How To Repair A Cracked Plaster Ceiling

Score the crack with a utility knife to remove any loose plaster or other material that may be inside the crack.

How to repair a cracked plaster ceiling. Be sure to drive screws into wood lath above. The plaster must be firmly anchored to the lath behind it. Screw plaster washers to ceiling along and around cracked area.

The plaster keys holding it to the underlying lath can also crack and break over time causing the plaster to partially separate from the wall. Repairing small cracks in plaster is easy compared to plastering a whole room. Use trowel to spread joint compound onto ceiling covering the repaired area.

For larger cracks you may need two coats of spackle because of its tendency to shrink as it dries in large gaps so double check before priming and painting. Besides the normal wear and tear of living plaster and lath ceilings are at the mercy of gravity and they can take only so many water leaks and structural movements before they pull away from the framing. Small cracks in plaster are relatively easy to repair with one condition.

Use mesh tape to cover the crack. For finishing you ll need primer and paint. Plaster repair is much.

In this video this old house general contractor tom silva explains how to repair a plaster ceiling. No matter what the cause you can repair the plaster cracks by using drywall tape and joint compound. If the plaster ceiling feels firmly attached to the lath then you can do the same repair as for the small cracks above.

To repair small cracks in plaster you ll need patching compound medium and fine grit sandpaper a sanding block a putty knife a masonry chisel a paintbrush a rag and a screwdriver. If when you push on the wall it flexes as though it has broken away from its support base call a plaster specialist the repair will involve removing the loose plaster and replacing it. This will allow the mud to bond directly to the plaster which will make the repair stronger.