I need advice on how to repair, replace or cover over an old (late 1920s) plaster ceiling. It's plaster on wood lath. A 4 sq. ft. section of plaster was loose enough to fall away from the lathe when I started scraping it for a paint job, and seems to have been damaged by a leak (now fixed, I hope). Other sections seem to be staying up pretty securely, but seem to have a lot of separation from the lath. It looks like about half of the 150 sq. ft. ceiling is at least partly separated from the lath, although much of it seems to be pretty well held up by surrounding intact plaster. Do I need to tear the whole thing down and start over? Or can I cover it with drywall somehow? Or does it make sense to patch it somehow? Thanks!
COMMUNITY FORUM
Dear JJ,
I am originally from Joisey. LOL First, I would get a roto-zip tool with 4 or 5 plaster bits. Square off the loose stuff and make sure to size the depth of the cut so it dosent hit the lath. Cut out the offending areas and measure the depth of the plaster. Your local Home Depot has 1/4" to 5/8" drywall. use this to make your patches. Remember to mark the lath lines. You can screw into them as well as studs. Before you attach your patch, dollop some wallboard compound to the lath. This will glue the patch to the lath and prevent future separations. For sections of the ceiling that has not broken, use plaster buttons if you can find them. I've had no luck in Georgia. They simply are a washer attached to a screw. I made my own and used a 3/4" spade bit to " gently" countersink below the surface. Make sure you are on the lath line when you drill. Where you have cracks, I use a ceramic tile caulk to fill them and mud over the repairs. This saves you the time using tape and mutiple coats of mud.
Let em know how it worked, Len
I am originally from Joisey. LOL First, I would get a roto-zip tool with 4 or 5 plaster bits. Square off the loose stuff and make sure to size the depth of the cut so it dosent hit the lath. Cut out the offending areas and measure the depth of the plaster. Your local Home Depot has 1/4" to 5/8" drywall. use this to make your patches. Remember to mark the lath lines. You can screw into them as well as studs. Before you attach your patch, dollop some wallboard compound to the lath. This will glue the patch to the lath and prevent future separations. For sections of the ceiling that has not broken, use plaster buttons if you can find them. I've had no luck in Georgia. They simply are a washer attached to a screw. I made my own and used a 3/4" spade bit to " gently" countersink below the surface. Make sure you are on the lath line when you drill. Where you have cracks, I use a ceramic tile caulk to fill them and mud over the repairs. This saves you the time using tape and mutiple coats of mud.
Let em know how it worked, Len
