(Topic ID: 276038)

Anyone doing lime plaster in a Victorian building?

By DCP

3 years ago


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  • 80 posts
  • 14 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 3 years ago by sizteves
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There are 80 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 2.
#51 3 years ago
Quoted from Blitzburgh99:

I am debating on what to do with my bathroom ceiling. It’s in pretty good original shape. What would you guys do with it? Salvage and use it as is with the drywall walls? Removed the lath and plaster and put dry wall there too? Just put drywall over top?

If the plaster is intact, I would save it and use it "as-is". Drywall compound sticks nicely to both plaster and drywall, and you can blend between the two pretty easily.
If it's cracking and falling apart, then drywalling over may be the easiest and best way. I used plaster washers to keep the remaining plaster in place (visible in 2nd pic near drywall edge), and then screwed drywall right over it. I've seen people put furring strips up first, but the ceiling plaster and lath is so thick that I was worried that even 3" screws wouldn't reach through all the layers.
Here are a few pics of the ceiling progress. You can see where I extended the one wall up with framing instead of demolishing the rest of it.
This bathroom was carved out of the room next to it in the 1940s, so there's some old hackwork in there.
We're almost ready to tape and mud and then start painting.

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#52 3 years ago
Quoted from DCP:

It just sold recently for $8000

Lol! So cheap!

That’s what I always say in my USA road trip threads. Why aren’t people buying these empty places and living in them?

$8000 is probably like a years rent in a small town there .. $660 a month x 12 months = $8000.

Why rent when you can own that huge place for $8000?

I’d buy up the whole town centre for $100k and call it RDville. Haha!

rd

#53 3 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

I’d buy up the whole town centre for $100k and call it RDville. Haha!

That's pretty much what we did...

#54 3 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

I’d buy up the whole town centre for $100k and call it RDville. Haha!

And then fill it with pinball machines!! Now that's a town I'd want to live in

#55 3 years ago

Do you have a safecracker in the bank part of the building? Lol

#56 3 years ago
Quoted from Blitzburgh99:

Do you have a safecracker in the bank part of the building? Lol

That would be great!!! But I don't think I can afford one now...and I have reached my 20-game saturation level anyway.
I played a lot of Safecracker when it was at Lyons Classic Pinball. I've got a pile of the tokens around somewhere...
It was on loan from Dean Grover, who worked on the software for that game at B/W in the 90s, and played in the local Mile High Pinball League. You can see his name in the right outlane ("F/X: Dean Grover"). We always thought it was cool to play with someone who's name is printed on the playfield!
If you turn Safecracker on when the date is October 24th, it will display "Happy Birthday Ryan and Amanda", who are Dean's kids! How many kids get their birthdays memorialized on a 90s Bally DMD?
I've played Safecracker with Dean and with Ryan...Amanda wasn't so big on pinball.
I also played Safecracker and many other games against Escher Lefkoff in Lyons. I even beat him a few times...because he was 6 years old, LOL!!!! He beat the adults plenty of times, enough that we never "held back" against him during tournaments. That's why he's so good today.
Good memories from Lyons days...

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#57 3 years ago

DCP,

What's it like heating/cooling that many square feet (what is the sq. ft.?)? Do you need to replace HVAC or was that already done by the previous owner?

#58 3 years ago
Quoted from mbwalker:

What's it like heating/cooling that many square feet (what is the sq. ft.?)? Do you need to replace HVAC or was that already done by the previous owner?

We only heat/cool the parts we are using, which is a small percentage of it all. The hallways get very chilly in the winter!
The upper 2 floors that we use as our home are about 4000 sq. ft. total, including the halls. There are separate electric meters for each of the 5 former apartments plus one for the Bank, so we know exactly how much we are using everywhere.
The previous owner took out the central steam heating and installed electric heat. He also removed a hanging gas heater from the bank lobby, but it would be pretty easy to hook up again.
We want to start installing solar panels soon, since we have a lot of unobstructed roof space. Then, electric heat makes more sense.
We get a lot of passive solar heating on sunny days - the stone and brick absorb the sun and it warms up the whole building.

#59 3 years ago
Quoted from DCP:

...We want to start installing solar panels soon, since we have a lot of unobstructed roof space. Then, electric heat makes more sense...

Interesting you say that. I've been tinkering with solar on the shed. Recently focusing on the solar battery charger, here's a link to a UK gent who does some reviews: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm5sG3-BXQZfVy3st2T_XKg

He wouldn't be on the same scale as you need, but he does a decent job of reviewing the chargers, many of which are falsely labeled as 'MPPT' and end up being 'PWM' (different charger topology). But enough about that since I don't want to derail the thread by turning it into a solar topic. When you get to that point, check out some of the bigger 'off grid systems' video. 4K sq. ft. is rather large for solar.

