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weight of plaster or drywall compound

18 years ago

Which is lighter in weight: plaster of paris or drywall compound? I ask this because I need to know which one to put on my ceiling.

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Comments (7)

kudzu9
18 years ago
I think you're asking the wrong question. What is the existing ceiling made of?
kudzu9
18 years ago
I think you're asking the wrong question. The answer of what to use depends on what the existing ceiling is made of.
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It could be that the wire (expanded metal) was only a corner reinforcement. I usually pull the rest of it out if that was the case, it is just a source of trouble going forward. It's possible that they wire-lathed the whole ceiling, but it's not likely. For patches like this I spray bonding agent (Link or Plasterweld & other brands) Wipe off any drips of Link, they are hard to get rid of when dry. Then use a setting-type drywall compound (aka Hot Mud; Durabond 90-minute or 45-minute set time) Which dries faster and with less shrinkage than mud that simply sets by evaporation. Don't try to fill deep/wide gaps in one shot. Once you have the surface filled level, use a wide fiberglass repair tape over the repair zone, and then you can skimcoat with normal green-lid mud after bedding the mesh in the Durabond. Hot mud cures very hard, it has some Plaster of Paris in it, so it is very hard to sand, but ridges can be scraped off. The bonding agent really does the trick here. I have some drywall/plaster ceiling joints that have not re-cracked over ten years. FWIW, Link is close to the same stuff as white elmers glue, a PVA adhesive. Casey
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If you still have the wood lathe to fill the hole and just need plaster, you can use plaster of paris (most like your old plaster), or something like versabond drywall compound to fill the areas. The old plaster is probably fairly thick, so you could also screw or glue in some 1/4" or 1/2" drywall first to fill the void, and then use plaster or drywall compound on top of it to completely fill in the area. Plaster of paris will dry very hard, so gradually layer it in to minimize the need for sanding. This is one case where a little is better than a lot, because you can always add more layers. You can use drywall tape on the edges where it meets the old plaster, but may want to score the old plaster so that you can embed the tape a little. Plaster of paris also has a very short working time (about 10 minutes), so don't mix up too much at a time. Drywall compound will probably match almost as well as plaster of paris, and its available in mixes that are easier to work with (20 minute set time, several hour set time, etc.). Bruce
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mindyb
Original Author
18 years ago
Ok. The existing ceiling is a hodgepodge. There's original horsehair plaster, covered with popcorn drywall compound that I'm scraping off.

One of the ceilings has masking paper in between the popcorn and the horsehair plaster.

The horsehair is starting to crumble in some places. I'd like to repair it if I can. Plaster of paris will work, right? That's all I saw at Home Depot.
kudzu9
18 years ago
Mindy-
That sounds like a tough one. If it were me, I'd think seriously about sheetrocking the whole thing. It actually sounds like less work than repairing the hodgepodge. Without seeing the horsehair plaster and whether it's too far gone, it's hard to give advice, but plaster should stick to it...joint compound is not meant to be used to fill in holes as it will crack in large quantities. One more thing, however, and this is important: old popcorn ceilings often contained asbestos, and you should not be scraping these or vacuuming the mess (it spreads the microscopic fibres around) without first getting an inexpensive test done on a sample at a testing lab to see if whether it contains asbestos. This could be a serious health hazard.
sycamore_guy
18 years ago
There is a very informative thread on plaster repair on the Homer Repair forum.

Do NOT use plaster of paris. It hardens too quickly for most people to get it smooth and it is too hard to sand after hardening.

Here is a link that might be useful: Calling all plaster wall repair experts!
sycamore_guy
18 years ago
Kudzu is exactly right that you should consider the risk of asbestos before proceeding. See the link below.

I would suggest you try patching before installing drywall. Plaster ceilings are part of the charm of an older home and are generally superior to drywall.

Here is a link that might be useful: Asbestos and popcorn ceilings
sycamore_guy
18 years ago
Kudzu is exactly right that you should consider the risk of asbestos before proceeding. See the link below.

I would suggest you try patching before installing drywall. Plaster ceilings are part of the charm of an older home and are generally superior to drywall.

Here is a link that might be useful: Asbestos and popcorn ceilings

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