Sunday, February 27, 2011

Stripping Wallpaper

It is somewhat out of sequence, but I spent a very pleasant afternoon in the three bedrooms and upstairs hallway of the Cheney Cottage, stripping wallpaper.

Of course, all three bedrooms and the hallway have one thing in common: there is no floor. The second floor is still on top the first floor of the Cheney Cottage, still sitting in Albany. Each bedroom consists of the walls and ceiling, and when you look down, you see mud, the wheels of the dollies used to move the house, and the metal and wood beams that are holding the second floor of the Cheney Cottage rigid. In order to stand in the rooms, you have to walk on the beams.

Because of the house's extended stay in Albany, the inside of the second floor is very damp. The plaster is mostly damp, and the wallpaper is coming off in sheets. Since we had planned to strip the wallpaper anyway, I decided to start today. I climbed up and walked on the beams, and stripped wallpaper wherever it was coming off - which was most places. It felt good, like the house was whole again, and like progress was being made.

I also spent some time walking around the outside of the house, pulling nails. This is all easier to do now with the second floor only 3 feet off the ground. This week, Phil and his crew will come back and lift the second floor 16 feet in the air. Then on Sunday, the first floor will be slid underneath it.

So we keep thinking of things we can work on that we will find easier now, with the second floor at ground level, than when it is raised.
The eaves back on the house
The eaves are also complete, and already the house looks like it's coming back to what it was. It has a long way to go, but the work has begun.

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