Peeling paint, plaster walls and calcimine...
SaintPFLA
14 years ago
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PROChristopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Unheated room with cracked plaster and peeling paint
Comments (7)My "unheated and closed-off rooms" are definitely not isolated, unused spaces. I sleep every night in one, for instance. Another is my back entrance hall (a sort of mud room, but this being a farm it is unusually large) which in warmer weather is always open to rest of the house, but in winter the connecting door is kept closed (and is tightly weatherstripped). Except for the many times each day we go through it on our way in or out of the house, or to go further on into the wood storage room (wood heated house so that's at least 10 times per day.) My sleeping room is on the second floor above heated rooms below, but the back entrance hall is directly over a dirt-floored crawl space (uninsulated and non-vapour-barriered) with a trap door in the floor opening directly to the open, stone-sided, well. Other closed-off rooms are intermittently opened (say before a party or before the holiday gatherings) but some stay mostly closed all winter (store rooms and my sewing room, for example). There are also other rooms, which without direct source of heat (no stove in the room) can get quite chilly but are not closed off by a door. In any case I don't really see any difference that I would ascribe to temperature variations among the spaces. Perhaps it's due to the age of my buildings, the plaster thickness (my walls are back-plastered twice within the wall behind the three-coat on wood lath interior finish), the complete lack of wall-cavity insulation, or the nature of my climate. I am always wary of blanket statements that purport to cover all old houses, in all areas of the US and of dissimilar age and construction. Peeling paint in old houses can be caused by the paint, especially if there is calcimine in one of the layers. Resolution is removing all the paint and starting over with a clean, dry, sealed surface. But before you do that, pay some attention to the cracks themsleves. For plaster cracks one of the best things to do, in my experience, is to take a pencil and draw a line several, or many, places straight across the crack and at the extreme ends of a crack. Write the date of the mark on the surface and observe for many months. Any rapid shift of the lines or extensions is worth paying close attention to. In my case every worrisome "new" crack has invariably turned out to be one that remains stable for years, and probably had been there for decades but never caught my eye before. It's very reassuring to directly observe no progression. One less thing to worry about in your old house. HTH, L...See MoreRemoving drywall from plaster without damaging plaster
Comments (22)Progress: And 1 inch of what may have been the original 1887 wallpaper. I like the green: I ended up using the circular saw to make grid cuts 12-18" apart. I used the multi tool to make cuts closer to the wall and corners where the circular saw couldn't clear. I tried different methods to pry the sections off; some were too narrow; some had too much flex. A 5" wide blade, hammered in and then pried down, did most of the work. Where the ceiling met the wall, I did a combination of breaking the paint and skim coat with a putty knife hammered upwards, and just cutting around with a multitool. There was only about a 1/8" thick bond to break through so it came away, thankfully, easily. I'd say it was altogether 10 hours in a 6 x 8 room to get this far--crazy! I definitely won't be doing the rest of the house. In most other rooms I plan to knock off the flecky balls and skim coat the ridged scallops, like Worthy suggests. In the double parlor, which has crown molding, I'll go through this routine. It's a great upper body workout! Some of the original ceiling is loose, so I'll be putting in some plaster washer anchors. You can also see where they poked holes to verify the location of studs. Those and the cracks will get fiberglass tape and patched. A little skimming, a little sanding, a little paint, and she'll be done. Of course, before all that, I'll do a thorough scrub down with tsp and water, then rinse, dry, and coat with benjamin moore calcimine recoater. Then plaster bonding agent to all the damaged places, and then fiberglass tape, patch/fill with durabond, knock down with a putty knife, then easy sand, then sanding, priming, and finally paint. What could be easier?!? Hope everybody else is having as much fun as I am this weekend! And yes, I'm saving a sample of the wallpaper for the house book....See MoreCracking , peeling paint on plaster molding
Comments (7)My guess is the same as Michael's: calcimine. It interferes with the paint bond of subsequent coats. Only sure cure is to get it off and then repaint. That can be easy or pure misery. It's one of (in)famous aspects of old house work. There are some proprietary removers but I have always used steam, and patience, lots of patience! Molly~...See MorePeeling plaster Faux finish
Comments (1)Hi Sam..., What a cool sounding project! Our store (not me!) did a big wall similiar to this idea, to look like old European walls. * Find a product called "Texture-stone" by Insul-x. * It normally comes in 2-gal. pails. * Surface needs to be clean & primed b4 putting this on!! * Use a grout-float/trowel to apply. * Build up different areas with additional coats, feathering some spots more than others, to resemble your "crumbling/peeling plaster". * When your "plaster" has the crumbly, uneven look you want, prime your applied texture-coats. * Then, pick a "main color" of your new surface...dull gray, etc.. * NOW, the REALLY decorative part!! Use a few mossy-greens mixed with glaze to give the appearance of moss. Sponge this on, letting each color dry a while. Choose "accent" areas where you want it "mossier"!! Have fun! Faron...See More
izzie
14 years agoSaintPFLA
14 years agopaintguy22
14 years agosombreuil_mongrel
14 years agoSaintPFLA
14 years ago- PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
14 years ago SaintPFLA
14 years ago- PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
14 years ago SaintPFLA
14 years agoSaintPFLA
14 years ago- PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
14 years ago SaintPFLA
14 years ago- PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
14 years ago
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