Hole in the Wall Fixed

This weekend Julia and the kids went to Florida to visit Maryellen, Mark, Nate and Zeke. While they were gone I took the opportunity to prep and paint the living room. One major obstacle to painting the living room was fixing the hole in the wall. We had beautified it with a drawing but we really needed to do more.


Most of our house is made with a technique that hasn't been used around L.A. for over 100 years even though the house is on the books as having been built in 1920. The technique which we've heard described as "farmhouse construction" is essentially old west style building. The wall is made of 1"x12" boards. That's it. No studs, no plaster, the boards hold up the roof. If you pound a nail into the wall it will poke out the other side.


The house was remodeled in the 50's and a wall furnace was installed. We got rid of it when we moved in since it didn't work and was full of asbestos insulation. We covered the hole temporarily (4 years?) with a piece of plywood. Here the plywood is gone and so is the former wall covering around it.


Here it is with the plywood and cover removed. Yes, that's outside and yes, our wall is only that thick.


I screwed a piece of 1" birch plywood to the back of the hole.


Then I traced the contour of the hole onto it.


Next I used a hand held jig saw to cut the shape.


I fit the shape into the hole which took 2 tries. This picture was taken after I put two screws through it to attach it to the moulding inside.


Here's the new piece of moulding which is also birch plywood. I screwed the moulding to the wall and to the disc.


Here it is with primer on the top, paint on the bottom and patch. It needs one more application of the plaster patch Then we'll paint the area beneath and either paint or possibly put up wall paper on the top area.