Vaguely complete

This was a project that involved all my skills and trades. Many moving parts because the plaster walls were crumbling and the furred wall was in the way and the load bearing wall had to be propped up and a beam had to be made and then stabilized and the concrete floor had to be repaired. It was also an inferno here and working with fresh plaster made the room a sweltering sauna of old technology. But it's basically complete. The wall is gone and I added curtains and now the air conditioning works for my new bedroom and the plaster wall is completely repaired although not perfectly flat or flush with the old plaster but it at least is not allowing the adobe brick to deteriorate into the room. There is no point in adding drywall so I painted the old framework and hid the new electrical behind some trim boards. As if the biggest problem with this house is going to be exposed romex.

 There was another project involving the pressure release valve on the water heater that led nowhere so I had to drill a hole in the wall and then plumb a drain for the valve and also the newly installed drain pan.

In general I started with too much lime plaster and it had to be too thick and then if just fell apart. This involved a huge amount of mixing lime and sand and water with a drill that then burned up due to using an extension cord that was 16 gauge. But not before I mixed my last batch of plaster.

The load bearing was was not bearing much weight but I stabilized it and added a beam that is pine 2x8".

The final beam in place. I would not linger under it for hours and hours but it's basically safe.

Walls crumbling down

 

The plan is to add a framed window into the wall so the adobe will be on display forever.

I was shoveling the decayed plaster into a bucket and carrying it through the rain to a pile of debris ready to go to the dump.

Back in DIY Mode

Endless work that is rewarding but the casual guest would not even notice I've done anything. The drywall had to come off so I could repair the old plaster with Lime Plaster. And the AC condenser pan decided to crack and leak so that involved gluing the cracks while I hunt for a replacement pan. The wall needed a ton of lime plaster. 

cracked condensate pan

all the bottom 30 inches of this house have plaster that has turned back into dirt

This takes a huge effort of mixing lime and sand and water and hurling it against the dirt.

This wall has to be rearranged so I can benefit from the air conditioner in this area and also so I can fit a queen sized bed. the wall's only purpose is keeping the roof from caving in but I have plans to replace the framework with a big beam.

the arthritic fingers on Oggy's hands have almost reached their limit which is why there is no time to delay to get this work done. He will soon be too handicapped to do it.