Hi, we have an old plaster ceiling in the kitchen in one of my rental houses. At some point, it had been covered over with lath and ceiling tile, which has been removed. Once corner had some old water damage from an upstairs bathroom. I used joint compound over all the holes and did a lot of sanding...then used Kilz for primer as well as a glossy ceiling paint. Not four months later, the ceiling is peeling...apparently the joint compound is peeling away from the original plaster finish. Any advice will be appreciated, thanks
Had the original plaster been painted? Most houses that are old enough to have plaster walls and ceilings are old enough that the paint used on them is almost certainly oil-based -- and joint compound won't stick to that too well.
And was the original plaster clean? Joint compound doesn't stick to dirt too well, either.
For that matter, are you sure that the water damage is in fact old, and not ongoing? If that corner is still getting wet, *nothing* is going to stick there very long.
To repair it, you're certainly going to have to remove the peeling joint compound. What you do after that depends on why it's peeling. If the existing plaster is simply dirty, washing it should be enough. But if it's been painted, you may need to remove the whitecoat layer and apply joint compound directly to the browncoat.
Either way, I'd use the "setting type" joint compound, not the premixed stuff. (It'll stick better.) Get the sandable kind, like this:
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it at a brick-and-mortar hardware store, or a place like Home Depot or Lowe's, though, not from these guys. Their price is pretty far out there.)
And if you discover *new* water damage, obviously you need to find and fix the cause of that before attempting any repairs.
I agree with all of Doug's comments. I would like to add that we normally prime the plaster surface before we patch. I like the Zinsser oil base (it will adhere to anything used before it). The primer also seals the surface and allow for a better patch. The only other reason that the patch would peal off is if you still have a moisture problem or that you still had moisture in the brown coat. Brown coats can hold moisture for months. Any patch over the brown coat in this form will also result in the problem that you listed above.
Hmmm... hadn't thought about that, but you could well be right.
To the OP: washing soda (not baking soda) dissolved in warm water is an excellent grease remover. You can find washing soda on the laundry aisle of most grocery stores. Dissolve 1/4 to 1/2 cup in a quart of warm water, and wash the ceiling with it. Wear rubber gloves, and, since you'll be working overhead, eye protection.
you need to use a bonding agent for the compound to stick to the old plaster and Kiltz for a primer sucks try using "old yankee" made for plaster with calcium
at this point your probably better off drywalling over the mess, or better yet removing all the existing plaster and lathe, inspecting the plumbing then drywalling oor replastering.
with failing adhesion between coats any repairs now may just make it worse.
plus opening the cieling may uncover a hidden problem your not aware of.
My neighbor ripped hios old cieling down, replaced ALL his plumbing in that area, then put in a new drywall cieling with 2 inspection ports for easy future access.
not bautiful but pretty good idea, when future troubles occur
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