We were also have a problem with mold growing on the shower ceiling (although our home has drywall board), because the builder left it primer (waterbased)-not suitable for wet areas. I am glad we are pretty good DIYers too, home repairs don't come cheap! As far as the "grit" part for the swirl, try asking at the home improvement store if there is a joint/plaster compound that has a fungicide in it or if there is a seperate product that you could add to it. The people @ our HOME DEPOT are GREAT and sometimes smaller hardware/paint stores are VERY knowledgable. Also, you may be able to use one of the Specialty Plasters they have out now for faux finishes(most are in gallon paint size cans-in or near the paint dept). If your finish has sandy texture you can buy a fine sand additive as well or it may already be in the specialty plaster. Depending on the type of finish it is you may want to rent a texture sprayer, which can get very messy but it may be easier to get even coverage, then do the swirling by hand(or redo the whole ceiling-HA HA). Well, thats all I can advise for that part -but once you get that problem solved-BE SURE to use a very good primer. Make sure it is for wet areas -like KILZ OR ZINSSER, at least 2 coats, I prefer the later-WARNING! THIS STUFF IS TOXIC AND YOU NEED VENTALATION! IF YOU HAVE CHILDERN OR ELDERLY I WOULD NOT USE WHILE THEY ARE IN THE HOME! Then use a KITCHEN / BATH ROOM PAINT WITH A FUNGICIDE (minimum two coats)-BEHR PAINT HAS A VERY GOOD ONE-it comes in a sateen finish which is has a very slight gloss-but the gloss is part of the protection against mold. I would not use a flat paint, eggshell or ceiling paint-I don't care what the can says -these paints don't stand up to the demands of a bathroom. You probably already know this but just in case some else is having a problem with mold as well - be sure to wipe the area with a strong bleach and water solution to kill any and all mold, then allow surface to DRY THROUGHLY before starting any painting or repairs. Good Luck!! Sara

Maybe I'm missing something, but to me, the area in your photos looks more like an attic than a dining room. Whatever. One cheap way of patching damaged old-house plaster ceilings is to cover them with drywall. Old house lovers cringe when they see that done, with good reason. Usually the house deserves better. (I say "usually" because in houses old often means well built, but not always. I've run across a few old houses that were thoroughly undistinguished -- just old.) Before you tear down that drywall, you may want to contact a professional plasterer (if you can find one locally) and pay him or her look at the situation, to get an idea of what you might be in for. As for knob and tube wiring, don't automatically be afraid of it if you find it in a ceiling. If it's been properly maintained (no oversize light bulbs, not buried in insulation), it's often still reasonably safe for lighting circuits. Still it's best to replace it when you can, certainly if you have the ceiling open for other reasons. That's in part because age and air pollution have not been kind to the rubber that insulates it.

> Old home built just after WW2 I've never lived in an old house with plaster walls and ceilings that didn't have cracks. They might not have been immediately visible when I moved in, but they were there all right, hidden under a layer of spackle or plaster patch. My guess is that your swirl texture is a recent addition, and that your crack was there and was patched before the texture was applied. Plaster cracks are a fact of life in an old house. You patch them when you paint. Sometimes they return. Sometimes they'd don't. It depends on whether that part of the house is still feeling restless, or has settled into its bed for a nice long snooze. :) You can demolish all the old plaster and replace it with drywall. Then you won't have plaster cracks any more. Unfortunately, you also won't have plaster any more.

What primer did you use before adding the drywall mud? About the only primer that will stop old water stains from bleeding thru is shellac. Zinsser's Bin primer; the one in the red can is a pigmented shellac. If you used any primer other than shellac, the discoloration is almost certainly because the old stain has leached through the primer and the mud.