How To Repair Plaster Ceiling Cracks

Besides the normal wear and tear of living plaster and lath ceilings are at the mercy of gravity and they can take only so many water leaks and structural movements before they pull away from the framing.

How to repair plaster ceiling cracks. If the plaster ceiling feels firmly attached to the lath then you can do the same repair as for the small cracks above. Use mesh tape to cover the crack. Be sure to drive screws into wood lath above. In this video this old house general contractor tom silva explains how to repair a plaster ceiling.

Use trowel to spread joint compound onto ceiling covering the repaired area. What old house owner doesn t have a cracking or sagging plaster ceiling in need of repair somewhere. Ask this old house general contractor tom silva helps a homeowner repair a cracked plaster ceiling in an older home. This will allow the mud to bond directly to the plaster which will make the repair stronger.

The plaster keys holding it to the underlying lath can also crack and break over time causing the plaster to partially separate from the wall. Small cracks in plaster are relatively easy to repair with one condition. Subscribe to this old house. No matter what the cause you can repair the plaster cracks by using drywall tape and joint compound.

Score the crack with a utility knife to remove any loose plaster or other material that may be inside the crack. Typically plaster ceiling cracks have two causes. Here is a step by step guide to how to fix plaster ceilings in your old house. For larger cracks you may need two coats of spackle because of its tendency to shrink as it dries in large gaps so double check before priming and painting.

If when you push on the wall it flexes as though it has broken away from its support base call a plaster specialist the repair will involve removing the loose plaster and replacing it. House settling and temperature or moisture fluctuations in an attic which result in the expansion or contraction of framing members. Screw plaster washers to ceiling along and around cracked area.