plaster ceiling: cover or replace?

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I have a old 1880's farm house and am starting to "remodel" the upstairs bedrooms. All the walls and ceilings are plaster with wood lath, and is in very poor shape in many areas. My question is, does anyone have experience with screwing drywall directly over the ceiling plaster. This would save me having to go up in the attic and removing all the insulation (loose blowen in, not batts) prior to tearing the ceiling down--> BIG JOB! I'm planning on completely removing all the walls (so I can add insulation), but sure would like to keep the ceilings as intact as possible to save time and mess. Thanks

-- Colin (cew74@yahoo.com), December 06, 2000

Answers

Level out the ceiling with furring strips. Staple ceiling tile blocks to the furring strips. A tile staple made by Arrow is best. If you can determine the direction of the plaster lathe then place furring strip 90 degrees to them. Use drywall screws to fasten the furring strips. Very good, no mess and it doesn't have to be done in one day.

If the plaster is tight, and fairly level just glue the tile up. A daub of glue on four cornor's and one in the middle. If not go with the wood.

I did three PA farm houses that way in the early 1960's JR

-- JR (jr3star@earthlink.net), December 06, 2000.


Colin, you can also install an Anderson drop ceiling, lots of us old house remodelers go that route since the ceilings are usually too high for efficient energy use anyway, plus you can always easily access behind it to re-wire, etc. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), December 07, 2000.

Colin, I guess the your question is do you want to maintain the integrity of your 100+ year old home? The ideas presented would be quick and easy but . . .

We live in a home built in 1886. When we moved in in 1983 the ceilings in the upstairs bedrooms were falling or had fell. I wanted to restore the house so we drywalled the ceilings. (Replastering was WAY to expensive, if you could find someone who knew how to do it)Did not remove the plaster (unless really loose or sagging, installed furring strip to even out) and lath. When we were doing it drywall screws had not been invented so it was nailed into place. Several years ago the ceiling in one room began to sag so we used screws to raise it and repaired the holes. You should be able to remove the plaster without disturbing your blown in insulation if you do not disturb the lath. (we did it in the downstairs side walls) It's dirty and dusty and I would strongly advise using a breathing device both for the drywall dust and insulation dust. It's hard dirty work, we have one more room (the kitchen) that needs a new ceiling, have been putting it off. I think this spring I will take it on. Good luck on your project, just keep in mind how beautiful it will be when finished.

-- Betsy K (betsyk@pathwaynet.com), December 07, 2000.


I used to live in a 1920's vintage house that was plaster and lathe. Drop ceilings are one route to go, but I never liked that "industrial / commercial" look, and never had the $$ to buy those nice tiles that look like vintage tin panels. Anotehr problem with the drop ceiling is that the plaster will continue to fall on tp of it, and when you do take a tile out, you'll end up with a big mess. Or worse yet, and large part of the plaster comes down and ruins some of the tiles on you. I wouldn't try to screw directly to the lathe either. Probably so dry by this point in time they might split on you when you drive the screws in. If high enough, I'd frame it out with 2X4's to level it and lower it a bit, and then just drywall.

-- Eric in TN (eric_m_stone@yahoo.com), December 07, 2000.

We tore out the ceiling and put up a new one.Got rid of 100 years of coal dust acumulation in the proces so that was an added benefit.Took out almost a garbage can of just coaldust.Of course we hadn't a speck of insulation in the house.

Make sure you wear goggles and mask if you go this route,hubbie looked like a coalminer, and I couldn't even help. even with a mask.That's how coaldust is.

I personally like the ideas for keeping it more to the period it was done.On one ceiling I'm using boards I salvaged from another part of the house.

When we took down one tile ceiling we found beautiful tongue and groove pine ceiling, just needed some repair and finish.I stained it and put two coats of gloss, and a final coat of satin polyurthane to dull down the shine a bit, and it looked great.Maybe you'll find a treasure too.

you could even punch your own tin panels if you have the inclination,and time.I am seriously considering that for the bathroom in my old house.

I'd Try to keep as much true to the period as you can,I don't think you'll regret it and it sure will look good.Dropping the ceiling a little and drywalling is an option, if you have the headroom which is probably the case.I don't care for the tile either,since I've had to removed them in poor shape as well. Hope some of these suggestions help.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 07, 2000.



If your walls are structually sound and just a problem with loose plaster, consider leaving the lath up and having the problem spots repaired. Then take off siding one wall at a time and insulate from the outside, which also lets you put in more electric circuits, etc. Either the siding can be put back on or it can be replaced with insulating wall boards and siding put on to match the period. Had friends in DC-area who went this route. If instead of putting of standard wall board, you put blue board on the ceiling, that can be plastered as well to keep the period look.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 07, 2000.

