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Plastering & Rendering

Re-plastering old ceilings

Anonymous user 09/03/2024 - 2.45 PM

Quick question - I would be very grateful. We are in the process of renovating our new flat that was covered by lining paper. The flat must be over 110 years old. When the lining paper came off there were cracks on the ceiling that were fixed with filler. There were no obvious area where the plaster came off. As there were bumps and imperfections on the ceiling we were advised to replaster and paint. There were no obvious areas where the original plaster had come off. I have been doing a bit more reading and it seems that replastering over plaster and lath is a no no and that the ceiling should have been boarded first. When I brought this up I was told that this was not necessarily the case. I was reassured that the new plaster wouldn't fall off but he said cracks may appear. But he also said that this would be the case even if he over-boarded. What does this sound to you? To me it sounds a bit iffy....

Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?

4 Answers

Anonymous user

From my experience there shouldn't be any cracks on your ceiling after plastering correctly. If the property is that old it is more than worth it to plaster whole ceiling leaving it smooth, shiny & ready for paint.

Answered8 December 2016

Empirical Plastering

Rating: 5 out of 5

Cardiff

You can re-plaster or re-skim over lath and plaster and is a common thing to do, but before plastering- skrim tape should be put over existing cracks to avoid cracks coming through on the final finished coat. A more common thing now is to buy large metre wide rolls of skrim tape usually used for rendering on outside jobs, plastered onto the lath ceiling to guarantee a crack free finish.

Answered29 December 2016

Plastering and Painting Specialist

Rating: 5 out of 5

Ashford, Kent

You can certainly plaster over larth and plaster ceilings. they are known for having cracks over them. The plasterer should use a scrim tape over the cracks he can see then skim as normal. Just because its been plastered doesnt mean it wont crack again in a different area that wasnt cracked before and scrim taped. If you want to be 100% confident of no cracks re-appearing then i would suggest an over board or a pull down and reboard. Hope this helps PPS

Answered10 January 2017

Anonymous user

If it was my job I'd remove the old and replace with new board and plaster is a messy job but over boarding larf or plastering over just adds more weight which causes problems.

Answered8 December 2016