Got a new roof so it’s time to repair the ceiling…only I’m not sure how to go about it. Does it matter if my ceiling is drywall or plaster? It’s an old house built in the late 20s and I’m not sure what I have. I have some pics below.
The wood strips are lath used as a backing for plaster. There’s some residual plaster in the gaps, but I can’t tell from the detail if there were multiple layers of plaster, or some other material used also. If you’re just looking for a quick patch you could build up the open area with drywall, then a coating of drywall compound. But someone with experience in this can probably give you instructions to make a long lasting repair.
That’s a very tricky repair to do right, it’s a big hole. I do a lot of drywall and plaster repair, but I’d probably hand this one off to my drywall guy…it’s hard to do a seamless repair on plaster and lathe, especially on a ceiling.
The easiest way is as TriPolar suggests - cut the hole square, screw in a piece of drywall cut to size to the joists, tape and float the seams. But “easiest” is relative here.
Also be aware there’s a possibility that the plaster contains asbestos and some of the older layers of paint may contain lead, so take appropriate precautions if you’re going to do this yourself.
Can you tell the extent of the water damage? Can you be sure more of the plaster won’t come down next year? If both those answers are “no”, to me that would tip the answer towards hiring someone who can assess the damage.
I strongly advise not to cobble the ceiling up by cutting holes and adding drywall. You can’t do this repair yourself. So hire a professional who does plaster work and get it done right. It will be fast and easy except for the check you write. Remember, ceilings are the most difficult to make perfect if that even exists in ceilings. Make sure to paint it with no gloss flat paint and it should look great.
assessing the damage is needed. looking at the bottom of the roof and the top of the ceiling see where it might be damaged. from below the ceiling press and hit moderately (with your flat hand or side of your fist) around the hole or areas likely damaged. remove plaster that moves or sounds hollow. you will make the repair area bigger though do a better job.
as mentioned the repair can very easily show on a ceiling because it is exposed and lit. accept it showing or repaint the whole ceiling with texture or hire an experienced person.
Thanks for the replies. Does anyone have an idea how much I can expect a job like this to cost me if I have someone do it for me? I live in NJ and the repair area is approximately 92"x28".
I also strongly recommend you hire a professional for this.
As **chiroptera **and **TriPolar **have said, you can patch the ceiling using drywall BUT you need to make sure ALL the loose plaster is down, and getting a good looking result isn’t as easy as it sounds.
When I worked with a drywaller and we were confronted with this sort of situation we usually recommended, for best results, that you cut away the entire ceiling and replace it with modern drywall, then join it at the top of the walls to the plaster. Again, getting a good looking result isn’t as easy as it sounds. The advantages of doing it that way were that, in taking down the old ceiling, we could get a really good look at what was happening underneath and deal with any issues that were there, and you’d get a good-looking, intact ceiling. Also, you wouldn’t have to find a plasterer, which are not so common these days, and which typically charge more than drywall guys.
So, basically:
[ol]
[li]Patch the hole with drywall[/li][li]Replace ceiling with new drywall[/li][li]Find a plaster guy to replace the old ceiling with new plaster[/li][/ol]
Unless you have experience in past DIY drywall, I strongly recommend you get a professional for this job.
Finding anyone that’s skilled in plaster & lathe would be nearly impossible in my area. No one works with that material around here.
I wouldn’t patch at all. As others said there may be asbestos or lead. I wouldn’t want to take that stuff down.
How big is the room? If it’s not huge, then I’d put up new drywall over the old ceiling. Use long drywall screws (2 inch or 2 1/2) and snug it up tight into the joists.
Now you have a smooth crack free ceiling. Ready to tape/mud. Paint and you’re golden.
Drywall is pretty cheap. Three sheets will cover a 12x8 area.
One problem with this approach is you do lose a bit of ceiling height. May not be a problem in a 1920’s house if it’s one of those with high ceilings, but in my house, losing another 3/4 inch or so was a non starter. As it turned out, the lathe in my house was suspended, so removing it and putting in drywall actually raised my ceilings by 3-4 inches. It was a big win.
Complicating the advice to simply hang a drywall ceiling over the existing (which is a good idea but not neessarily easy or cheap) is that the OP’s photos seem to show crown molding butted up to paneling…which will need to come down and be replaced, then the joint between that and what looks like paneling on with walls will need caulked…then the paneling itself will probably need repainted…
But from the photos. it looks like if the old plaster ceiling can be cut back, someone can fit the right-sized width of Sheetrock up in there and if they know what they’re doing, finish it so the crown and walls remain basically intact.
I do agree with Al Bundy that the optimal route is to find someone who will do a real plaster repair. It would not be inexpensive though - few people know how to do that and it’s not like the original material is available (which may have included horse hair and chicken feathers. ) Also it would entail quite a few visits because of drying time. However, I’ve seen (and done, actually) plaster-replaced-with-drywall jobs that were done well enough that you can’t tell. That should be cheaper, especially if you find someone experienced and they use hot (fast-drying) mud to cut down on the number of visits.
Doing it yourself would be a bear of a job…old plaster that’s exposed to dampness over the decades becomes very friable. Start scraping and trying to cut a clean rectangle to hang Sheetrock into and if you’re not careful you’ll end up taking down your entire ceiling. Been there, done that. I’ve been a painting contractor for over 30 years and seriously wouldn’t want to tackle this unless the client was working on a really tight budget and it was a rental or something so they weren’t looking for perfection or architectural integrity.
Way too many variables to even guess what something like that would cost. If you don’t know anyone, I suggest calling a local paint or drywall store - NOT big box store, but rather someplace where professionals buy supplies - and asking for a recommendation.
Win because a: the staff at the store tend to know their regular clients very well and b: they tend to only recommend folks they get good feedback on. It makes the store look bad if they recommend someone who does sloppy work!
To bad you don’t live near me, I’d recommend my drywall guy in a heartbeat. He is 6’ 7" tall, so doesn’t need a ladder for most jobs and is very anal-retentive about the work he does. And cheap.
) Also it would entail quite a few visits because of drying time. However, I’ve seen (and done, actually) plaster-replaced-with-drywall jobs that were done well enough that you can’t tell. That should be cheaper, especially if you find someone experienced and they use hot (fast-drying) mud to cut down on the number of visits.
