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I’ve done (still doing) extensive plaster and drywall repair in “My Old House”; both drywall over plaster and plaster repair. Depending on the overall condition of the ceiling or wall should determine which method you select. For repair – remove all “unkeyed” plaster in an area large enough to patch in with 3/8 or 1/2 drywall. Use fiberglass tape and durabond 90 (easy-sand) on seams. Cracks in plaster (if not “unkeyed”) should be gouged out with a pointed tool, again use fiberglass tape and durabond. On some walls where the plaster was rough throughout the surface I’ve skimmed coated durabond over the entire surface; this works better than joint compound because you can work it with a wet brush and trowel to smooth it out, which also minimizes sanding
Where the condition of the plaster is so bad, I’ve used 1/2 drywall screwed into joists and studding with good results.
Good luck
Replies
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Tom; I just finished precisely the same project you describe in my 1910 Queen Anne. I additionally had a visible sag where a partition wall had been removed and then plastered over poorly. I had to do the job quickly and really didn't wnt the mess ttendant to a demolition job. I furred out the whole ceiling with 1x3 which helped to smooth out the sags and cracks. I installed 1/2" rock to the furring. It looks good. The only proble was with installing the Hunter fan. the fan hanger had to be modified to place the box through the finished ceiling which as now 2 1/8" thich at the point the fan was placed. The previous partition removal had left the header in the ceiling.
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I would like to drywall over a plaster ceiling in an old home (72 yrs). The plaster ceiling has many cracks and sags. If I just screw the drywall into the joists using buttons to distribute the load will this work and help "pull up" the old ceiling or should I do some plaster removal first?
*In my last home, I was prepared for the worst. The kitchen ceiling had come loose from most all of its keys, due, I believe, to an attic leak before my time. It would oil can about two to three inches in spots. I first used plaster buttons to slowly lift and re-attach the plaster to its lath..and I used a bundle of them, maybe a couple of inches or less apart in some areas. I was then going to mud the buttons and cover it all with a wallcovering designed to simulate a textured wall or ceiling (CoverAge). Well, after the buttons were covered, the ceiling looked damned good, so I gave it another skim coat and painted it. Moral is to never give up on the plaster until it's falling on your head. Oh, anyone need a quadruple roll of CoverAge medium textured wallcovering?
*Thanks for your reply, Steve. It sounds like a lot of work went into your salvage effort. Are there reasons for taking your approach over the effort level of drywalling? Do you prefer plaster instead of drywall? After all, when your job was done it was probably difficult to tell what the material behind the covering is.
*Tom,Drywall will never look or feel like plaster unless both are textured. Even so, there are problems with replacing plaster with drywall, particularly when the plaster walls remain. One is having things fit dimensionally at the perimeter. Plaster is typically thicker than drywall, so I'd have either needed a thicker layer of drywall to properly meet the wall or would have had to use moldings. The studs and joists under plaster walls and ceilings didn't have to be true, and they often weren't. The plasterer would take care of that. So, in a demolition, there can be problems installing drywall over these original studs and joists. Drywall weighs a ton, and anything that prevents lifting it to a ceiling can't be all bad. You wrote of putting the drywall over the existing plaster. I can't see why you'd want a damaged product under new drywall. If the plaster isn't properly re-fastened to its lath, it'll just push the drywall down. And if the plaster can be properly re-fastened, why not just keep using it for your ceiling?
*You could demo the ceiling pretty easily, but it is a mess and like steve says may be unnecessary work. 'cause then you'd have to fur out the ceiling to flatten it, install d-wall, texture, etc. Sagging plaster would cause sagging drywall otherwise. Steve, did you consider skim coating/patching the ceiling instead? I.e., would it work?
*I appreciate both of your input. As a follow-up question, for particularly bad areas where I may want to do a larger plaster patch repair would it be worth using a scratch coat plaster as a base rather than using plaster patch material as I have been doing? My usual approach also includes using metal lath (screen) attached to wood lath and joists to try to hold the plaster repair up.
*Yes. The patch & finish plaster don't perform well in big globs. The brown stuff, however, does great and is most appropriate over metal lath. Use a large wood float (a darby) to true large areas.
*I've done (still doing) extensive plaster and drywall repair in "My Old House"; both drywall over plaster and plaster repair. Depending on the overall condition of the ceiling or wall should determine which method you select. For repair - remove all "unkeyed" plaster in an area large enough to patch in with 3/8 or 1/2 drywall. Use fiberglass tape and durabond 90 (easy-sand) on seams. Cracks in plaster (if not "unkeyed") should be gouged out with a pointed tool, again use fiberglass tape and durabond. On some walls where the plaster was rough throughout the surface I've skimmed coated durabond over the entire surface; this works better than joint compound because you can work it with a wet brush and trowel to smooth it out, which also minimizes sandingWhere the condition of the plaster is so bad, I've used 1/2 drywall screwed into joists and studding with good results.Good luck