Another ice dam related job. This time in Snyder NY. These homes are prone to ice dam related water leaks unless mitigation steps have been taken. Such as wires on the roof and gutters, and getting insulation into difficult to reach areas. This problem affects most of the split level homes. The front of the house, and the 2nd floor back of the house above the attached garage are prone to major ice dams. We know this from experience.

In this case, the water leaked through an inaccessible area of the roof/dormer. The ceiling in question is the kitchen ceiling. The previous owners, who flipped the house, installed a dropped ceiling instead of repairing the existing water damage- they decided to just hide it instead!

Well the new owners, noticed new stains, so after getting the water leak(s) rectified, we came in to remove the drop ceiling, and make an assessment of the existing plaster ceiling above it. Not knowing what we would find, bidding such unknowns – a rarity for us. Anyways, this is our process..

Before

Problem areas:

This type of ceiling is pressed paper, like cardboard. To get us started, I tapped an area with a hatchet to creat a hole, so we could remove the tiles one by one.

Once all the tiles were removed, next is to remove the wood ferring strips – with out destroying the ceiling which is actually in pretty good shape, all things considered.

We used a crowbar, and a hatchet, to remove the strips.

At this stage, we did some basic prep of the pealing paint, and water damage to the plaster. Then cleaned up for the day. Tomorrow we will remove the ferring strip above the oven. For some odd reason theres no blades for the oscillator on the truck – weird, so I picked some up today so we can cut the nails.

The plan is to install some trim above the existing crown. And restore the plaster ceiling.

More to come! (tomorrow)