| Steven Breese |
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| #1 |
I am an experienced do-it-yourselfer, but have only assisted on one plaster job (a ceiling in a friend's house). I currently have a 100 year-old Victorian with an Entranceway/Hallway area that has been painted an re-painted/repaired many, many times. When I bought the house about 18 months ago, I was delighted how beautiful many of the plaster walls were - flat and smooth. Of course, the reason I am writing is, the Entranceway started peeling the minute I closed on the house and within a year 33% of the paint and repair material is peeling away in the Entranceway in huge pieces. I started scraping this weekend and now my once beautiful plaster walls are grossly irregular with various levels of paint and a few small holes. Normally, I would patch these areas with dry wall compound and paint a flat color and avoid side light. However, I have no idea why this paint came up and I don’t want to be scraping and painting again next year. I want to assure you that I have found NO evidence of water/moisture and the paint peeled from both interior and exterior walls. I have scraped with various tools, but I do not see any way that I can get all the layers of paint off these walls…what I mean is, I cannot get completely back down the original plaster. So here I am in Norfolk Virginia contemplating recovering these walls with thin dry wall, or…hopefully...finding a way to rescue the plaster. In looking at your product, you obviously have a ton of experience with problems like mine. What do you think, can I save the plaster? Help me if you can. --Steven |
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| Clarence Bauer |
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| #2 |
If your house was closed up with the heat and A/C turned down or off for an extended period of time this would cause the peeling problem.
Also if some one used sheet rock or a joint compound peeling would occur when the temperature was changed.
I am working a job at this date that is a carbon copy of your problem we have scraped all loose material patched all missing plaster and applied wide mesh 30 inches to cover the complete ceiling,
applying two coats of Master of Plaster base and will apply one coat of finish this produce is the only plaster product that I will use to repair Historical plaster.
I have repaired over 45 Historical buildings the newest building in this group 1841.
Most of the repairs were caused by water and / or moisture problems.
And also all had been repaired with JOINT COMPOUND that FAILED.
I love Joint compound some one uses $ 10.00 worth of it and I charge $1000.00 to fix the problem that it caused.
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| Mike@mop |
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| #3 |
Hi Steven,
Hank is right about the compound possibly causing the problem. The other thing you may want to look into is calcimine. The problems you describe are classic for paint over calcimine. Your house was built in the right time frame when calcimine was used extensively.If you go to our homepage at masterofplaster.com and click on helpful hints it will tell you all about calcimine including how to remove it. It really isn't difficult, just messy and time consuming. One thing I don't think I mention in the helpful hints is the best tool to use is a single edge razor blade and a good holder. A razor blade, lots of water and patience are all you need. Also, it's always better to work from a small staging rather than a ladder.
Hope this helps.
Mike
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| Seth |
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| #4 |
Steven -- I am an experienced DIYer with a perfectionist bent. I have a 100 yr. old house in which I have faced the very same problem. I concur that a wide, flat razor-type scraping blade is the most effective mechanical tool. I would also recommend Peel Away 7. I have had great success with it to remove the very kind of failed and uneven, multiple layer paint scenario that you describe. You have to experiment a bit with the amount of time to leave it on the surface, and in some cases you may have to apply two coats (typically not), and it is expensive, but I have found nothing better to get down to bare plaster. Applying skim coats over this kind of condition, or forms of fabric or wire with plaster or plaster-like compounds on top, scare me because they (1) are being applied on top of failed paint with poor bonding, and/or (2) they cause a loss of reveal where the plaster meets the trim. |
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