Progress!

I spent the week chipping plaster. I figured out that the best way to remove plaster is using a reciprocating saw with a “spider scraper”. My hands are worn out by the end of the day, but it gets the job done. We experimented with various ways to clean the plaster residue off of the brick. It looks like we are going to sandblast the brick and then use a dust collection unit to vacuum the remaining dust from the brick. Once the brick is clean, we will seal it and leave it alone for another 100 years.

I also started pulling the tin off the ceiling. This is going to be a bigger task than we originally thought. The reciprocating saw will see a lot of hours in this process as well. We will have to cut a lot of the tin, while being careful to preserve as much of the tin as possible. I am pleased with the appearance of the tin under the layers and layers of paint. Restoring the tin will be the next experimental step. We have several methods to try. I’ll keep you posted!