PLASTERED

Plastered

The walls were hung in a day and a half with blue board, and plastering started the same  afternoon. Robert Litchfield and his crew of two worked so fast that I hardly had time to get to know them before the job was done. Within four days, all the walls and ceilings were a smooth light gray that captured the sunlight and cast shadows playing in the corners. 

The original cottage had textured ceilings that were popular in the 1950’s.  Robert told me that some people still requested them, but I wanted a more contemporary look. Holding a wide trowel with one hand, and balancing a hawk topped with plaster in the other, he dragged wide swaths up the wall finishing off in an arc over and over again. I found myself mesmerized by the continuous motion. It reminded me of the side stretch yoga poses that I had done the night before.  Plastering the ceiling was not too difficult for Robert.  He stands  6’ 5” and our low ceilings are only 7’ 2” so he didn’t need to wear stilts to do the job. The thought made me laugh as I remembered tradesmen walking around our house in Andover, MA. while balancing on stilts in order to plaster our very high ceilings.

Plastered Blue Board

 After two coats of plaster were applied, Robert and his crew sprayed the surface with water and worked the plaster over and over again to get it perfectly smooth.  It looks easy, but this is a job where experience really counts. After their tools were cleaned and packed up, the dirty paper protecting the floor was thrown in the dumpster.  I did a walk around the house with them touching the walls.  They felt as smooth as silk,  and I told Bob and his crew how impressed I was with their professional work. They suggested that I leave the windows open a crack, with an eye out for inclement weather so the walls could dry quicker.  It will take a week for the plaster to dry thoroughly then I will be the one crouching on the floor and stretching over my head rolling on the primer.

Outside heavy equipment rumbled around and tore into the earth. Our side-yard was dug up for the leaching field. Then the front-yard was excavated for the custom made pump chamber and septic tank.   Finally, a deep trench was gouged from the front steps to the other side of the driveway to connect the two. It seems as if there isn’t a single bit of the yard that hasn’t been violated. Viewing all this mess as well as the unattractive workmen’s “Bouse House,” I thought again about how much simpler it would be to have composting toilets.

Big Digger Creates the Leaching Field

Oh well as the saying goes, it’s going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better, and

I’m starting to think that it is going to be too late to plant grass seed this year.