The easiest way to hold a board up like that is to cut another board slightly
longer than the distance to the floor. Then you can wedge it in place like a T
and then work from one end to the other. I've found that working from one end
to the other will help chase out any warp that may be in the wood.
Consider the fiberglass tape when you're mudding. It's self adhesive so you
don't have to put on a coat first. Just cover it up.
We're going to have to send over the crew from This Old House to look at your
old house...
----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Rossi
To: Blind Handyman List
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 3:03 PM
Subject: [BlindHandyMan] I'm a mudder.
Last evening, I went into the nursery and with paper tape and mud,
attempted to seal the edges of the plaster where I had ripped down the
closet wall. I know all of that stuff will be safely behind trim, but
thought that it would be better to try and seal up those ragged and raw
edges so that they don't forever sift dust out.
I didn't care one bit how my work looked since it was going to be behind
trim, so I just cut the tape to length, grabbed handfuls of mud and
slathered it all over the tape and wrapped it around the edges of the
broken plaster. Not pretty, but I think it will do the trick.
Tonight I will attempt to frame in the hole and prepare it for trim and
doors.
Any suggestions on how to hold a 2X6 over my head while trying to screw or
nail it in?
I am using a 2X6 that is flush with the inside of the closet, so that it
will stick out from the outer wall by a couple of inches. This will help
me to move the doors further out to make the closet artificially deeper.
the wall was originally built with the 2X6 studs on edge, so it is thinner
than a typical wall. I am just going to reuse the 2X6 I cut out of the
wall as my header. The only thing is, whatever trees they used to make
studs out of, were a lot heavier than todays studs. SHEESH! I don't know
when they started making dimensional lumber that half inch less but these
are 1.5 X 5.5 or a bit more, but not full 2 X 6. And this house was built
in the 20s.
Later.
--
Blue skies.
Dan Rossi
Carnegie Mellon University.
E-Mail: [email protected]
Tel: (412) 268-9081
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