Is Tesla Solar available in you area?

#60 3 years ago

Some progress is starting to be visible...
Amazing how much material is needed to fix up an 11'x5-1/2' room. We did add about 64 sq.ft. of wall area by removing the drop ceiling.

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#61 3 years ago
Quoted from Bud:

What happen to the roundhouses and the cupola on your building? Why did the tear it down?

The roundhouses were built in 1852 and 1855, and were repaired after being attacked multiple times by Confederate raiders. They were torn down between 1905 and 1918 when the B&O was modernizing their shops.
Our cupola seems to have vanished sometime in the late 1940s to early 1950s, probably because it was needing repairs and looked "old-fashioned" by then.
Many historic buildings were butchered in the name of modernization before we learned more about preservation.
We've thought about building an observatory dome in the general shape of the old cupola in memory of my Dad, who loved astronomy.

#62 3 years ago

Last month's Halloween decorations. Cindi usually does more, but we're really busy working on the inside of the house...
Google Street View came by here several years ago, around 2015, shortly after half a block burned down across the street from us. You can see our Halloween decorations from that year, and the generally run-down condition of our town.
Here's a link that should take you straight to the street view in front of our house:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/hg3MhQvjSamwAjiz8

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#63 3 years ago
Quoted from DCP:

Some progress is starting to be visible...
Amazing how much material is needed to fix up an 11'x5-1/2' room. We did add about 64 sq.ft. of wall area by removing the drop ceiling.
[quoted image][quoted image]

So have you abandoned the lime/sand plaster in favor of greenboard/blueboard ?

#64 3 years ago

Nope, that's just an area where it was not really repairable. The bathroom wall below the window and a wall downstairs are getting plaster next. I'm worried that it's too cold to plaster now...might wait until spring.

#65 3 years ago

Instead of replastering the brickwork, have you given any thought to blasting it all off and having just the raw bricks?

Such a cool look .. the old bricks against white painted wooden windows and plasterboard walls and black steel beams (if you need beams ...)

Actually that’s another thing we need to consider down here with projects like yours ... we need to make all buildings earthquake proof. Which would mean building a big steel cage inside the building and tying it to the external walls. It costs $$$$$$.

rd

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#66 3 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Instead of replastering the brickwork, have you given any thought to blasting it all off and having just the raw bricks?
Such a cool look .. the old bricks against white painted wooden windows and plasterboard walls and black steel beams (if you need beams ...)
Actually that’s another thing we need to consider down here with projects like yours ... we need to make all buildings earthquake proof. Which would mean building a big steel cage inside the building and tying it to the external walls. It costs $$$$$$.
rd[quoted image][quoted image]

That's a gorgeous wall RD! Movie/TV background worthy.

#67 3 years ago
Quoted from dirkdiggler:

That's a gorgeous wall RD! Movie/TV background worthy.

Not mine unfortunately. Just some stock photos.

I don’t own any brick buildings like that ... but if I did that’s the way I’d go (if it was possible) ... it’s a very attractive look for prospective commercial tenants. Or to live in!

I have had to earthquake strengthen a couple of my older places (1960/70s commercial buildings) to bring them up to code. Had to build a cage like that to hold onto the old concrete tilt panel walls. So they don’t fall down and squash people outside during an EQ. NZ has a lot of EQs.

rd

#68 3 years ago
Quoted from DCP:

Last month's Halloween decorations. Cindi usually does more, but we're really busy working on the inside of the house...
Google Street View came by here several years ago, around 2015, shortly after half a block burned down across the street from us. You can see our Halloween decorations from that year, and the generally run-down condition of our town.
Here's a link that should take you straight to the street view in front of our house:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/hg3MhQvjSamwAjiz8
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Wow, those Halloween windows are cool - my son loves all things Halloween. Is is common for people to do up display windows like that?

#69 3 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Not mine unfortunately. Just some stock photos.
I don’t own any brick buildings like that ... but if I did that’s the way I’d go (if it was possible) ... it’s a very attractive look for prospective commercial tenants. Or to live in!
I have had to earthquake strengthen a couple of my older places (1960/70s commercial buildings) to bring them up to code. Had to build a cage like that to hold onto the old concrete tilt panel walls. So they don’t fall down and squash people outside during an EQ. NZ has a lot of EQs.
rd

Yeah, I questioned when I was typing if that was yours or not. Either way it's a Badass wall. The first place I rented after leaving home had a brick wall. About 6 years ago the wife and I considered moving to France. We both love timber and stone. Restoring a old mill or farmhouse would be amazing! We decided that until our parents are both gone, we'd stay in Canada.

