[Lovegasoline]

UPDATE:

Contractor returned today and is attempting to repair the failed skim coat.

Workers scraped off the loose, de-bonded plaster/skim coat. In many areas they scraped off all the plaster down to what looks like the basecoat (rough grainy texture, darker grey color) as in these areas all the plaster (not merely the skim coat) was poorly bonded. Other areas, they scraped only superficially, removing the loose skim coat. In yet other areas the skim coat is intact and they are leaving it as is

They painted over the newly scraped areas with Plaster Weld. When that dried, they used Durabond and mesh sheet to patch all the scraped areas. [Edit: I wasn't at watching when work began: the contractor informed me he was using Structo-Lite...however, he looks like he changed his mind and used Durabond].

In another 'virgin' room, which has yet to receive skim coat of any type, they are applying Durabond directly to old painted walls that haven't been cleaned, dusted, or repainted in about 20 years. I'm little concerned that they didn't prep or even clean the walls first. Also, they are putting the Durabond on sorta heavy on the old painted wall areas where no scraping has taken place....these walls have lots of panel molding and picture molding. They intend to top the Durabond with Easysand. I'm concerned that with the difficulty of sanding the Durabond along with the thickness of application, that to get a flat plane the molding will be half buried/sunk in compound. On these areas, I'm wondering if they would do better to vacuum the wall and clean with TSP to prep and then just use a thin layer of Easysand?

For now it's wait and see how day two goes.

 

[trudy]

related question

Excuse me for piggybacking on your question.

I've moved into an old family home with what seems to be plaster(?) ceilings with a somewhat rough texture. Like sand was mixed into it and then it was applied in swirls.

I used to live in a house with real plaster ceilings with a flat surface, and would like to get that look here. I do all my home stuff myself, money being an object. I have never done plastering or drywall. The ceilings here are already quite low, so I don't want to layer something over them. From what I've read, real plastering and drywall compound require a lot of very messy sanding.

Some months ago I used spackle to fill in a hole where a plant hanger was removed from a ceiling here. 2-3 coats and it is now a flat surface with no cracking, about two square inches. In my old house some PO had put fake brick paneling on the bathroom (not near moisture) walls and it was under many coats of paint. I spackled over the indentations, got a flat surface, painted it, and it was fine years later.

You can see where this is going - can I spackle over the ceilings? Use TSP first? I found the spackle brand sold by the gallon on the web. I'm sure this has people clutching their heads Thanks.

 

[Tim0282]

You could buy drywall mud in a five gallon bucket and do the same. Or buy fast set mud in a bag. The sand finish swirl texture is real plaster. Just has silica sand in it for the look they were trying to achieve. The era it was popular.

 

[trudy]

Thanks, Tim. My impression is that drywall mud always has to be sanded? The sanding is what I was trying to avoid, because I gather it goes everywhere.

 

[carpentaper]

not to be an arse but......you are going to be doing a lot of sanding. seriously though, i don't know what people are so afraid of about a little dust. its nothing a shopvac can't take care off. you will have to remove everything from the room anyway and you should throw dropcloths or paper down to catch drips. poly off the doorways and your set. if you don't suck at skim coating it is possible to minimize dust but you can't avoid it using drywall compounds. if you are really brave you will skim your ceiling in plaster and then burnish instead of sanding. i'm not that brave though. good luck.

 

[trudy]

It's the homeowner, in particular Mrs. Homeowner, who has to clean up the dust, which gets into everything for rooms around, every tiny crevice from what I hear from multiple sources, requiring washing bedding, clothes, dusting every object, despite masking off the doorways. Not the guy who waves his shop vac around and says good enough and leaves

I seriously wonder if construction folk realize how many more jobs they'd get if they left a clean work site at the end.

Thanks for the input.

 

[silverstilts]

When ever you do any Patch & Match no matter how clean you are there is going to be some dust. Unless you wet sand which is not recommended unless it is a very small area or patch. People have great expectations as to how clean a job SHOULD BE, there is however a limit, If you expect the job to be spotless with so much as not a speck of dust to float onto something then you are living in a dream world. I suppose you could have an air filtration unit set up if you wanted to spend a lot of extra cash or If you are concerned about having a spotless home after this type of project maybe you should hire a professional cleaning service when completed. You can't make & bake bread without getting a little of the flour on the counter tops. It is just one of those things.

 

[miket]

Im a painter and nearly every job has cleaning. In residences i do a quick clean up at the end of every day, vacuum and sweep dust in the work area and between the work area and the front door, put everything away. Most good contractors do. I never end a job with crazy amount of compoound or construction dust left behind. Sometimes i clean once,the majority of the dust, leaving it almost clean or a little bit dirty, how the average house gets between cleanings, sometimes i clean two or three times till its totally spotless, depending on how much im gettting paid for the job and what the level of expectations are. Since i have to clean it i do create less i think. For sanding large skiim coats i use a vacuum sander that captures 90% of the dust and i plastic off doorways to contain the dust to the rooms im working in if im creating enough dust to travel around.

 

[FOR THOSE ABOUT]

It's the homeowner, in particular Mrs. Homeowner, who has to clean up the dust, which gets into everything for rooms around, every tiny crevice from what I hear from multiple sources, requiring washing bedding, clothes, dusting every object, despite masking off the doorways. Not the guy who waves his shop vac around and says good enough and leaves

I seriously wonder if construction folk realize how many more jobs they'd get if they left a clean work site at the end.

Thanks for the input.

Mrs. H/O ought to hire a professional service at the end if she is that critical. I did a job for a very critical woman, we had zipper doors and handmasker and tarps and dustless sanders...you name it, regardless of the precaustions which we took there were still areas where the dust gravitated. She scheduled for a cleaner upon our completion. People who have experience understand.

I think if you take yourself to a DIY site as opposed to lurking on a professional site for free advice you might find more sympathy.

 

[carpentaper]

I think if you take yourself to a DIY site as opposed to lurking on a professional site for free advice you might find more sympathy.[/quote]

what he said!!:thumbup:
but seriously. dust is just f**cking dust. is there dust on your furniture right now if you don't dust for a week? then after i do an immaculate job for someone with exceptional cleanup and protection one week goes by and there is a little dust on the counter all of a sudden we know who is to blame. it's true there are some donkeys who will do a sh!!ty job keeping a place clean. i also don't think most HO's have the experience to protect the jobsite properly thus adding to the dust paranoia people have

 

[DSJOHN]

Gentlemen,the only 100% fix in this situation is NU_WALL I,ve used this product for about 18 years and your building is exactly what it was invented for, Spech-Chem.com Find some one in your area familiar with it and get a price before you waste time and money again. DSJOHN

 

[Axecutioner-B]

Am i crazy for thinking putting new drywall over the cracked plaster ceiling is the best fix ?
________
Vanesshot

 

[royalmayur]

water damage repair

HI

i do agree with Miket....it would not adhere if you direct paint ...

thanks
water damage repair

 

[Mjaw]

Ok i realize this post is old and few will read this. 1st i would scrape all loose areas and shelac them then id shelac everything that was going to get touched with compound. Do lots of work in 100 125 year olds homes.