Stone House
Hamilton, VA
This property has a very interesting history. This was a house that was built to a specific size to satisfy the laws or rules necessary for a "homesteading" claim in the early 1800's. The house was 18' x12', and was two stories.
The first floor was one room, which included the fireplace for heat and for cooking.
The second floor was two rooms, divided by a wood partition.
The first thing we did was wrap the original wood rafters on plastic to protect them throughout the plastering process. This assures that they will still look terrific upon completion.
We then installed three inch rigid foam insulation on the roof slats with screws and wind-lok washers. This left a reveal of two inches of the existing original roof rafters.
After rasping the rigid foam surface to give it tooth, we used a conventional gypsum plaster basecoat applied directly onto the foam. Polystyrene foam is a natural lath for our of our plasters. Over the gypsum basecoat we applied a semi-smooth, white finish plaster of lime putty and plaster of paris mix.
The old plaster walls were repaired where needed and left in a condition ready for painting or white washing.
We worked our plaster directly to the wood trim and wood base, as would have been done originally.
When completed, the contrast of the white plaster to the old wood beams and wood floor was very warm looking, and very much like the original new look in the 1800's.
