Repairing Plaster Ceiling

lornmastro

ok ...i've been doing this for five yrs and luckily i've never had to deal with a major plaster repair. previously when preparing a plaster wall and needing to repair small nail wholes i've just used spackle...however this time i have a ceiling that has has a spot about 2 ft wide and long by about 1/2" deep...no wood showing/no horsehairs just the plaster showing,seems pretty stable. how would you repair something like this..someone told me i might need to use premixed patching plaster(newbie at sw) ,someone else told me to use just use lite spackle(the fluffy spackle)(a painter at sw), someone else told me to spray it with water first(an interior decorator) boy am i confused?!?!? need help from my pro painter friends...help,yes help!! how would you handle it?? spackle,lite spackle, plaster...and how deep does the problem need to be before you change your approach to the problem?? need to know by tomorrow...yiks

ALLIN1

if it is sound. I would clean area of any lose paint/ plaster. Use a bonding primer. Let dry. then fill the area with a 12" knife, using dura bond 90. Doing multiple coats to get good blending and flat surface. Prime with oil based pro block and paint.

Exroadog

What ALLIN1 said....or if there are some beams or lathe? cut some sheet rock to fit, screw, tape and mud.

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lornmastro

durabond 90....is there something else i can use if sw doesn't have it in there stores?? need it for tomorrow...yiks...flat surface because it doesn't sand very easily?? and for my info..what is durabond is it plaster...is it a spackle...and what makes the durabond work so well in this application and should i use it for all plaster jobs??or should i use it for all jobs in general...thanks for the education...

Exroadog

Durabond comes in 90, 45, and 20....being roughly the minutes it sets up. You can also get it in lightweight easy sanding. I would put the 90 down first and finish with the lightweight sanding. Its not for every job but I always have it around. Have to be carefull on lime horsehair restoration but thats another issue. If its not at your SW go to most hardware stores or homers! Its powder setting plaster. You need a plastic bucket too!

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lornmastro

thanks allin and esro for all the help...i really appreciate it..couldn't have done it without you...your the best

Woz the Painter

youve been painting for 5 years and dont know how to patch plaster? Is this tread a do it yourself question?

lornmastro

woz...woz...just maybe SOMEDAY you will be NICE!!!

painterofeveryt

was kinda shocked no one asked how or why the ceiling cracked ,and then said maybe you should use some screws in it to prevent future cracks...durabonds great! its just not gonna stop any new cracks, SCREW IT

Woz the Painter

I'll be nice when you start asking intelligent questions...

lornmastro

ok woz i've put up with your attitude and insults for long enough....thats right i started this business with no previous experience...a mistake yes...but then again i didn't think anyone would hire me 9-3 to work around my kids school/summer schedule and let me have days off when my kids got sick(i've been fired from jobs because of that before)...but i've put alot of sweat into this business as we all have, and tried to educate myself with the limited amount of information available to this industry and in that way this forum has been a God sent....by the way i also sew custom window treatments...and that industry DOES provide all sorts of information(conf/tapes/magazines/forum)which i do take advantage of. do i ask stupid questions sometimes?...sure do...thats the school of hard knocks when you are learning as you go...but i must be doing something right because business keep growing and growing...which is great cause i allows me to put food on the table for my 3 kids....is that what annoys you so much that a woman is working in a mans world to put food on the table for her kids??woz leave me the f... alone!!!to all the rest of you thanks for all your help..you have been a God sent.

