After having measured the space between the joists this morning, I've found two things:
1. There probably won't be much space, if any, for molding above the trim board (if I want to put can lights in).
2. Joists are not (?!?!?) evenly spaced, somehow...I measured a few spaces...some were 13.5 inches, some nearly 15. That sounds not right to me...am I missing something?
I didn't measure them all...maybe three or four. But seriously, there was a discrepancy, which I find to be odd...any ideas?
After measuring, I went to the ol' Home Depot to get some materials for a trial run...some hardwood 1x4s, some stain and the ceiling panels. I ended up bringing home a whitewood board and a poplar board. The poplar was way more expensive than the whitewood, and the two are distinctly different-looking. The poplar has a very wide grain, while the whitewood has tigher grain and several smooth knots along the face. The poplar also was less heavy than the whitewood, but not a great deal. Since I'm going to be using this as trim, I want to use as few finishing nails as possible, so lighter is better, in this case. For now, anyway.
I chose Minwax Red Mahogany and Minwax Early American stains. I actually applied the first coats to each this evening, and will probably put on another coat tomorrow morning, maybe. We'll see how they dry.
I also found a USG ceiling panel product that doesn't use tracks to hold it up. In fact, it appears to be the variety that you'd simply glue to the ceiling and slot the pieces together. No tracks means I don't have to worry about it looking too much like a drop ceiling, and the panels themselves are smooth white. So I'm pretty happy with the potential those bring. We'll see how it ends up looking.
Other than that, I'm going to try to get a prototype up tomorrow, and I'll take some pictures, but no promises...we'll see how it goes! :)
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2 years ago
2 comments:
Most likely the 1 1/2" difference has to do with where the joists sit on top of a load bearing beam and "lap" with joists from the other side of the beam. Picture if you will two joists resting on a beam at the same location, they have to sit next to each other, thus 1 1/2" difference in spacing. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
You didn't miss anything, this is just how old houses are. Nothing is square, nothing is plumb, and NOTHING suits modern 4'x8' sheet materials.
After many years of renovating old houses, I have come to the conclusion that as regards interior wall surfaces, at least, you're just as far ahead to stick with diamond lath and three-coat plaster. You spend a bit more time waiting for each coat to dry, but you save SO much labor by not screwing around with piecing in 2-inch bits of gypsum board or cutting off 2 inches from a sheet on the other side of the window, etc, etc.
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