A good plaster man (or woman) can tell from the feel/sound if it. It
may just need a little clean up. However it may need a section replaced,
hard to tell from here.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math


"Greg" wrote in message
om...
Last summer, we had central AC installed in our 40-yr old home, which
included putting an air handler in the attic. Well, the hack that put
it in never leveled it, and it spent the better part of a day leaking
condensate onto my bedroom ceiling. I removed all the wet insulation
immediately and let the ceiling dry on its own. Note that my ceilings
are plaster on gypsum wallboard lath.

The affected area looks to be roughly 10 feet in diameter. There are
a few small yellowed spots and some bubbling on the surface, mostly on
the 'fault lines'. I'm sure most of the cracks were there to start
with (like hairline fractures in any 40-yr old plaster ceiling), but
the water damage has accentuated them. I have no idea if the plaster
has separated at all from the lath.

Now, regardless of the fix, the HVAC guy is paying for the job. I
just want to know what the best solution is for the long term life of
the ceiling. I've considered just sanding/painting, have gotten
advice to put drywall over the entire ceiling, and advice to tear out
the damaged section and re-plaster it.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Greg

On 12 Jan 2004 10:10:14 -0800, (Greg) wrote:

Last summer, we had central AC installed in our 40-yr old home, which
included putting an air handler in the attic. Well, the hack that put
it in never leveled it, and it spent the better part of a day leaking
condensate onto my bedroom ceiling. I removed all the wet insulation
immediately and let the ceiling dry on its own. Note that my ceilings
are plaster on gypsum wallboard lath.

The affected area looks to be roughly 10 feet in diameter. There are
a few small yellowed spots and some bubbling on the surface, mostly on
the 'fault lines'. I'm sure most of the cracks were there to start
with (like hairline fractures in any 40-yr old plaster ceiling), but
the water damage has accentuated them. I have no idea if the plaster
has separated at all from the lath.

Now, regardless of the fix, the HVAC guy is paying for the job. I
just want to know what the best solution is for the long term life of
the ceiling. I've considered just sanding/painting, have gotten
advice to put drywall over the entire ceiling, and advice to tear out
the damaged section and re-plaster it.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Greg

Depending on the model, with all the mold scares in the last couple
of years, you may want to tilt your drain pan towards the outlet so
there is less condensate water surface area in the pan.

An annual checkup should have caught the problem.

Be particularly careful to determine if the plaster has failed, or is
damaged so as to foster later collapse of sections of your ceiling. If
you can get at it from the attic you should be able to make this
determination directly, or have hire someone else do it if you're not able.

RB

PJx wrote:
On 12 Jan 2004 10:10:14 -0800, (Greg) wrote:


Last summer, we had central AC installed in our 40-yr old home, which
included putting an air handler in the attic. Well, the hack that put
it in never leveled it, and it spent the better part of a day leaking
condensate onto my bedroom ceiling. I removed all the wet insulation
immediately and let the ceiling dry on its own. Note that my ceilings
are plaster on gypsum wallboard lath.

The affected area looks to be roughly 10 feet in diameter. There are
a few small yellowed spots and some bubbling on the surface, mostly on
the 'fault lines'. I'm sure most of the cracks were there to start
with (like hairline fractures in any 40-yr old plaster ceiling), but
the water damage has accentuated them. I have no idea if the plaster
has separated at all from the lath.

Now, regardless of the fix, the HVAC guy is paying for the job. I
just want to know what the best solution is for the long term life of
the ceiling. I've considered just sanding/painting, have gotten
advice to put drywall over the entire ceiling, and advice to tear out
the damaged section and re-plaster it.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

Greg


Depending on the model, with all the mold scares in the last couple
of years, you may want to tilt your drain pan towards the outlet so
there is less condensate water surface area in the pan.

An annual checkup should have caught the problem.

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 16:21:57 -0500, RB wrote:

Be particularly careful to determine if the plaster has failed, or is
damaged so as to foster later collapse of sections of your ceiling. If
you can get at it from the attic you should be able to make this
determination directly, or have hire someone else do it if you're not able.


I'll second this.

The plaster can be easily fixed if it has not come loose from
what's supposed to be holding it. If it has, you're better off
tearing it out.

If you push against the plaster and feel any give, you'd
better consult an expert.


Peter

peter wrote in message . ..
On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 16:21:57 -0500, RB wrote:

Be particularly careful to determine if the plaster has failed, or is
damaged so as to foster later collapse of sections of your ceiling. If
you can get at it from the attic you should be able to make this
determination directly, or have hire someone else do it if you're not able.


I'll second this.

The plaster can be easily fixed if it has not come loose from
what's supposed to be holding it. If it has, you're better off
tearing it out.

If you push against the plaster and feel any give, you'd
better consult an expert.


Peter


Thanks for all the help. As a follow-up: Is this something I (as a
novice) should be able to diagnose (e.g. pushing on the ceiling) or
should I really just hire someone to look at it?

As I recall you plan to put the repair cost back on the HVAC fellow who
caused the problem. Consequently I'd suggest hiring someone independent
to make the assessment. Additionally, if you miss diagnosing it
correctly yourself and find a year or two from now that it had in fact
failed you'll be on your own for sure.

It shouldn't take a competent plasterer (one who does true plastering,
not just drywall) to render an informed opinion.

RB

Greg wrote:
peter wrote in message . ..

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 16:21:57 -0500, RB wrote:


Be particularly careful to determine if the plaster has failed, or is
damaged so as to foster later collapse of sections of your ceiling. If
you can get at it from the attic you should be able to make this
determination directly, or have hire someone else do it if you're not able.


I'll second this.

The plaster can be easily fixed if it has not come loose from
what's supposed to be holding it. If it has, you're better off
tearing it out.

If you push against the plaster and feel any give, you'd
better consult an expert.


Peter



Thanks for all the help. As a follow-up: Is this something I (as a
novice) should be able to diagnose (e.g. pushing on the ceiling) or
should I really just hire someone to look at it?