Ceiling it up

Yesterday we nailed the final supports into the ceiling beams of what will be Oscar’s room and completed this three-day project. The old ceiling had been thin wood paneling nailed to the underside of square beams sagging with rot.

Chota Valley - Ceiling renovation

Oscar designed the new ceiling with three cross-beams pushed up against the rotting ceiling boards: one in the centre of the room hammered in from the outside, resting on the opposite end in the interior wall; and one bolted onto each side wall parallel to the centre beam. These beams support eight wooden planks. Each plank sits on a nailed-in centreboard connected at both ends to two small blocks bolted through the centreboard and nailed to the cross-beams. The planks give a flat supporting surface above them for four pieces of 122 cm wide (and variable length, about 193 cm on average) gypsum boards (drywall). The gypsum boards overlap the two middle planks about 10 cm on either side of each board and are flush against the wall-beam on one end and the centre-beam on the other.

Chota Valley - Putting in the netting

The exposed support wood and squares of grey gypsum above provide a strange mix of elegance and crudity. I can look at the ceiling and appreciate a job well-done but I cannot say that I find the end result aesthetically pleasing. Nevertheless the ceiling provides a more secure barrier against the elemental and insect activity of the area than what was there before.