Drywall over cracked plaster?

[Peter De Smidt]

Hi, I have some cracked plaster ceilings in the upstairs of my 100 year old house. Some of these cracks were made worse when the house was re-roofed recently. The ceilings are 7.5 ft high. I'd like to put drywall up on the ceiling over the plaster. I'm a little worried about screwing drywall screws, or perhaps Spax screws, up though the plaster into the joists, mainly because I'm afraid that plaster dust or small chunks might keep the drywall from pulling up tightly, or, in a worst case scenario, the pieces would cause indents in the drywall. I've been thinking of screwing furring strips to the bottom of the plaster ceiling, making sure that the screws go into the studs. Then I put rigid insulation between the furing strips. Finally, I screw the drywall into the furring strips. Does this sound like a reasonable idea? Any thoughts and/or suggestions are welcome.

Regards, Peter De Smidt FdL, WI

[Duane Bozarth]

If the plaster is basically still sound with just a few cracks, I'd repair it (it just goes with the age of the house, primarily and I like keeping as much original as possible)...

If you're determined, your plan will work if it's basically sound...if not, it's likely to come down while your doing that (adding the furring strips) anyway...

[Tom]

Peter wrote: >Hi, I have some cracked plaster ceilings in the upstairs of my

100 year

Just screw it up tight to the plaster, and it'll be fine. Nobody will notice any slight imperfections. And if they're quite bad, all you've gotta do is run a drywall knife over the imperfection, then hit it with a little mud... Tom Work at your leisure!

[m Ransley]

If the plaster is basicly sound but loose in a few areas consider removing bad areas and repairing. But if it is wavy and bad removing a few low spots and drywall should do it. Get a pro out for help, we cant see it from here.