If you called it a bottle/can opener you are correct, but it is also known as a 'Church Key'. Don't know why that is - it just is.

Anyway, a little fact most people don't know about it - it's perfect for scoring cracks in plaster walls!!

Yup - it is at a perfect angle, and for the most part, perfect depth for patching hairline cracks. It also works great on getting you started on bigger cracks that need to have the edges scored.

While we are the subject of strange tools, and uncommon uses for everyday objects, here's another one.

These are just your everyday, run of the mill pinking shears - correct?

Au contraire!!

They are THE perfect scraper for wainscoating!!

Don't ask me how, or why, but these are the perfect shape/fit for scrapping the crevices of the bead board.

Don't believe me? Well, seeing is believing - have a look!!

Can you believe how nice and clean the crevices are? And these things were caked/clogged with paint and crud.

I think the wainscaoting is going to turn out better than I thought it would. I was really worried about getting all the paint and crud off of these boards.






Well, till next time...

Cheers!
Larry