It was Jan’s birthday yesterday, so of course we spent the day parting ripping down the cellar ceiling!
Yep, we really know how to party around here!
It’s something that we’d been putting off since moving in over 3 years ago, but it’s just one of those jobs that we never seemed to get round to.
In general we’ve kind of tried to ignore the cellar as much as possible. It’s damp; very, very dirty; smelly; messy and had I mentioned very dirty?
Really it’s something we’d be happy to ignore even longer, but now that we’ve taken up the laminate flooring in the hallway and kitchen, it’s even draughtier and colder than before. In the hallway, you can actually look through the gaps and see into the cellar!
Having already insulated under our living room and dining room floors, we know that it makes a huge difference to the temperature of the room and also eliminates most draughts. According to the Energy Saving Trust, insulating under suspended timber floors will even save you money on your heating bills (around £60 a year), so we didn’t really have to think twice about doing this little update.
Luckily the old lath and plaster ceiling isn’t too difficult to remove, the main problem is having to watch out for all of the cables and pipes that cross the ceiling so many times that it looks more like a road map than a cellar ceiling.
Now, having knocked down a load bearing wall and having sanded our floorboards, we’re certainly no strangers to dust and dirt, but I’m not sure anything could have quite prepared us for the muck, rubble, hair and gunk that came down with the lath and plaster.
We still have a way to go until the whole ceiling is down and then of course we will need to insulate everything.
With autumn already well on it’s way, we’re trying hard to get this project finished as soon as possible. Three cold winters in our house have been more than enough!
Are you doing any home improvements to winter-proof your house?
Sarah says
We’ve discussed taking down the ceiling in our basement as well. When we moved in (7 years ago!) it was already half gone, and the other half was just a patchwork of different materials (luckily, all painted white). But it hasn’t happened yet! I guess our Minnesota winters aren’t quite motivation enough to tackle that dirty job. ;) -Sarah
Christine says
It always feels like ‘DIY time’ runs at a faster pace than ‘normal time’. I’m sure you’ve tackled so many projects in the 7 years that you’ve been in your house, that something as unimportant as the cellar can wait a while longer!
Cx
caitlin says
At least you didn’t find any critters in there…I’m surprised there wasn’t even any crumpled up newspaper for insulation in there as was sometimes a handy trick back in the day. -Caitlin
Christine says
Except for a few dozen spiders, there’s not much down there. It would have been fabulous to find some old newspaper! Reading what happened here over 100 years ago would be amazing!
Cx
Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse says
What a great way to spend one’s birthday! I can’t see a better one than getting something in the house done!!! The downstairs in my cottage has been newly insulated and I can feel the difference, especially when I go usptairs where there’s no insulation yet… Maybe for my birthday!
Christine says
Don’t worry, I didn’t make poor Jan work all day (and I’m sure he secretly enjoyed it)! Staying warm all winter sounds like a pretty good present to me!
Cx
Louise says
That is a job that is on the dreaded list here as well… well done for taking it on, you will congratulate yourselves in january! It is a certain kind of dirt in old basements… Here most of isnt even covered, you can see the floorboards, but instead there are a lot of pipes and wiring that must be removed before anyone can get to it. Maybe next spring =)
Christine says
It’s just one of those yucky jobs that needed doing and you’re right Louise, will be so happy in January when it’s cold and miserable.
Cx