We are in the midst of doing a new ceiling in a room that was originally plaster and wood lathe, then drywall on new 2x4's under that, and then a dropped ceiling with the metal grid and 2foot by 4 foot tiles. We tore it all out to the original joists (2 nd floor is overhead) so we could work on electrical and plumbing. We will replace with new sheetrock. Doing the same with all the walls, too.

I think you could put new sheetrock over the old plaster, or just the old lathe if the plaster is really bad. I would try it at least, using sheetrock screws into the joists.

By "we" I mean my youngest son is doing most of the work, and I help when I have time. Thank goodness for a homeschooled kid who knows how to do things in real life.

Jim

-- Jim (jiminwis@yahoo.com), December 07, 2000.


The plaster ceilings in our old farmhouse are covered in 18" wide canvas strips(wallpaper?) and painted. It looks like some areas were patched first. It looks fine, unless you are real picky. This was done before we moved here and has held up for a long time, I think. Except in the humid bathroom. I'd ask the old-timer at the local hardware store, paint or home improvement store for ideas. Good luck! Hope you can save the ceilings.

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), December 07, 2000.

The main considerations are the weight of the drywall and the flatness of the wall and ceilings. As long as the studs and joists are up to the task it should cause little or no problem. I did it using 1/2" drywall, though I've heard since that 1/4" exists. I did the upstairs of a circa 1900's farmhouse over five years ago and have had no problems at all. One advantage has been increased insulation value and no drafts in those rooms. I would suggest you do all wiring upgrades before installing the drywall and make sure you extend the boxes far enough out to accomodate the increased wall width ( This is where 1/4" drywall would have come in real handy.) Extending the trim around dooers and windows can also be a bit tricky, but flat moulding stock in various widths blends pretty good. Have fun.

-- ray s. (mmoetc@yahoo.com), December 07, 2000.

We also are doing the walls and ceiling in our 1865 farmhouse. Taking down the kitchen ceiling was the filthiest, most God-forsaken job I have ever done, and the rest of the ceilings will be left up & drywalled over! Never again. Although, we did find an ancient shoe in the mess, one of the old high-top button kinds. It was cool, but not worth the terrible mess.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), December 07, 2000.


When you tear out old plaster walls or ceilings, bear in mind there is an excellent chance it includes lead-based paints. You might want to send children to stay someplace else while it is being done.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 09, 2000.

My home was built in about 1890. Several years ago I replaced the ceilings. My neighbor is a plasterer by trade and he gave me a hand. First we determined how thick the plaster and lath was. We used 1/2 inch wallboard and purchased screws long enough to go through the wallboard, plaster, lath and 1 at least inch into the rafters. Mark the rafters and don't try to screw the wallboard to anything but the rafter, the lath will not hold it. This method is strong enough that we used blueboard, and since Mike is a plasterer, we put finish plaster over the board and put a 4 foot diameter plaster medalian in the center of the room. It will work well as long as you screw the wallboard into the rafters.

-- Paul Marohn (pmcm@pcom.net), December 13, 2000.

I made a supplied air breathing helmet from a welding helmet and a heavy duty contractor grade plastic bag. First I removed the welding glass from the helmet, then fit the plastic bag over the helmet, trimmed out the area over the welding helmet visual aperture, then used duct tape to secure the bag to the helmet with an airtight seal. The bag was then trimmed to cover down just past my shoulders. Welding glass was replaced with a thin sheet of lexan and again duct tape used to make it airtight.

I used a shop vac for the air supply, led to the helmet by a 30 foot section of 1.25 inch vacuum hose. The exit of the hose was secured to the inside of the helmet to the rear of the adjustable headband so the air comes in at the back of your head and blows through your hair - giving you a nice cooling breeze. All the air supply stuff was brand new and never used for anything but breathing air.

When using the helmet, you breathe nice clean fresh air and all the dust and gunk falls harmlessly to the floor. I keep a small paint brush hand to dust off the lexan sight glass. Not only does the helmet supply breathing air, but it keeps you surprisingly cool, as the air blows through your hair... just like a motorcycle ride in the countryside...

The thing works great for airless painting too, but then I replace the lexan with a thin film of saran wrap the is easy to replace with it gets speckled up too much. You can buy this kind of gear commercially but the cost is around $500. and I think mine works just fine. Make sure you use a welding helmet with the maximum vision opening like the nexair unit:

http://www.nexairweldingequipment.com/store/helmet.html

You could also use a good quality face shield as the foundation for the plastic bag.

Jerry Palmer Venice, Ca

-- JEREMY M PALMER (w6cwj@earthlink.net), April 16, 2001.


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