# Fixing Plaster



## tricounty dwall (Apr 29, 2010)

WHat is the easiest way to fix plaster walls. Im about to do a jo and the downstairs was gutted and gets new sheetrock. But the upstairs is plaster and cracked everywhere. Its historic so they wont tear it out, and they want my thoughts on fixing it.


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## Checkers (Jun 25, 2010)

Skim the entire wall in either Vario or Hamilton's Ultra-Fill.

The only other ways are to tape each crack (Holy Sh!t Thats A Lot Of Effing Work.)
Or staple 48" wide EIFS mesh to the entire wall and then skim it with hot mud.
*There you go mesh haters, how would YOU fix a plaster wall with hundreds of cracks?*


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## chris (Apr 13, 2011)

probably rock over it,dont hate mesh ..that is alot of cracks


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

I don't recommend using the ultra-fill to skim directly over cracks because..........it cracks. I missed taping a butt joint once (caught it before final:thumbsup and it was cracked without the glass. And from what I understand of the vario, you'll still need to v-cut every crack and then remove all dust & debris from the cracks....you're better off to cut out the cracks and glass tape them, then use whatever set-mud you like (we add adhesive too)....depending on the job, we'll also prime with an oil-base before applying any mud to keep the paint/plaster edges from being affected by the water in the mud. 

Here's what I've learned after doing a lot of plaster cracks: You really want to work the mud into the crack (ever tried to pull a chunk of concrete out of a slab? it really holds on...). Then, you want to reinforce the area over the crack and be sure to apply enough mud over your tape (whatever f*&%ing kind you want) to really lock it down. Then skim the entire surface for a nice finish.

I did a 12x12 lid the other day, probably 40-50 cracks and they didn't want to pull it down (even though the lath was loose). V-cut all cracks, coat with oil base, and put mesh on cracks. Mixed a bucket of 90 minute with a full 8 oz. of adhesive. Skimmed the entire ceiling, making sure to work mud into cracks as I went. 90 minutes later scraped high spots and gave a quick burnish to level it off. Skimmed again with light topping. When dry, sanded it, checked it with halogen...voila....smooth ceiling. 

Total time invested:


1 hour to cut cracks
20 minutes to prime with oil base
10 minutes to glass tape
1/2-3/4 hour to hot mud
1/2 hour to skim
1/4 hour to sand well
5 minutes to check with light.
Total time: less than 3 hours
materials needed: 1 roll mesh , 1 gallon oil base primer, 1 sack 90 minute, adhesive, 1 box topping = ~ $40.00
You could speed up the crack process with a multi-master with a diamond blade on it, or a carbide score (didn't have either at the time). Also, fiba-fuse makes that stuff in 36" (?) rolls I think.....you might be able to skip the cut-out with that stuff but I don't know as I would take the chance. 

Why don't people ever want to spend the money to fix something right...ie tear it down and start over? Oooooh.... I know, it's the vermiculite that cascades down on your head like snow in Canada.

Holy crap...why can't I..........stop...........typing?!


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

I know you'll never say,, But I'll ask anyway. What's your additive/adhesive ?:shifty:


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

I would go get the fibafuse in the wide roll, Thats made for fixing up walls like this, Apply mud to wall, Put the fibafuse sheets on and trowel away, This would cover the cracks and give some strength to the walls again. Ok it may crack agian if the old stuffs too weak but this would the best way, you could always double up and go two layers for more strength, And look, Im a mesh hater and i didnt resort to that rubbish. Why bother with mesh, Fuse would be 1000x better :yes: Problem solved :thumbsup: 

http://www.sg-adfors.com/Brands/FibaFuse/FibaFusePaperlessWallReinforcement/SellSheets/English


http://www.sg-adfors.com/Brands/FibaFuse


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## tricounty dwall (Apr 29, 2010)

ty guys.. i think the wide mesh would be best.. because it looks like spiderwebs


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

moore said:


> I know you'll never say,, But I'll ask anyway. What's your additive/adhesive ?:shifty:


It's no secret, I use Super-bond most of the time, because it's sitting right there in the supply house (but they're proud of it). You can use concrete adhesive too....hell, any PVA type product will do :thumbsup:


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

You could plaster it the best you could then wallapaper it with heavy paper to add strength, Or Fibafuse wide roll mud it, Then get some lining wallpaper and paper it, Or doube fuse it and skim it up the best you can, Thats prob what i would try, Many ways to sort this problem Tricounty, Easy too, Depends on how much they want to spend of course.


