Old plaster walls, what to do?

[InHisName]

We have a rental that is very old, and the plaster walls are lumpy, patched, and some wall papered. Has anyone got a good tip or two to make them appear presentable? Have you ever put anything on the walls as texture, then painted? Need a brain tweak on this one- don't want to sheetrock over the top.

[Katey]

There is such a thing as heavily textured wallpaper made for this situation. It won't cover all sins, but you don't have to have a perfect surface for it to look good.

[Sawmill Jim]

On the plain plastered walls i have used plain hot water an a paint roller this makes any loose plaster turn loose . If there is much flaking this can get messy if it is still tight great .Once i know nothing else is going to turn loose i get me a five gallon bucket of wall board compound mix it where it will work with a cheep texture roller an put it on . I have mixed one gallon of white paint in five gallon of this compound saves painting

If you have a hole in the plaster wall i have squared them up then took a piece of sheet rock cut three inches larger than the hole mark it on the back side cut first layer of paper one an a half inches on all four sides . Peal the rock off leaving the front paper on get it to fit the hole . Now you should have a inch an half of flap around the hole put your wall board compound on these flaps push it in . You can flatten it out with a six inch puddy knife let it dry apply more mud tapering it out sand a tad . Good luck

[clovis]

If you have plaster that need to be repaired:

Proper plaster repair is simple and easy if you have the open-mindedness to fix it. Nearly everyone I have ever met likes to cry and moan about plaster, but only because they don't understand how easy it really is.

You have to remove the old plaster back to where it is still strongly attached to the lath. This is a bit tricky to learn, but you'll get it pretty quick.

In a nut shell, buy a few bags of plaster, and mix it with water as the instructions say. This means to pour the plaster into the water that is already in a bucket.

Spray the wood lath with water from an old spray bottle. This keeps the wood from soaking up all the water in the plaster, and is an important step.

Using a plaster hawk, take your trowel and load it, and force it into the lath. This is called "keying it in". This is super-duper important. Don't worry about too much falling into the back of the lath. Strong keys make for strong plaster. Cover the entire hole.

Once the plaster is up, and make sure you leave the first coat about 1/8 inch or less from the surface, take a fork from the kitchen, and groove it in straight horizontal lines, about 1/8 inch deep. Do the entire surface this way. This is going to give the top coat something to hang on. A large meat fork from your wife's nice silverware works best.

Give it some time to dry. You will see the moisture dry out of it, slowly from the outside to the center.

Once dry, buy a bucket of the royal blue dry wall top coat. Use your quality trowel to fill in the remaining area, making it smooth. Sand and repeat the process as needed.

The thing I forgot to mention: Buy quality tools!!!!!!!! Most people would rather die than pay $20 for a good Marshalltown trowel and $15 for a plaster hawk. The reality is that quality tools mean quality results, and make the job very easy to do.

I really can't emphasize this enough. As a beginner, I tried many times to use a 2.99 'made in China' trowel, I had plaster dripping everywhere making HUGE messes, and my worked looked awful!!!! As soon as I bought some good tools, the job got tremendously easier, the jobs went MUCH faster, and the end work was beautiful. Don't go cheap on the tools unless you want a cheap looking job!!!!!!!!!!!

I can answer more questions if needed. I've done enough plaster repair and restoration that I almost started a business doing it, and I even started writing a 'how-to' book about plaster repair.

The last job I did was a stair well in a Queen Anne, where the bounce of people walking up and down those steps for 100 years caused the plaster to fracture from the keys, and fall off the wall. The hole was 6 feet tall and at least 15 feet long.

I bet an entire house will cost far less than $100 in materials. You will be surprised how easy it is, and how fast the work goes.

BTW, did I mention that good, quality tools make all the difference with plaster work?

[francismilker]

Use a pump-up sprayer with warm water in it and wet the plaster down. The loose stuff will loosen up enough to come on off. Then, rent a plaster hopper from your local rental center and mix up some plaster about the consistency of white gravy or a little thicker. (you have to get a feel for the right thickness) If you have severe plaster damage it may take a few coats to fill the voids, highs, and lows. Once you spray on the final coat to fill the bad spots go ahead and spray the entire wall. Then, once it drys slightly you take a trowel and "knock down" the texture to make a good textured finish.

[Immaculate Sublimity]

Do a forum search here for brown bag walls... or even google it. looks amazing, and easy to do.

[KIT.S]

If you have cracks in otherwise acceptable walls, you can use painter's silicone caulk. Press it into the crack, smooth off the top, wait for it to dry, then paint. The caulk expands and contracts, and won't let the crack come back through the paint. We've used this on walls and ceilings, and it really makes it much easier.

If you need a lot more work, this isn't the choice - this is only for simple cracks - but it is a lifesaver for that crack that just won't stay filled!

Kit

[Sawmill Jim]

Sheet rock mud is already mixed and don't set up to fast have done lots of it .
Yes good Tools are important .

[clovis]

Sheet rock mud is premixed and fairly easy to use. It works okay for a base coat. The problem I have had with it in large areas is that it takes forever to dry, and then shrinks and cracks during the drying process.

[Sawmill Jim]

Clovis you are right been there done it just can't put much at at a time .I have put in3/8 sheet rock to level up big messes . Have forgot a lot as have been out of this work a while .
Keep talking i my remember why i quit

[InHisName]

Today went and TSP'd the walls on 1st story, dh had fixed a couple places yesterday with sheetrock mud, and guess what, it is cracking. Will go back over it, we have a week or so to do this. I am wondering if plaster could be mixed with paint? Some of this plaster has been there since the 20's, and patched through the years, so looks rough. If I could add a texture to the paint, that would help. I did use that heavy paintable wallpaper on the ceilings where they had that awful white square board stuff, and it came out beautiful.

[Oggie]

If the base coat of the original plaster has failed, the surface coat will sluff off no matter what you do. If the walls feel spongy and thick chips of finish plaster tends to come off, the base coat is shot.

I wrestled a 100-year-old house for about five years, tearing back to the lath here and there and patching. It always began to crack again.

I finally tore it all out and put in a double layer of half-inch drywall, so it would be the same thickness as the original lath and plaster. I wish I had the skill to replaster rooms filled with lath. But, drywall is my limit. I wouldn't know where to start on a plaster ceiling.

[Sawmill Jim]

Oggie was the base coat of plaster in you old house mixed with CAT hair . Mine had horse hair mixed in it -----but i didn't see the horse so