DEATH TRAP

DEATH TRAP. Right.

So, when we bought the house, we noticed that it had somewhat ... odd .. ceilings.



It turned out to be cardboard tile. We thought that they might be asbestos, but it's just cardboard.

There was also cedar panelling, also objectionable, in this room — the den, by the way — as well as in the other spare bedroom. We were pretty sure we wanted to change both things, but we weren't sure what was above or underneath the various objectionable content, so we had a little look-see on Day 1 (Saturday) before determining the full extent of our demolition involvement.


And that lead to the discovery of what is now popularly known amongst us as THE DEATH TRAP!

Normally, if you want to insulate something like, for example, an attic, you cut a hole into the attic and blow that insulation in. Or, if you have no attic access and/or little cash, you layer some insulation with a vapour barrier and maybe some flame retardent above gyprock. But you don't, for example, put in regular Styrofoam, because it is toxic when heated, even if it is wrapped in plastic, and regular Styrofoam has no flame retardancy. Neither does plastic. And if you have no choice, then you don't, for example, cover it by layering a structurally-questionable wood frame under it as "support," and then after that you certainly do not, for example, glue cardboard to said wood frame. Because what would happen, if there happened to be an electrical fire because, for example, whoever converted the knob-and-tube wiring seemed to have forgotten what he was doing half-way and so your remaining KnT sparked a fire, the thing that you didn't do would use the cardboard and the wood for kindling a toxic sludge that would rain down on your head, and you probably would not survive. For example.

At this point, we decided that the full extent of our involvement would the utter and complete removal of the DEATH TRAP. The toxic sludge sounded decidedly unpleasant, you see.


My father- and brother-in-law, removing the plastic covering.

And underneath the cedar panelling and the DEATH TRAP ceiling, the room turned out to be ... lemon yellow.


Which was a little unexpected, but not nearly as surprising as the bright electric blue of the other room.



(Yes, the ceilings are a bit destroyed. When the Styrofoam was removed, some of the plaster came raining down on people's heads. The holes in the walls are not the fault of the panelling; that was Pierre trying to figure out what on Earth was going on with the wiring.)

And so, a total expansion of our plans and $900 later, we're going to get new ceilings. Yay?



As of yesterday, both the master and second bedroom have their insulated ceilings. And the den-bathroom wall is back. I asked if the bathroom seemed more spacious, and the response was ... "Well, yes, but that might not count because the wall is still open." I'm told the neighbours have finally let down their blinds. Good. (Yes, the two are related. I'll let you figure it out. Hint: the bathroom has no walls and the den looks straight into their dining room. Oh yes.)