To Do List
Front Bedroom Ceiling
Critical problem here is that the ceiling above the door has cracked,
with parts dropping down more than one inch, with some likelihood that
a sizable chunk (say, two feet square) will break loose and fall down.
I don't know what the material is, but it's probably
lath and plaster. (The walls are definitely lath and plaster.)
Most likely, the the plaster will fall, leaving the lath intact.
Above the lath is loose insulation, which we've covered up with 3/4"
plywood sheet (screwed down, so wouldn't be hard to pick up a piece).
The room measures 10 feet E-W, 14 feet N-S, with the entry door
in the S wall near the W corner, and a closet door in the W wall,
about one foot from the S corner. There are two large windows: one
in N wall, one in E wall. There is an attached bookcase covering
the W wall from the N corner to the closet door, from floor to one
inch below ceiling. There is another attached bookcase on the W
wall, N of the window. And there are two standalone bookcases, one
on the N wall to the E corner, and one on the E wall to the S corner.
Freestanding, there is a desk on the S wall, and a futon/bed in the
NW corner. There is an overhead light fixture, which takes three
small halogen lamps, and is on a 5-position dimmer, located between
the doors.
The current ceiling has thick popcorn, which we'd be happy to see
gone. I'm also inclined to replace the light fixture with a brighter
LED fixture, which probably means replacing the dimmer as well.
As I see it, there are three possible repairs:
Remove the old ceiling (or just the plaster from the lath?),
and replace it with plasterboard, which can then be painted. This
seems like the "right" solution, providing a clean, paintable surface.
However, it would be expensive and messy, producing a lot of tear out,
and is well beyond my capability (making it even more expensive), aside
from the painting.
This would require a contractor. I don't have one in mind, so that
will take some time. If I did hire a contractor, I'd probably add some
extra work to the order, like removing wallpaper and preparing the walls
to be painted. Install furring strips (1x3), running N-S and screwed into the
joists (which run E-W, so we just have to locate them). The damaged
area could be cut back and patched, but the patch would be relatively
minor and easy, as it wouldn't have to match the rest of the ceiling.
(The popcorn wouldn't have to be scraped either, except perhaps where
the furring is fixed.) Then install ceiling tiles, stapled and/or
glued to the furring strips. This would lower the ceiling by 1-1.5
inches, depending on the thickness of the ceiling tiles. That would
butt up against the top board of the attached bookshelf, rather than
extend to the wall (as the current ceiling does).
I could probably do this myself, although a second person would be
a big help. I suppose I could use a contractor for this, as well as
the extra work above. Or I could just do an ugly temporary patch. For instance, I
already have a 2x4-foot piece of 1/4-inch plywood, which would more
than cover the damaged area. I could just screw it into place, and
be done with it.
Or one could attempt to do a somewhat prettier patch, possibly by
removing the damaged plaster, and refilling it with some kind of
compound (assuming there is something suitably liglhtweight). This
will require more research, and possibly some experimentation to
see how decent it might look. Here's a
video, and
another, and
another.
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