ROOM PLASTERING CONTINUES, WING JOISTS HOISTED INTO PLACE
Poplar Forest Newsletter, Fall 2003

Mason pulls a screed over the second layer of plaster in the northwest chamber to level it.

Masons made good progress on wall plastering inside the main portion of Jefferson’s retreat, while wing restoration continues apace with the installation of giant timbers that set the stage for re-creating Jefferson’s flat roof. Inside the octagonal portion of the house, masons have applied lime plaster on the walls in two spaces: the northwest chamber adjacent to the entranceway, and half of Jefferson’s bedchamber. They will tackle the second half of Jefferson’s chamber and the cube room next. In keeping with Jefferson’s original construction sequence, the wall plastering follows last year’s ceiling plastering. Prior to the plastering, carpenters installed the “grounds” for bases, chair rails, entablatures, and fireplaces, and around every door and window. These plain boards initially  level the surface of the plaster and later serve as the base for attaching finished trim. Staff carpenters can now sympathize with their original counterparts. Jefferson had the grounds in one room taken down and re-applied because they were “out of plumb.” Getting the new grounds plumb on an undulating brick walls is a necessary but time-consuming task that results in a quality plaster job.

Per Poplar Forest’s mission of educating visitors about the restoration itself, the public has an good view of the plastering. Though the rooms being worked on are enclosed in temporary walls to prevent plaster dust from spreading throughout the house, plastic windows enable visitors to see work in progress.

Likewise, the public had a good view of the wing’s framing as carpenters hoisted 43 gutter joists in place that span the width of the wing and weigh about 300 pounds each. The joists rest on large timbers called plates that are set on top of the brick walls of the wing.

About one-half of the poplar plates are original to the wing, having been re-used in the post-Jefferson 1840s buildings that had been created from two wing rooms. The “new” poplar plates are also from Jefferson’s time, coming from one of the large poplar trees salvaged from the north lawn in 1999.

Shortly, the carpenters will begin carving grooves in the joists to create gutters to drain the wing’s flat roof, just as in Jefferson’s time. Subsequently, ridge joists will be placed between each gutter joist. That handcraft is estimated to continue through the winter months. After that, the next step in reconstructing Jefferson’s unusual flat “terras” roof design will be to install the pine shingles linking the ridge and gutter joists.