Start of plastering
The goal for this round of repairs is to secure the loose plaster and patch the cracks in the walls and eaves. I end up trying both techniques I learned from the plasterer in New Jersey and from the instructions for Wally’s Plaster Magic. Before I took the plastering lesson, I was originally thinking I’d do everything with Wally’s Plaster Magic. I liked the approach of saving plaster, but I was a little unsure about the final step of using joint compound for covering all of the repairs. The entire allure of plaster is the beautiful hard finish and to use joint compound seemed like a cop out. But the instructions to secure the plaster seemed interesting so I tried both approaches.
I start off by applying Gardz on all of the remaining latex paint and the blotches of calcimine I couldn’t remove. Some of the latex is on a batch of very textured plaster. With all of the irregularities it seems impossible to easily scrape off, so I just coat the entire thing in Garz and hope for the best.
After the Gardz is done, I go with Wally’s approach which starts with drilling holes in the plaster to locate lath, spraying conditioner in the hole, and then squirting adhesive into the holes. Finally, a screw with plastic plaster wash is drilled in to secure the plaster. Wally’s approach is to remove the washers after the adhesive dries.
Applying the conditioner and adhesive is a bit of a mess where it seems like only 10% of the material goes in the hole and the rest squirts out down the wall. Once I start applying the washers, I find that I soon run out since there were only 25 in the kit.
At this point I go to the method described by the plasterer which is basically just using drywall screws with metal plaster washers, but leaving them intact instead of removing.
I ran out of plastic washers by this point.
The washers go in more or less OK, but strangely some seem to have more bite than others. Some I can get the wash really flat, but others the screw initially grabs and then spins not allowing further tightening. Not sure if this a bad thing since it looks like I grabbed some lath because I can see the plaster pull back towards the wall.
Horsehair in the plaster.
One part of the wall near the window has a very damaged section that includes a temporary patch I applied last spring. I knock all this out and go back to the wood lath. Wally’s has a patching plaster that I mix up to patch that hole and then I scratch it up for a future 2nd layer. Most of the plaster in this area seems very spongy which makes me nervous that doesn’t have much longer to last. Hopefully the washers will shore it up for a few more years.
The plasterer recommended using Durabond 90 to cover up cracks, so I mix up a bucket of that and then go to patching all of the cracks. The problem comes with trying to cover up the washers which seem a lot more raised than the nearby plaster. I build up some Durabond around the washers hoping the plaster skim coat will eventually cover them.
Durabond on the cracks and Wally’s patching plaster on the hole.
After all of the cracks are covered, I use a wet sponge to try and knock down any of the rough edges. Next weekend I will apply the plaster skim coats.
