Attics and ceilings...

Do you remember the wall I stripped the sheetrock from?  It is coming down so we can expand our smallest bedroom into a neighboring closet to create a large master bedroom.  So, before I took the sawzall to the studs, I thought I would check to make sure it wasn't a load bearing wall.  The best way I know to do that is to crawl up in the attic to see if any of the roofing or ceiling supports end right above the wall.  Since the weather has turned cool, this task isn't as bad as it could be in the summer.  If you haven't been up in your attic, I would recommend that you get up there and take a look around.  You will learn a lot about your house.

Our attic access is through the garage ceiling.  We don't have one of those attic stair sets but I wish we did.  So I brought our lightweight aluminum ladder from home and propped it under the access panel.  I popped my head up and looked around.  I was pleasantly surprised that the attic was spacious, even above the areas with raised ceilings.  We were predicting problems when we needed to move air ducts and add plumbing vents, but now I am not worried about that at all.  Let me get up there and see it close up....

Aaaaaa!  The ladder just collapsed underneath me and is now laying flat on the garage floor.  I have dropped down but caught myself on the sides of the attic access.  As I was hanging there, I was wondering how this was going to turn out.  I knew I had a contractor coming to give me a bid on the deck but that was in 30 minutes.  I couldn't hang on that long.  I threw off my flashlight to get a better grip of the wooden beams under my arms.  I can see that if I drop down I will land on the ladder and I really don't want to do that because I have a bad ankle from a previous rollerskating injury.  So while my arms are beginning to scream from muscle pain and wood scrapes, I was able to lower myself down to where I am hanging by my hands and can swing myself to the side to miss the ladder.  Here is the aftermath under one arm:

 After spewing every curse word I could think of and walking off my shock, I was able to figure out the problem with the ladder (slick garage floor + crappy old ladder = @$#^%&$%&).  I braced the ladder feet and went back up.  I know, what is the matter with me.  I walked around a little, careful to only step on the ceiling joists.  The attic could use a little more insulation in some spots.  I could even see room light coming in through the pot lights which means that the freezing air will enter during the winter and the air conditioning will escape in the summer.  I made my way over to the wall I wanted to remove and to my surprise, there are roofing supports that rest on that wall. Good thing I didn't just knock down the wall.

 

So, looks like we will need to add some kind of header where this wall is.  I'll start looking for a contractor for that soon.  For now that project is on hold.  On to the next - I will be working on the ceiling in the den.  There is popcorn between the cedar beams on the cathedral ceiling in the den.  Our plan is to cover that up with some type of wood.  I bought a pack each of pine and cedar 1/4 inch thick ceiling planks.  I did some samples of several stains as well as clear finish and I tacked them up to see what they looked like:

 

 

 

I like the cedar better than the pine (which you can barely see in one of the pictures).  I prefer it, not only for appearance, but also the cedar seemed to be easier to work with and better quality.  You cannot tell in the picture and it is barely noticeable in person, but the cedar is stained different colors.  I figure why go to the trouble of staining if you can barely tell. 

 

But the best part is that I got a really good deal on five boxes of the cedar today.  I will still need 24 boxes, but since they only had open boxes at Lowes and several pieces were damaged, the manager gave me 1/2 off.  I think I can work around most of the damaged areas so this saved me $50 today.  I am hoping I can get similar bargains around town at other Lowes since they are discontinuing this product.  I am such a sucker for a bargain!  Here is my work station where I am coating each board with polyurethane.  I think I will do two coats.

 

 

I will update with pictures once I start getting the pieces cut and nailed to the ceiling.  That's all for now!