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Repairing Plaster Ceilings

Dear Tom & Leslie,
I have a badly alligatored plaster ceiling that needs refinishing. I remember hearing about self levelling battens to take out any surface unevenness when I fix new sheetrock over the old plaster. It is not possible to reskim as the plaster has lost contact with the lath underneath. Any suggestions?
Richard P

Dear Richard,
I have never heard of "self-leveling battens" but I am familiar with the job of having to repair damaged plaster ceilings.

In my own home, I had to repair 2 inch sag in the middle of the living room ceiling before covering the whole thing with drywall.  To do this, I installed 1 x 3 firing strips on 24 inch centers across the entire ceiling.  Then, using cedar under course shingles, I shimmed between the firing strip and the old plaster to get the entire surface as level as possible.

The end result was a smooth surface upon which I was able to attach drywall, then spackle and paint.  Since drywall isn't very flexible, it was necessary to do all this to get the surface flat enough.  In your case, you might not have to.  If the old plaster is simply cracked and the frame of the ceiling isn't significantly sagged, then you can simply go over the old plaster without installing firing strips.

I hope this helps.  Thanks for writing.
Tom

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