#70 3 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Instead of replastering the brickwork, have you given any thought to blasting it all off and having just the raw bricks?

We've got PLENTY of raw brick at our warehouse! We originally bought a 1904 warehouse and were planning to live in the old offices. Once we were able to acquire the Bank, the warehouse became our storage unit and garage. Eventually it will have living space fixed up in it.
The office needs some plaster work - the whole warehouse is another giant black hole of a project...I'll post a few pics of the office when I dig through my photos. The interior pic below shows part of the 4th floor...there's a freight elevator, too...

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#71 3 years ago
Quoted from Manny65:

Wow, those Halloween windows are cool - my son loves all things Halloween. Is is common for people to do up display windows like that?

A lot of people in the States go Halloween-crazy! Those bank windows are about 5 by 6 feet, and just beg to have displays put in them. We want to try projectors next. There is nothing going on in town at all, so any displays are morale-boosters.

#72 3 years ago
Quoted from DCP:

We've got PLENTY of raw brick at our warehouse!

Your warehouse is the shit!

What a cool space.

rd

#73 3 years ago
Quoted from DCP:

We've got PLENTY of raw brick at our warehouse! We originally bought a 1904 warehouse and were planning to live in the old offices. Once we were able to acquire the Bank, the warehouse became our storage unit and garage. Eventually it will have living space fixed up in it.
The office needs some plaster work - the whole warehouse is another giant black hole of a project...I'll post a few pics of the office when I dig through my photos. The interior pic below shows part of the 4th floor...there's a freight elevator, too...[quoted image][quoted image]

Wow that's cool - can put plenty of pins in there

#74 3 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Your warehouse is the shit!

What a cool space.

rd

Quoted from Manny65:

Wow that's cool - can put plenty of pins in there

Thanks, you guys! The warehouse is what drew us out here. It is a type of building known in the U.S. as "Mill Construction", with thick brick walls and a massive interior wooden structure.
It needs a LOT of work, including a bunch of plaster in the office (pics soon, I promise), but most of the space is useable and dry. The freight elevator works, but will not go all the way down to the first level due to warpage of the wooden elevator tracks.
If any of you old-building fans somehow find yourselves near our area, I'd be happy to give you a memorable tour! It takes a couple of hours just to see every level of every building...
There weren't too many artifacts from the old Grocery Company days, but there were a few things. Pics will be posted as I dig them up or retake them...
Compare this picture on a 1906 invoice to the picture I posted yesterday...you can see how they had their own railroad siding and loaded directly in and out of boxcars. The siding no longer exists, but you can still see the bricked-up loading dock doors today.

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#75 3 years ago

Took a few pics in the old Piedmont Grocery Company offices today...all of the material around the windows is plaster on brick.
We want to open up all of the bricked-up windows and make an apartment out of it.
When we first got the building, the office was filled up 4 feet deep with trash and tires and junk.
Why did they use that hideous green color in many 1950s offices?

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#76 3 years ago

Man, I’d live in that warehouse in a heartbeat.

Soooo cool.

Is this the place?

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Also ... isn’t Google maps amazing? I can explore your whole town, lying in my bed, 9,000 miles alway on the other side of the planet.

Found your bank in the Main Street too.

rd

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#77 3 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Is this the place?

Yes, stop by next time you are Stateside!

#78 3 years ago

Here's an interesting article about how to make plaster walls flat and true. You use plumb dots and screeds, of course!
https://www.adrianwest.org/plastering/dots.html

#79 3 years ago
Quoted from DCP:

Yes, stop by next time you are Stateside!

Won’t be any time soon unfortunately, with no international air travel to speak of.

This is the first time in 6 years we haven’t been in the States over Xmas.

rd

1 month later
#80 3 years ago

I'm also into restoring old houses, but plaster is not common here in Norway so I have no experience with it.

When working on the windows in a house from 1910 I got hold of some other old windows with the correct type of glass. A company was throwing them away so I got them for free. The leftover glasses was traded for other parts we needed for the house. Unfortunately the house had to be sold, but I stay in contact with one of the previous owners who now wants to buy another house for restoration.
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Quoted from DCP:

Our cupola seems to have vanished sometime in the late 1940s to early 1950s, probably because it was needing repairs and looked "old-fashioned" by then.

Same thing happened to many buildings here, like this one from 1897:

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