and no, I'm not talking about some sort of detrimental byproduct of living in a city, or some weird California phenomenon-- I'm talking about our ceiling.
Yes, the ceiling. The same ceiling that constitutes 70% of our main floor (per KCA's estimate- always good to go with the engineers estimates over the liberal arts major's). I still remember feeling relieved when we found out the ceiling that we feared my be asbestos was indeed not. I spent several weeks after receiving that information fantasizing about taking a giant sander to it and not stopping until it was a smooth as a baby's bottom. Well, as it usually happens in our house, the original "plan" (funny that we even call them that anymore) fell by the wayside.
I was chatting with MC one afternoon (also the usual in our house at this point, really sometimes I think we should just offer him the guest room). He asked what we were planning on doing with the ceiling and I said very confidently, that I was going to sand it smooth. After MC stopped laughing at the idea of KCA and I spending hours upon hours with heavy belt sanders above our heads as we perched on ladders, he said "but it's full of lead". *Pop* there went my bubble. "Lead? But the guy said it was ok." I refuted. "He said it didn't have asbestos.. it doesn't. It has lead." MC replied.
Yes, the ceiling. The same ceiling that constitutes 70% of our main floor (per KCA's estimate- always good to go with the engineers estimates over the liberal arts major's). I still remember feeling relieved when we found out the ceiling that we feared my be asbestos was indeed not. I spent several weeks after receiving that information fantasizing about taking a giant sander to it and not stopping until it was a smooth as a baby's bottom. Well, as it usually happens in our house, the original "plan" (funny that we even call them that anymore) fell by the wayside.
I was chatting with MC one afternoon (also the usual in our house at this point, really sometimes I think we should just offer him the guest room). He asked what we were planning on doing with the ceiling and I said very confidently, that I was going to sand it smooth. After MC stopped laughing at the idea of KCA and I spending hours upon hours with heavy belt sanders above our heads as we perched on ladders, he said "but it's full of lead". *Pop* there went my bubble. "Lead? But the guy said it was ok." I refuted. "He said it didn't have asbestos.. it doesn't. It has lead." MC replied.
After consulting MC, we came to the conclusion that the only thing we could do was to encapsulate the ceiling. This means doing one solid coat of drywall mud and then two coats of topping and THEN sanding it all smooth. As KCA pointed out it also means having all of this done before painting, hanging art, or arranging furniture.
(Mudding Away)
(Mudding Away)
We've spent several hours already, and have probably only covered 15% of it. Not to mention, we're still on the first coat... oh and that every time we drag a trowel over it, little lead particles try to fly into our eyes and mouth. Let the fun begin!
(THE Ceiling)
(ooo smooth)
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