1930's plaster ceiling repair

Marjorie Ervin
by Marjorie Ervin
I have lots of plaster down from my living room ceiling with exposed scratch. I thought I might cover the ceiling with bead board and some nice moldings. I am unsure what I should use to attach it to the ceiling, though. It's tricky to hang things on this hard, crumbly stuff and I don't want to glue! Suggestions?
  6 answers
  • Adrianne C Adrianne C on Sep 16, 2014
    The trick is to find the rafters to attach the screws or nails to, but I have used paneling on ceilings before and it comes out nice!
  • the trick is going to be having a flat surface so that the ceiling or new beadboard lays flat. if you have plaster in the ceilings and walls then you have lathes in the wall and you cannot just drive nails or screws in without crumbling more plaster. You need to frame out the ceiling with 1x2 strips and attach to the ceiling with glue and if you know where the ceiling joists are then you drill pilot holes and drive screws in to hold the boards. you need a solid flat base otherwise the beadboard will warp and the ceiling will look like a hot mess. when framing out the ceiling you will make sure to put lathe strips so that the beadboard can be attached with brads or finish nails and glue. hope this helps. youtube this too becaue there is probably someone who did this
  • If your going to cover the ceiling you should consider using a metal ceiling system. This will keep the house in its period shape as bead board is really used on ceilings in porches. Also it will not look good where the panels that meet on the ends as they will never match up. Here is a link to one of many suppliers besides the home centers that sell these kits. http://www.metalceilingexpress.com/ On another note, nice airport in Pottstown. Fly into in quite often.
  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Sep 17, 2014
    Close your eyes and pretend it is not there? I just hate it when we are faced with a problem we know nothing about and know for sure that whatever we do will only make it worse! I know absolutely nothing about plaster...I just wanted to let you know I sympathize! Good luck. Post before and after pictures...and details. There are lots of people out there who are redoing older houses and will appreciate any information they can. On this problem, I would have to call in a professional!
  • Marion Nesbitt Marion Nesbitt on Sep 19, 2014
    Wouldn't use beadboard. Will look like a cheap cover-up. It will be more work trying to make the ceiling look good than it will to bash out all the deteriorated plaster, and remove the lathe. Then drywall. It will likely be cheaper than a metal ceiling system and less tricky to install. Can nail the lathes along the beams to get desired thickness if necessary, or add moulding around the circumference to cover gap. Have been there and done that in my 1910 home.
  • Marion has another good suggestion, but to keep the mess down, the contractor can screw new wood lath boards directly onto the old ceiling and then drywall right over everything. This is faster and cleaner then tearing down everything. Also old plaster may contain asbestos, yes its in that stuff also. So you want to do this as safely as you can.