HUGE PROBLEM IN CIRCA 1850'S HOME

2 years ago

Hurricane Ida destroyed the slate roof on our 8,000 sqft family home. This has caused some major decisions to be made. Our most outstanding point is the fact that we have removed all of the wallpaper with its original cheesecloth; this has left behind thousands of rusted tack nails on every wall. Since the entire structure is cypress and the home continues to shift as the temperatures dictate, we need wall repair ideas. WE ARE NOT CONSIDERING REMOVING THE WOODEN WALLS SINCE IT WOULD KILL MY PARENTS. I would appreciate your input on the ones we have so far:

1- Paint the 8" shiplap walls with a rust inhibitor and then latex.

2- Cover the walls with wooden tongue and groove (beaded) paneling sheets (we face the problem that they need to be 12')

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PRO

Outland Construction

2 years ago

Fix the roof.

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Comments (12)

palimpsest
2 years ago
I would not cover the walls with paneling sheets.

Is most of it patchwork like it is in this corner or is some of it longer and more consistent planks of cypress?

It would be work, but I would probably want to sand it/clean it up a bit and leave it exposed.

The issue is, in a historic house with some formal details (it looks like this room has a cornice), it was probably not meant to be exposed at least in the main rooms. It was probably meant to be covered just as it was, with a liner and paper, and I might be tempted to to that in some rooms as well. So I would probably to a combination of exposure, paint, and paper, depending upon the room.

It's interesting, I have watched a number of restoration programs in UK and they have all sorts of categories of listing historic houses, and in some circumstances you may be required to put the cheesecloth and wallpaper treatment back. It's interesting that they have so much control.
HU-817834271 thanked palimpsest
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User
2 years ago
Are you sure it wasn't stretched canvas on the walls? Not a difficult task to replace with the same but it is labor intensive.
HU-817834271
Original Author
2 years ago
Definitely cheese cloth…it is fully deteriorated
Emily
2 years ago
I agree I’d sand it and seal it leaving the cypress wood exposed.
HU-817834271
Original Author
2 years ago
What about ALL THE TACKS?
Emily
2 years ago
Oh wow. That is a lot of tacks. I don’t know if a belt sanded would work on those or not.
ci_lantro
2 years ago
Perhaps the original fabric was muslin?

https://www.oldhouseweb.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27762
homechef59
2 years ago
This is the last thing to worry about. How is the roof? Have you had an engineer look at the piers and assess the soundness of the structure? Has the structure been dried out? It still looks damp from the pictures.

You probably don't want to hear this, but I would consider pulling all of those tacks out, sealing the wood with Kills, and painting. Embrace the paneled look. It will be irregular, but with the tacks gone, it will have that plantation plain look about it.

It's going to be quite a job regardless what you decide.
summersrhythm_z6a
2 years ago
Hopefully your insurance covers all the repairs.
HU-817834271
Original Author
2 years ago
No insurance on a home this old...we would have to meet electric and fire standards. It will be repaired with family strength. We just are developing a plan and a new roof is in the process.
bpath
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I'm so sorry Ida destroyed a slate roof, probably the only thing that COULD destroy it. I don't imagine you can replace that much slate these days and still have money left to repair the rest of the house.

HUGE PROBLEM IN CIRCA 1850'S HOME

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palimpsest

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