Ceiling Painting: Round Two

Nothing but fun today on Flat Top. That's Mason on scaffolding,
with a headlamp and a ShopVac, taking on some nasty cobwebs.

Remember that crappy particleboard ceiling we started to paint over the winter? Well, we've finally got around to finishing the job.

In our defense, we had to wait until it was warm enough to no longer need the wood stove, which is now enclosed in paper to protect it from flying paint. Painting a ceiling is very messy, if you weren't aware. Of course, now that we've waited for the heat of summer, it's become The Job From Hell, because it's hot as hell at the ceiling of an un-airconditioned cabin with a metal roof.

To do the job, Mason had to build some scaffolding so we could reach all of the ceiling that's about 20 feet over the living room. That's him, above, vacuuming the cobwebs before we paint. After a day's work, we're maybe a quarter of the way done.

Of course, one job always leads to another here on Flat Top. While the scaffolding is up, we'd be foolish not to take the opportunity to refinish the upper wall on that side of the living room. That wall was never properly finished by the original owner. The windows were never trimmed, and the particleboard on the ceiling looks like Grade A carpentry compared to the quarter-inch paneling that was on that portion of the wall.

And that thing about one job leading to another? Once the paneling was down, it was clear some critters had been nesting in the insulation up there. Maybe we should just be surprised there WAS insulation up there. Alas, we'll be replacing that, too.

Despite the undertaking, Mason -- covered in sweat, insulation dust and paint -- was unusually chipper. "Look at us!" he chimed in mid-afternoon. "We're a team again!"

He's not the only one enjoying my new work shift, which is down to three days a week for the summer. Tomorrow, before I start painting again, I'm putting nine tomato plants in the new veggie garden, which is far from finished, but I just couldn't resist.