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I have a very old (100+ years) house, and am having issues with the lathe and plaster ceiling in one of the bedrooms. The plaster has started to sag and is causing some cracking. The cracks are all hairline, except for the spot where all the cracks are forming from, which is a hole about 1/8-1/4 of an inch wide.
Issue doesn't appear to be water damage related, but just from age/house settling.
After doing some research into the issue, it seems that my best course of action would be to put some screws into the ceiling to secure the plaster and then patch over it. I do have some additional questions:
1)Even though this is caused by loose ceiling, would i still need to score the cracks, and if so how deep will I want to go?
2)Do I need to score, secure, and patch all in the same day, or is this a process that I can break up over 4-5 days?
3) Once I'm ready to patch, should I get some mesh to put down after the first layer of patching?
4) What kind of patching agent should I use? I've seen DIY articles recommend anything from all purpose bonding agent up to durabond.
5) Should I screw all along the cracks, or just where I feel loose ceiling?
Thank you all in advance!
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So far as scoring the cracks go, I wouldn't bother. If these are hairline cracks, then a coat of paint on that ceiling will fill and hide the cracks. If the cracks are caused by either the whole house or just the ceiling moving, then no matter how much you score and fill those crack lines, they're just going to open up again in the same places they are now.
No, you don't need to do the whole job in one day. You can take as long as you want or need on each part.
Nowadays, what everyone uses to repair plaster is drywall joint compound. Note that some drywall joint compounds have more glue in them to make them stick to the drywall surface paper better. However, that glue also makes the joint compound much harder to sand smooth as it dries. So, when finishing drywall, you're actually supposed to use "Taping" or "Regular" joint compound with a lot of glue in it for taping the joints and "Topping" or "Finish" joint compound (with very little glue in it) for covering the much harder Taping compound with a joint compound that's much softer and sands smooth easily. And, since drywall contractors don't want to be mixing and using two different joint compounds for small repairs, they also make "All Purpose" joint compound which is about half way between Taping and Topping joint compounds. All Purpose has enough glue in it so that it sticks well, but no so much that it's hard to sand smooth. If it were me, I would use the Topping (aka: "Finish") joint compound for easy sanding, with All Purpose as a second choice. Even Topping joint compound will stick well enough to your existing painted plaster to make for a decent repair.
Quite honestly, though, what you're wanting to do is a fair bit of work for a plaster ceiling that very well could keep cracking anyhow. If it were me, I would probably take the plaster ceiling down and put up drywall.