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!

writes:

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!

Find the This Old House episode where they shoot glue into the plaster
cracks before using the special screws.

--
Dan Espen

wrote:
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!

When my son had some serious sagging and cracking (caused by a roof leak)
we reattached the sagging plaster using plaster washers similar to these:

https://www.google.com/search?q=plaster%20washers

In our case the damage also required the replacement of some sections with
drywall patches. After looking at the semi-finished job and the amount of
skim coating it would have required to hide all of the washers and seams,
we opted to add a layer of drywall over the entire ceiling and mudding the
two seams in the field and the wall/ceiling junctions. It came out real
nice and no more worries about future cracks.

wrote in message

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:

Before I did anything I'd want to make sure that the lath is in good shape
and well secured.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On Tue, 10 Sep 2013 11:07:36 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

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!

The plaster keys will continue to break. And the more you disturb the
plaster, the more keys will break.
I'm not familiar with using screws or glue to secure old ceiling
plaster, so can't comment on its efficacy.
When I was working with my brother, he used two solutions.
Tear it down and drywall if it was bad. That's a permanent solution,
and looks good.
Or if the ceiling was basically solid and flush, cover it with 1/4"
drywall. That's also permanent and looks good.
Old woodwork you want to keep can complicate things.

wrote in
:

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!


http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/vide...630910,00.html

Vid shows use of plaster washers and mesh method.

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.

nestork wrote:
'Ivan Vegvary[_2_ Wrote:
;3119840']Mass seems to be the answer. Ergo the drywall and mdf
solutions given above.

Mass will help, but if you're going to be putting down MDF, then spend a
few extra bucks and put the equivalent weight of fir plywood down
instead. If MDF or drywall get wet, they turn all mushy like a high
quality breakfast cereal, and then any flooring you've installed over
top of that mush is going to fall apart too. If you use an exterior
grade plywood, then that won't happen.

And, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. Spend a few evenings
reading this research paper to get a good understanding of how sound
propogates through walls:

'ARCHIVED - Sound Transmission Through Building Components - IRC -
NRC-CNRC' (http://tinyurl.com/c2xmqm3)

It's about how sound propogates through walls, but the same principles
apply equally well to floors and ceilings.


I agree about wet. Equivalent weight is not going to work well. The wood
will resonate at higher frequency. MDF is the preferred material for
building good speaker cabinets that don't resonate. I don't know if you can
nail it. Screws work. Drilled.

Another idea, foam, board, foam, board.

Greg

Red Green wrote:
wrote in
:

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.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/vide...630910,00.html

Vid shows use of plaster washers and mesh method.

Interesting. I had never heard of "plaster washers" before or seen that
method.

I could see some problems with that approach in terms of getting the ceiling
to be flat etc., but it looks like a good trick that would definitely be
"good enough" in some situations.