Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Out With The Old: Demolishing An Outdoor Ceiling

With the brick wall underway, we realized we needed to tackle the rest of the porch project top-down*, literally. Clearly, the porch ceiling had suffered some water damage before we purchased the house, and we could not move forward with the project until we addressed the structural elements of the porch.

We began by pulling down the old ceiling and removing the old insulation. One of the aspects of this project I was most excited about was replacing the insulation. The bedroom above the porch stayed very warm in the summer and equally cold in the winter because of the old insulation. I am looking forward to having the guest room be a more comfortable space in our home.

After pulling down the old ceiling and the old insulation, we went rafter by rafter, removing large nails in the wood, and checked the lines of the beams to ensure they were straight and correctly supporting the room above.
We discovered one of the beams had absorbed a fair amount of water during the damage, and had begun to buckle, pulling away from the frame of the ceiling. This meant we would need to install a new beam alongside the damaged one, and secure the new beam to the porch frame.
Once the nails were removed, we took measurements for our new ceiling boards, insulation, and support beam, as well as made a list of finishing products we would need for completing the project. This included caulking, paint trays, paint brushes, and screws.
At least I come by my love of home improvement stores honestly, right? It is really a privilege to get to work alongside my Dad for projects like this. He is committed to getting the job done correctly, without short cuts, and on budget.

The next step is getting to work installing the new support beam.

-Domestic in the District 

*My Dad always uses a top-down policy for his projects. Essentially, you demolish from the top down and then rebuild from the top down, that way you don't end up having to undo any work you've already done. Example: if we painted the porch floor before we took down the old ceiling, the new paint job could potentially be knicked or damaged in the ceiling demolition or reconstruction.

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