Paul_R

LornMastro, I am new to this forum. I plastered and painted for Purdue University for 22 years. Plastering is much like drywall mudding, with the exception of setting up and not easily sanded.I think Exroadog has the best solution if you do not plaster proper. The depth sounds a little more than just finish plaster, so you may need several applications to get to the right depth. I don't know if you have used USG Lightweight Joint compound, but I've used a lot of it lately. It is a soft joint compound, but doesn't shrink or crack a lot, even when applied in thicker than average layers. It won't dry quickly. The person that told you to spray the surface with water might have been thinking that you would use actual plaster. Spraying or in some way wetting the surface of old plaster helps so the new application does not dry out too fast and result in cracking of the new plaster. I spent five years in retail and decided to return to something that I love to do, do well, and people appreciate. My problem is trying to figure out how to price my services. I am afraid that I probably don't charge enough, and wonder what the competition charges. I realize this is something I must resolve, especially if I want to continue in this course. Any questions about plastering I will try to help. Paul

lornmastro

certainly if there is major damage to plaster...i would just pass on the job..basically all i want to know is how to fix small repairs. i did use the dura bond to day and it worked great...but i guess what i don;t get is do i use durabond for all repairs on plaster?? or only repairs on plaster thats not too deep?? can i put a layer of lightweight joint compond on top of the durabond?? are there situations where i can use the joint compond and others that i should use the durabond. as far as pricing out your jobs you might want to check out www.costestimator.com. thanks for the help

DPainting

IF you don't ask questions or 'try' something how will you ever know? There is always room for improvement. Education never ends IMO.

And as for the repairs I'd use the Durabond or Plaster of paris and then a lightweight sandable to finish it off neatly.

Good luck.

Joewho

Use durabond on the deeper stuff and use regular joint compound (plus 3 maybe) to top coat it. You can't sand durabond, but you can use a wet cloth to smooth it down somewhat.

You can definately use lightweight over durabond, matter of fact, that's what you 'posed to do. Durabond is not a finish coat.

By lightweight, i'm assuming you mean usg or plus 3, not the fluffy, puffy stuff.

Woz the Painter

Let me get this straight, you went into the painting biz 5 years ago with no experience?

You worked on paying customers jobs on a wing and a prayer, and hoped that what, maybe they would come out allright?

You are very unprofessional, weather you are a woman or a man.

You say there is no information out there about painting that is readily available? Other than E-myth, which you so praised in other threads?

And if your doing good and are proficient in sewing custom window treatments, why get involved in something like painting that has so many other skills and variables involved?

That is why f-in with you, after 5 years of doing this as a business, your asking questions that people in their first year of painting would be asking.

ALLIN1

LornMastro, don't let these guys get to you. Some have done this so many times that it is like second nature. So they feel that anyone in the business should know it all! People tend to forget they started some were to.

I also don't think you being a women has anything to do with there response.
I myself am second gen painter and was taught by my mother, who could do a job better then most men. She herself was self taught and stayed in business for over 30 years with many happy customers.

So keep on doing the best you can do.
Read everything you can and Ask question.

lornmastro

thanks all for the info and for your words of encouragement...yes i just need to ignore people like woz....but just to set the record straight woz i've been doing business for 5 yrs and have never been called back to redo or touch up a job... 99% of my work is referral or repeat business..and currently have 3 ladies working for me..i work with 2 soon to be 3 interior decorators...and pride myself on near to perfect lines and complete customer satisfaction. as far as emyth woz it is not book specifically for painters its a book for business owners...and the only books i've ever seen mentioned on this forum specifially for painters are painting contractors and paint contractor manual which i bought & read...but they are 20 yrs old...most of the homes here are less than 25 yrs old...very little plaster...home depot/lowes didn;t have durabond..and even sw only had one bag and thats because someone order it and never picked it up. negative, nasty and obnoxious thats you woz ...how do you look at yourself in the mirror everyday..from this point on i will not read anything you post on this forum...cause negative people are people i always try to avoid..bye woz it was NOT nice knowing you!!

Woz the Painter

You work with 2 soon to be 3 interior decorators?

I would knowing about you not let you bid a paint job on a doghouse!

And I really dont give a good damn if you ever read another of my post's...

LennyV-NHSNOLA

Geeez Woz... be a gentleman and let it drop.

I'm sure your Mom would not be very proud right now.