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

cazna said:


> I would go get the fibafuse in the wide roll, Thats made for fixing up walls like this, Apply mud to wall, Put the fibafuse sheets on and trowel away, This would cover the cracks and give some strength to the walls again. Ok it may crack agian if the old stuffs too weak but this would the best way, you could always double up and go two layers for more strength, And look, Im a mesh hater and i didnt resort to that rubbish. Why bother with mesh, Fuse would be 1000x better :yes: Problem solved :thumbsup:
> 
> http://www.sg-adfors.com/Brands/FibaFuse/FibaFusePaperlessWallReinforcement/SellSheets/English
> 
> ...


I'll bet two layers of that stuff would be the BOMB. And bombproof......


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

SlimPickins said:


> I'll bet two layers of that stuff would be the BOMB. And bombproof......


Easy huh slim, If anyone hasnt seen or used fuse, The mud goes through it, Like fiberglass matting, And oh so strong, If you could team it up with this weird vario stuff, now that might be something :yes:


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

cazna said:


> Easy huh slim, If anyone hasnt seen or used fuse, The mud goes through it, Like fiberglass matting, And oh so strong, If you could team it up with this weird vario stuff, now that might be something :yes:


So...have you tried to tear it apart after mud yet? I still have yet to run any tests on it. Now I'm going to have to ask the supply house to get the big rolls of fuse in....they brought in the regular rolls at my request and sold it out in 2 days...now it's a steady item:thumbsup: Now if they only start carrying the vario


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## tricounty dwall (Apr 29, 2010)

its about 200 sq ft of floor space.. walls only. the ceilings are wood.. My buddy is there estiimator and said he put 3600 in the budget. Where would i find the wide mesh?


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## msd (Apr 10, 2011)

try a roll of dryvit screen. roll on a coat of plaster weld then embed screen in plaster then skim smooth.


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

Just to add some points

Those little bottle openers that punch a "V" in the top of a can work good for vee-ing out of the cracks. Just "v" out the major ones. Then I would prefill them with durabond. Durabond is very strong stuff and easy to find to buy. Then coat/load with the sheet rock hotmud, what ever type your comfortable with, 90, 45, easy sand etc..... you could skim with AP or hotmud, up to you.

Now what might shock some on this site, but this is where I would use mesh tape. If a crack was really bad, and I thought it might crack down the road, then I would use paper tape on those ones, reasons why I would use mesh

The house has already settled, meaning there's a very low chance of things cracking again or moving again

The mesh will sit tighter to the wall, making it more easy to conceal.

It would be faster to apply the mesh since it's a peel and stick

Your going to be coating/loading the whole wall so......

Also, in the corners I personally would still use paper tape. Most of the battles on here are about using mesh in place of paper, for doing a job that's called ...... TAPING..... what your doing is patching really

Also, you could mix plaster of paris with with the mud to pre-fill with too, that may be over board, but it's tough as nails, and would hold the cracks well


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## Capt-sheetrock (Dec 11, 2009)

tricounty dwall;35239. Where would i find the wide mesh?[/QUOTE said:


> In the toilet paper isle!!!!!
> 
> Sorry I couldn't help myself,,,,LOL,,, I don't have a dawg in this hunt, as I'd hire DsJohn to fix it for me,,,,
> 
> I know,,, I'll go back to my room now


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

2buckcanuck said:


> Just to add some points
> 
> Those little bottle openers that punch a "V" in the top of a can work good for vee-ing out of the cracks. Just "v" out the major ones. Then I would prefill them with durabond. Durabond is very strong stuff and easy to find to buy. Then coat/load with the sheet rock hotmud, what ever type your comfortable with, 90, 45, easy sand etc..... you could skim with AP or hotmud, up to you.
> 
> ...


FTD will be all over this post..:yes:


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

moore said:


> FTD will be all over this post..:yes:


Let him, even those who said they opposed mesh, would use it on a patch job or small repair. That's all plaster repairs are, their one big patch job.

But there's a huge difference from a house that has sat for 50 to 100 years, as opposed to a new one, and there's too different forms of art at play here. Patching and taping. Plus the walls he's working on are plaster, not drywall, so...... When the art of taping is involved and it's a new house and it's a normal drywall job, I'm doing it the right way.

His kindergarten arguments will not educate me


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## tricounty dwall (Apr 29, 2010)

or where can i find fuse?


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

tricounty dwall said:


> or where can i find fuse?


