56 
House 
& Garden 
FIRST AID for SICK CEILINGS 
Repairing and Freshening Up Ceilings That Have Suffered from 
Water Leaks or Been Discolored by Soot or Smoke 
M OST housekeepers stand in awe of their ceil¬ 
ings, and do not venture any more violent 
treatment than a gentle wiping with the broom 
in a flannel cover. Of course, they could not treat old- 
fashioned ceilings vigorously, because they were 
covered with elaborate embossed papers, and were 
generally too high to reach, excepting at house-clean¬ 
ing time with the aid of a perilously high stepladder. 
Stenciling and applique paper designs, which were 
popular for two or three generations, showed every 
mark, and could not be renewed cheaply, so that 
housekeepers considered it best to let them alone. 
No matter how many water stains appeared on the 
ceiling, it must remain defaced until it sagged enough 
to frighten the inmates of the house, or dropped on 
their terrified heads; and smuts frowned down until 
the family exchequer furnished the money to “do” 
the whole room, walls and ceiling. 
But there is no reason why we should continue in 
this course. We build our rooms lower, and an 
ordinary stepladder or a solid table, on which the 
most timorous person may courageously stand, will 
put us within arms’ reach of the ceilings. Moreover, 
the ceilings are calcimined, morescoed or painted 
white and cream, with no expensive decoration, and 
the renewal of them has become a trifling matter, 
aside from the nuisance of the work. A coat of 
calcimine or moresco costs about $3 for a room 12' 
by 14'; a coat of paint costs $5 for the same room. 
Do not tolerate spotty ceilings and do not imagine 
that no one notices them. The low ceilings of today 
are always within the margin of our vision, and bed¬ 
room ceilings are, of course, particularly conspicuous. 
If water stains appear upon the ceilings, and the 
MARY H. NORTHEND 
leak is an active one, you can prevent falling plaster 
by a very simple device. With a sharp lead pencil 
poke holes at intervals of 8" or 10" in the stained 
areas, to let out the water; and when the leak has 
been stopped, and you are sure that the plaster is 
thoroughly dry, fill the holes with plaster of Paris. 
Now put a thin coat of shellac over the spots, and 
give the ceiling a fresh coat of paint or tint, as the 
case may be. Always remember to shellac any stain 
or discoloration before applying a coat of calcimine, 
moresco or paint; otherwise it will show through. If 
the ceiling is papered, and the paper has peeled or 
blistered with the dampness, it must all come off. Go 
over it with a whitewash brush and warm water three 
or four times, and it will pull off easily. Then paint 
the ceiling if you wish to avoid trouble in the future. 
Using Wallboard 
Sometimes plaster that has begun to crack or sag 
can be held up indefinitely by quite simple means. 
Wash the ceiling with a cloth dipped in hot water, 
to remove blisters and foreign matter. When you are 
quite sure that the plaster is thoroughly dried, fill 
the cracks with plaster of Paris, or any hard plaster, 
and nail furrings, by Iff, across the ceiling, 
dividing it into 2' squares. Now apply any good 
wallboard which has been chemically treated so that 
it is waterproof. Wallboards come in strips 4' to 16' 
in length, and by ordering from the factories you can 
get a wider range of sizes. If you do not feel com¬ 
petent to estimate the amount you need, send a dia¬ 
gram with measurements, and the factory will make 
specifications. For nailing wallboard over old plaster, 
one ought to use 2" nails, which the hardware clerk 
calls six-penny wire flat-head nails. They should be 
placed about 3" or 4" apart, all around the edge of a 
panel, which must be so cut that its entire edge can 
be nailed to furrings. Never leave a panel of wall- 
board half nailed in place over night, for the loose 
portion may warp slightly and refuse to fit as it 
should the next morning. 
Next, nail on the battens, which usually come 1" by 
1 Yf, in any design which covers the joints of the 
wallboard, and coincides with the furring underneath 
as a nailing foundation. If you prefer some heavier 
or more elaborate batten, the molding for sale by hard¬ 
ware dealers, combined with heavier strips of wood, 
ought to serve; and if the width of the batten is so 
great that the furring underneath will not provide 
nailing foundation, you must plan wider furring, or 
nail the moldings to the central part of the batten 
before it goes up. 
The simple forms of batten and board are usually 
painted to match. The more expensive grades of wall- 
board offer a much better surface for painting than 
the cheaper, though sometimes the natural cream 
color of wallboard seems appropriate. In dens, 
camps, or where the battening has been so elaborate 
as to imitate beams, the battens may be stained. The 
whole process, supposing the room to be rectangular 
and the battening quite plain, costs from 7 cents 
to 8 cents a square foot. If the room has unusual 
alcoves or angles, or if the design for battening is 
elaborate, the cost may be a few cents more. 
A wallboard ceiling may follow any number of 
attractive paneling designs. The simple bedroom 
ceiling of wallboard is usually held in place by as 
(Continued on page 80) 
HYACINTHS THAT NEVER SEE THE SOIL 
Photographs by Dr. E. Bade 
The final result is as 
perfect a flower head as 
could be produced un¬ 
der average soil-growing 
conditions 
wham 
Roots and top growth 
soon develop. At the 
left the cone is slightly 
lifted by the stalk 
To protect the delicate 
roots from light a paper 
cylinder is slipped down 
over the jar 
By the time the roots 
have extended to the 
bottom of the jar the 
flower buds are in 
evidence 
As the root growth in¬ 
creases the flower stalk 
lengthens and gradual 
expansion of the buds is 
noticeable 
A jar of water, a bulb 
and a paper cone—the 
three essentials for 
hyacinth grousing with¬ 
out soil 
