hello again...

as part of the can or worms I've apparently opened in my kitchen, I've
busted out the mud and sanding screens in preparation to paint the area
that I've freshly exposed by taking down a cabinet that was in the way
of the shiny new fridge that's set to arrive in a couple days. Since
I've already got the stuff out, I suppose I might as well patch the
ceiling where the ugly fluorescent light fixture used to be. I think I
took it down Christmas day 2007 so... yeah. I'm a little slow. there's
a crack running the length of the area (4') and I know the RIGHT way to
patch it is to dig it out, then put down some mesh tape and feather it.
However it looks like on the previously exposed area someone just
shoved some mud in it and called it good, and the crack has also not
reappeared in the two plus years we have been in the house, which says
to me that it's pretty stable. Would it be really, really bad to just
do the same? To fix it "right" I'd probably end up painting the whole
damn ceiling, and I'm just not ready for that yet (and I don't know that
I have enough paint to do that... right now I'm just trying to make it
look "acceptable," a full repaint/color change is a ways down the road)

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Nate Nagel wrote:
hello again...

as part of the can or worms I've apparently opened in my kitchen, I've
busted out the mud and sanding screens in preparation to paint the area
that I've freshly exposed by taking down a cabinet that was in the way
of the shiny new fridge that's set to arrive in a couple days. Since
I've already got the stuff out, I suppose I might as well patch the
ceiling where the ugly fluorescent light fixture used to be. I think I
took it down Christmas day 2007 so... yeah. I'm a little slow. there's
a crack running the length of the area (4') and I know the RIGHT way to
patch it is to dig it out, then put down some mesh tape and feather it.
However it looks like on the previously exposed area someone just
shoved some mud in it and called it good, and the crack has also not
reappeared in the two plus years we have been in the house, which says
to me that it's pretty stable. Would it be really, really bad to just
do the same? To fix it "right" I'd probably end up painting the whole
damn ceiling, and I'm just not ready for that yet (and I don't know that
I have enough paint to do that... right now I'm just trying to make it
look "acceptable," a full repaint/color change is a ways down the road)

nate

SWMBO's opinion on this quick fix?

On Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:16:39 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled Nate Nagel , to say:

However it looks like on the previously exposed area someone just
shoved some mud in it and called it good, and the crack has also not
reappeared in the two plus years we have been in the house, which says
to me that it's pretty stable. Would it be really, really bad to just
do the same? To fix it "right" I'd probably end up painting the whole
damn ceiling, and I'm just not ready for that yet (and I don't know that
I have enough paint to do that... right now I'm just trying to make it
look "acceptable," a full repaint/color change is a ways down the road)


If you don't mind doing it over again a ways down the road, it
sounds like an ok plan to me.




--

Real men don't text.

On Mar 30, 9:30*pm, Steve Daniels wrote:
On Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:16:39 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled Nate Nagel , to say:

* * * However it looks like on the previously exposed area someone just
* * shoved some mud in it and called it good, and the crack has also not
* * reappeared in the two plus years we have been in the house, which says
* * to me that it's pretty stable. *Would it be really, really bad to just
* * do the same? *To fix it "right" I'd probably end up painting the whole
* * damn ceiling, and I'm just not ready for that yet (and I don't know that
* * I have enough paint to do that... right now I'm just trying to make it
* * look "acceptable," a full repaint/color change is a ways down the road)

If you don't mind doing it over again a ways down the road, it
sounds like an ok plan to me.

--

Real men don't text.

I would work some carpenters glue into the crack before applying the
mud into the crack. The glue will help delay recracking.

Bob Hofmann

Nate Nagel wrote:
(snip)

there's
a crack running the length of the area (4') and I know the RIGHT way to
patch it is to dig it out, then put down some mesh tape and feather it.

Paper tape would be better than mesh.

However it looks like on the previously exposed area someone just
shoved some mud in it and called it good, and the crack has also not
reappeared in the two plus years we have been in the house, which says
to me that it's pretty stable. Would it be really, really bad to just
do the same?

Nope. (As long as you understand what you're doing, which it sounds like
you do.) If it's a small crack, latex caulk (no silicone) might be a
better short to mid-term fix.

To fix it "right" I'd probably end up painting the whole
damn ceiling, and I'm just not ready for that yet (and I don't know that
I have enough paint to do that... right now I'm just trying to make it
look "acceptable," a full repaint/color change is a ways down the road)

If it'll look acceptable without a full repaint then a temporary fix for
the crack shouldn't be a problem. I find that paint/texture/gloss
mis-matches are usually more noticeable than cracks.

On Mar 30, 10:16*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:

there's
a crack running the length of the area (4') and I know the RIGHT way to
patch it is to dig it out, then put down some mesh tape and feather it.

Sounds like you have plaster. Seems safe to assume since there
shouldn't be a drywall seam that close to the wall as in most
instances of over-the-refrigerator cabinets... (but it is described as
4' long)... (and, these days, who knows what idiot hung the drywall).

You didn't mention the crack width, but since it is described as a
"stable", "crack", I think I'd probably try spackle first.
-----

- gpsman

On Mar 31, 11:05*am, gpsman wrote:
On Mar 30, 10:16*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:



there's
a crack running the length of the area (4') and I know the RIGHT way to
patch it is to dig it out, then put down some mesh tape and feather it.

Sounds like you have plaster. *Seems safe to assume since there
shouldn't be a drywall seam that close to the wall as in most
instances of over-the-refrigerator cabinets... (but it is described as
4' long)... (and, these days, who knows what idiot hung the drywall).

You didn't mention the crack width, but since it is described as a
"stable", "crack", I think I'd probably try spackle first.

yes, it is plaster. I guess you got confused as I am working in two
different locations - first, where I took the cabinet down, which was
surprisingly and refreshingly in very good shape save for a) screw
holes and b) brush strokes (I guess the last paint job before the
cabinets were put up was done with a brush with some really heavy
paint.) I spackled the holes, then sanded the whole area well, skim
coated with mud, and that's where I'm at right now. Hopefully when I
get home tonight I'll just sand again, find it good, and put a couple
coats of Kilz on it.

The area with the crack is where there was a 4' fluorescent light
fixture on the ceiling; I removed it and replaced it with a new
ceiling fan. (yes, I did remove the old fixture box and replaced it
with a fan box and hanger.) I never went back and repaired the
ceiling in that area, there's a crack that apparently runs the whole
width of the kitchen ceiling that someone apparently mudded over (as
there's no ridge from tape) right up to the edge of the light fixture
but did not take the light fixture down to patch it underneath.

Doing it "right" would probably mean I'd have to dig out the whole
length of the thing, tape, mud, an paint enough of the ceiling it'd be
silly not to do the whole thing. Just sanding and skimming would be a
lot easier, and I'm thinking that even though I know it's wrong that's
what I'm likely going to do, and let the real repair come whenever we
actually remodel the kitchen.

I guess what I was curious about was if there was something about just
mudding over it that would make a proper repair more difficult in the
future. One wouldn't think that there would be, but IANAPPG (I Am Not
A Paint 'n' Patch Guy) and probably watching my inept fumbling with a
taping knife and mud box would have made the guy I usually use for
commercial work ROTFL.

Now painting, I think I can manage to do that without making too much
of a dog's breakfast of it...

nate