Over My Head

The title should actually be "What's over my head?"  I'm talking about the attic.  When I bought the property I just loved the tall roof.  I was thinking I'd have some great storage space there.  So when I peeked up there a few months later I was disappointed to see that there was some kind of framing about 24 inches above the ceiling joists. 

My visit this past week was to confirm what was actually there since I need to lay in some insulation.  I probably shouldn't have been surprised, but the ceiling in each room is actually a 'drop ceiling'.

This is the ceiling above the bedroom.  The ceiling joists are toe-nailed to a 2x4 which was nailed to the original wood wall.  There are just those two 1x4 supports attaching those two joists to the original wood ceiling above.  The original wood ceiling height was ten feet.  I thought I was going to just crawl around up there laying out the insulation batting, but after seeing how this was done, I'm going to have to seriously rethink that!

Those remnants you see hanging down are what's left of the ceiling paper they put up, apparently a decorating element used in the 1920s and 30s.  I haven't seen any evidence of 'wall' paper so I'm guessing the ceiling paper was the main decoration.  Oh, how I would love to see how it looked back then with the tall ceilings!  I'll have to do some research to determine how much it would set me back, both in time and dollars, to remove the 8-foot drop ceiling and use the 10-foot original ceiling. 

The next surprise I got was when I saw this medallion on the 10-foot original ceiling.

I couldn't figure out what it was.  Did they hang some kind of light fixture there?  Nooooooo.....

This is what's above that medallion.  They had a wood stove in the bedroom and this was the exhaust chimney!  WOW!  I love this place!!!  

The inspection of the area above the ceiling in my kitchen area also revealed a hole in the original wood ceiling where I'm guessing the exhaust pipe for the kitchen stove went through.  The ceiling joists in this area were attached to the side walls with lap joints, and while there are no hangers connecting the joists to the original ceiling, this ceiling is supported from below by the wall separating the kitchen and the bathroom.  I would feel comfortable crawling up there to put in the insulation.  However, this ceiling is just 7 1/2 feet tall.  Had it been 8 feet I probably wouldn't have even thought about taking it out, but since it's so low this may be the first 'drop ceiling' I remove.  I'm still researching the costs and pros/cons.

   

                          

 

                          

 

There wasn't an easy access point to get to the attic over the living room, but I was able to get one rather poor photo.  It looks very similar to the bedroom ceiling, including the 1x4 connecting the joist to the original ceiling.  I'll find a way to get better photos of this area on my next visit.  I'm curious to see if there was a wood stove in this room, too!

Insulation in the attic is the second task on my "To Do" list.  The first task is to get the water line upgraded.  I've contacted a local plumber to get a quote for trenching and installing a new one-inch line from the street to the house, approximately 375 feet.  I'll post another update once I hear back from him.  In the meantime, never give up, never surrender, and may all your dreams come true.