I can't find the big Fiba-fuse, but I found this....

http://www.all-wall.com/Categories/Fiberglass-Mesh-Drywall-Tape/FibaTape-Wall-Repair-Fabric


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

SlimPickins said:


> So...have you tried to tear it apart after mud yet? I still have yet to run any tests on it. Now I'm going to have to ask the supply house to get the big rolls of fuse in....they brought in the regular rolls at my request and sold it out in 2 days...now it's a steady item:thumbsup: Now if they only start carrying the vario


Yes i have,When i got my first roll i took some board off cuts and taped them together on the floor and let them dry, Then tore them apart and stressed them everyway i could, It beat paper hands down. Then i figured it was worth a go on the walls, Never had any problems and i have fixed a few with the fuse, Even some hairline cracks in a ceiling of a new place i did, the paper cracked, then all i could do is fuse over it, It worked. It makes mesh tape look even more silly than it is, I still wouldnt touch mesh, Whats the point??? None!!!!!


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

i've fixed some really bad walls by just taping all the cracks with taping mud and fibafuse with my banjo. it was kind of labour intensive but i haven't heard back yet. i also v'd out the worst ones and prefilled with confill, which i'm beginning to suspect is the same as ultrafill.


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## fenez (Nov 30, 2009)

FWIW.. I do at least 2 plaster jobs a month and never had a problem with using mesh and plaster.


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

are you talking plaster repairs or new walls?


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## Final touch drywall (Mar 30, 2010)

2buckcanuck said:


> Let him,
> 
> His kindergarten arguments will not educate me


I'll be the adult here & ignore that comment.:yes:


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

Final touch drywall said:


> I'll be the adult here & ignore that comment.:yes:


:huh: 

*ig·nore/igˈnôr/Verb*

1. Refuse to take notice of or acknowledge; disregard intentionally: "he *ignored* her question".

*:innocent:
*


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## 2buckcanuck (Jul 9, 2010)

Final touch drywall said:


> I'll be the adult here & ignore that comment.:yes:


aahhh, come FTD, didn't you get a little bit of a rise out of that comment.:whistling2: I've been waiting for 3 or 4 days for your come back line:yes:

You can do better than that


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## DETROIT ROCK (May 27, 2011)

If your going to use drywall mud this is a good way to fix hole room.
Scrape bumps open up cracks maybe sand the wall with some 60 grit.
Do some pre fill then tape almost all the cracks. Note i never used mesh tape in 28yr.
If the angle is like a turd i have used straight felx but you might have to run it 
wider then normal.
Instead of trying skim the whole wall at once try this.
Run your angle leave six inch space from wet angle mud and run 10 or 12 inch ceiling to floor like stand up joint. Leaving six inches between your work. 
Then when that is set or dry run ceiling to floor the six inch area with no mud . 
That would be like bed coat you can go around the room again like this or skim coat tight and sand. Sweep dust off wall look for fish eyes and imperfections and spot out.


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## justadrywallguy (Sep 10, 2010)

msd said:


> try a roll of dryvit screen. roll on a coat of plaster weld then embed screen in plaster then skim smooth.


That is the ticket, I use eifs wall mesh all the time to repair heavily cracked walls. Works like a charm


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## rhardman (Jul 7, 2009)

I used screen door screen over 2 inch wood paneling one time and on bad plaster walls too. Bonding agent first (Elmers Glue) then applied the screen and let it dry. Next day skimmed it out with hot mud first coat and it was like a new wall. Even the wood never cracked.

Larger mesh would have been better. EIFS wasn't readily available at the time...:wheelchair:


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

carpentaper said:


> i've fixed some really bad walls by just taping all the cracks with taping mud and fibafuse with my banjo. it was kind of labour intensive but i haven't heard back yet. i also v'd out the worst ones and prefilled with confill, which i'm beginning to suspect is the same as ultrafill.


Does the confill have styrofoam beads in it? I think they're similar in that they both have fiberglass shards. For some reason I've been getting a lot of work lately where people want me to throw ultra-fill in texture mud....it's sort of like a neo-sand finish. And, it's tricky to work with....:whistling2:


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## carpentaper (Feb 28, 2009)

i don't know what the other particles are in it. but it is the best stuff for any large building up in my opinion. could be styrofoam beads. by beads you mean smaller than a mm in diameter not big chunky styrofoam like in popcorn texture right? it definately has some sort of lightweight aggregate in it .


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## SlimPickins (Aug 10, 2010)

carpentaper said:


> i don't know what the other particles are in it. but it is the best stuff for any large building up in my opinion. could be styrofoam beads. by beads you mean smaller than a mm in diameter not big chunky styrofoam like in popcorn texture right? it definately has some sort of lightweight aggregate in it .


Exactly, it sounds the same. It used to be called Foam-Coat, but I think that stuff was toxic or something...or (after a quick google search) there was another product used for coating styrofoam:whistling2: Ultra-fill behaves a little different than Foam coat when burnishing....foam coat turned brownish, like roasted toffee


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