Laundry Room Part III: Update of Ongoing Progress

Well a few months have now passed and our laundry room seems like that project that will just never end (Does anyone remember the deck at our previous house?).  However, we have been making some slow but meaningful progress.  Ralph's came back for this much smaller project to refinish part of the flooring and add new hardwood where the stairs used to be.

Before the new hardwood flooring was added.

The new flooring (left) and old flooring (right).  This is before the finish was applied.

The walls are now up and the lathe is all covered.  This was enough for us to at least get the washer and dryer in place, so we would not have to run elsewhere to do laundry.

The old lathe and the new plumbing and electrical.

The new walls with the washer and dryer all hooked up.

The room also needed venting for the dryer.  Drilling through several layers of wood, plaster and lathe yielded a nice 4" hole to fit the venting.  Seeing as though there is no insulation in the exterior walls it was relatively easy and clean.

The dryer vent hole from the outside. 

If there isn't any insulation, at least there is 3 inches of solid wood!

New dryer vent on the exterior.

Additional progress since the washer and dryer are in place has been slow.  We have been able to paint and place trim on a few of the walls, but still have a bit more than half of the room to do.

The washer and dryer in their new home.

In-venting a Solution

It wasn't until after we closed on our house that we discovered what was behind a mysterious piece of wood in the kitchen.  Based on the vent outside the house we knew it was for microwave venting, but the condition of what we'd find was the question.

Wood covering the microwave vent hole

Our curiosity was satisfied as we peered in on a jagged hole stuffed with a very old beach towel (which we promptly discarded).  We also had a chance to see what the house had for insulation in the outside walls.  To  our surprise we found absolutely no insulation in the walls.    

The microwave venting in the wall

Since the exterior vent will not be removed until we get the house repainted down the road, I thought it best to stuff at least a little insulation in the hole.

Insulation in the vent hole

Then I cut a piece of drywall from a wall I intend to remove for our soon-to-be laundry room and fit it in the hole as best I could.

Drywall covering the vent hole

Some joint compound, light sanding and a couple of coats of paint made the hole disappear.  

The filled hole painted over

Although my craftsmanship is now covered by the new microwave, at least I know there is insulation in one place in this house!

The microwave in its new home

Sealing the Ceiling

"You do understand the urgency of this." our home inspector Brian said as he pointed to a section of sagging ceiling plaster in the corner of the kitchen.  "Yes" I replied, "It will be the first thing we have done."  The leaky section of roof and damaged ceiling may not have been exactly the first item we tackled, but it was handled quickly.

The sagging ceiling and mold

While pulling down the crown molding we noticed that in trying to flip the house for a quick profit, the previous owner did not even attempt to address the source of the problem.  Instead of fixing the leaking roof above this corner, he used silicone around the crown molding to prevent the water from running down the walls.  Not exactly a good long-term solution.  Not even a good short-term solution.  It should not have been a solution at all!

Water damaged ceiling

Although we would have preferred to have the roof taken care of first and then the ceiling, the availability of our contractors was in the reverse order.  Bob from Guns Plastering came to replace and repair our ceiling. We were very impressed with his work and his 20 years of experience was certainly evident in the quality.

New drywall

Since rain of any amount avoided our region for what seemed like months, we did not mind at first that the roofing contractor was not available until the next week.  It was when he did not show up when he indicated that we began to be concerned.  When it rained the next day, we were irate.  Our new plastering that Bob worked so hard on now showed evidence of moisture leaking in through the damaged roof.

Beautiful new plaster!

At this point, we decided that the roof needed to be taken care of immediately.  With some invaluable help from my father (he did most of the work), the leaking roof was removed, repaired, sealed and replaced.  In the end, I was glad to have done the work ourselves.  Although it took the better part of a day, we diligently repaired aging boards and sealed every possible place where water could conceivably find a way into the house.

Shortly after the repairs the drought broke with some heavy rainfall, and I am happy to report that the roof held and our plaster remained dry!