This past week or two, while I've been waiting for plaster adhesive to dry or waiting for more of it to arrive from Vermont, I've also been tackling my 2nd floor hall ceiling and walls.
The holes left in the ceiling where I did the (unnecessary, as it turned out) plaster reattachment; the inverted valleys in the ceiling where the lath and plaster, while still thoroughly attached, contrived to give a disconcerting swag effect; the gouges and holes in the plaster walls formerly covered by wallpaper; the one drywall wall that the POs-1 neglected to prime before papering it-- all these had to be filled with multiple coats of spackle and sanded down.
And it had to be sanded down, because if I use a wet sponge on it, I'll wipe the spackle right out and have to start all over again.
After a bout or two of hand-sanding I discovered that my palm sander with 180-grit paper did the job better and faster and more efficiently.
But oh, the dust mess! I closed all the doors I could, but the dust is still everywhere! After an hour or more wielding the shop vac and a dust cloth, it's still everywhere! I'm surprised my computer still works, because the dust floated right up the stairs (I have no door to the third floor) and settled on everything.
I tell myself, at least I have a shop vac. What did builders ever do without them? And the 2nd floor ceiling part of the spackling and sanding is done-- that is, it's done till the sun hits it from another angle tomorrow and I see what I missed.
But how I wish I could take everything I own and just hose it down.
Yeah, and then I'd have another kind of mess to clean up.
The holes left in the ceiling where I did the (unnecessary, as it turned out) plaster reattachment; the inverted valleys in the ceiling where the lath and plaster, while still thoroughly attached, contrived to give a disconcerting swag effect; the gouges and holes in the plaster walls formerly covered by wallpaper; the one drywall wall that the POs-1 neglected to prime before papering it-- all these had to be filled with multiple coats of spackle and sanded down.
And it had to be sanded down, because if I use a wet sponge on it, I'll wipe the spackle right out and have to start all over again.
After a bout or two of hand-sanding I discovered that my palm sander with 180-grit paper did the job better and faster and more efficiently.
But oh, the dust mess! I closed all the doors I could, but the dust is still everywhere! After an hour or more wielding the shop vac and a dust cloth, it's still everywhere! I'm surprised my computer still works, because the dust floated right up the stairs (I have no door to the third floor) and settled on everything.
I tell myself, at least I have a shop vac. What did builders ever do without them? And the 2nd floor ceiling part of the spackling and sanding is done-- that is, it's done till the sun hits it from another angle tomorrow and I see what I missed.
But how I wish I could take everything I own and just hose it down.
Yeah, and then I'd have another kind of mess to clean up.
2 comments:
Ah, Kate. Plaster dust does get into everything. Sigh.
I was so glad you stopped by!
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