How To Repair Plaster Ceiling Cracks

Score the crack with a utility knife to remove any loose plaster or other material that may be inside the crack.

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. 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. Ask this old house general contractor tom silva helps a homeowner repair a cracked plaster ceiling in an older home. How to fix plaster ceilings.

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. Small cracks in plaster are relatively easy to repair with one condition. Be sure to drive screws into wood lath above. Screw plaster washers to ceiling along and around cracked area.

By using modern materials and a traditional technique it is possible to repair plaster ceilings that are cracking and delaminating. Subscribe to this old house. What old house owner doesn t have a cracking or sagging plaster ceiling in need of repair somewhere. This will allow the mud to bond directly to the plaster which will make the repair stronger.

House settling and temperature or moisture fluctuations in an attic which result in the expansion or contraction of framing members. Use trowel to spread joint compound onto ceiling covering the repaired area. Typically plaster ceiling cracks have two causes. In this video this old house general contractor tom silva explains how to repair a plaster ceiling.

No matter what the cause you can repair the plaster cracks by using drywall tape and joint compound. Use mesh tape to cover the crack. 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.