Plaster - which choice

[Dan delaMare-Lyon]

OK - so I've got some patching to do where the lath is breaking down just to tide us over until we rip the ceiling down when we re-do the kitchen/start the extension etc.

What's the best one for patching, as well as skim? I've decided that I've got a small enough area to do that I can fill in the hole where the water came thru when the bath seal leaked - but will also give a skim a go as an exercise (given that it's coming down in ~ 2 years and is in a cupboard anyway).

Anyone care to offer any suggestions?

Thanks Dan.

[Andrew Gabriel]

The plaster on lath and plaster is often thicker than plasterboard, so you can cut a piece of plasterboard the shape of the hole, and screw it to the laths (which I presume are still in place?). If you carefully pack behind it so it's evenly 1.5mm behind the plaster surface, then you can just skim the hole. Before skimming, you will need to fill in all the gaps around the edge, for which Bonding Coat is good, having first sealed the broken edge of the lime plaster with diluted PVA. (If you look at my other post on plastering today, you will see I suggest leaving a 1/4" gap round the edge of the board in order to force bonding coat through to bond the board edges. Given the tickness of plaster on lath and plaster, you could even increase this to 1/2" gap.)

For skimming, I use Multi Finish plaster. There is also a plasterboard finish plaster which I'm sure would work, but I haven't used it myself as I am mostly not plastering on plasterboard.

[Jet]

Hi Dan

If the hole is in a cupboard the quickest / easiest method imo is to use a piece of plasterboard? Negates having to f*ck about with plaster in a relatively confined space and all the prep that goes with it.

hth

[Dan delaMare-Lyon]

Nah - it's lath and plaster ceiling that the plaster was already a bit weak on and the water just helped it fall away when I gave it a prod in August.....it's been sitting drying out since then and is bone dry now. I've PVA'd the edges and will have to patch thru the lath. It's not a confined space - more 6ft wide with doors that are floor to ceiling that open out into the kitchen.

Cheers Dan.

[Dan delaMare-Lyon]

Thanks Andrew - think I'll lay my paws on a bag of Multi Finish later in the month.... Maybe even give the bathroom ceiling a shot :) I've filled all the cracks in that now too - oh the perils of drying out a 1920 house :)

CHeers Dan.

[Jerry Built]

Hi Dan,

As Jet says, if it's in a cupboard and you can fit in an oblong of plasterboard, that's your easiest solution.

If you want to patch, use 1:1:6 cement:lime:sharp sand, scraped back at the edges to 1/8" (3mm) below the sound surface, or use Thistle renovating plaster similarly, or browning, or "1-coat". Scraping back from the sound plaster allows the new to be tapered in nicely, use a stripping knife or similar. Then skim with Thistle multi-finish, or preferably Thistle renovating finish.

To repair a cracked plaster and lath ceiling, see:

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J.