# Plaster ceiling and drywall



## Termite (Apr 13, 2008)

Welcome to DIY Chatroom.

Wow, that really is bad news! I hope that you've filed a claim with the roofer's liability insurance company, because they're certainly liable for the damages, and should be hiring a professional plasterer to repair everything that went wrong. Photo-document everything that you can about the damage.

You might consider building up the gap in the living room with a layer of 1/4" sheetrock. That might make feathering out the difference a little easier and would probably make the difference less noticeable.


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## Big Bob (Jul 27, 2007)

The fix to your mismatched ceiling is not an easy DIY project. The talent and skill required to blend this takes time and practice to acquire. 

With the information you have posted you should be in contact with whoever is paying for the restoration. Roofer or / If his liability carrier settled with you then the contractor you hired to perform the repairs properly. Legally the above owe you for Actual Cash value. The replacement cost less depreciation.

You could have contacted your insurance carrier...yes, you would be responsible for the deductible, but other provisional benefits to you might apply. Code required up-grades and replacement cost coverage.

You could have sued Roofer for your deductible, if your carrier did not subrogate and recover the deductible for you.

What is your contractor telling you about the problem? 

An (outside the box solution) might be to add a false beam at the poor tie-in. This would fool the eye and allow minor texture difference possibly to go unnoticed.


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## desrtrat (Aug 29, 2008)

Hi,
Thank you for your replies. We are considering contacting the GC's insurance (GC has a roofing branch). The GC has not turned this into his insurance and is appearing to make some effort in repairing the damage (by his contract he has a 60 days). 
He has provided the drywall workers but we are very discouraged by how the job is progressing. We're close to the 40 day mark now and while frustrated by the slow progress and appearant low priority to GC, we are most concerned about the finished repair.
Yesterday the drywall finisher put 2 bags of mud into the 10 foot seem - at one time. He built up the lower drywall almost .5 inches with the mud and has feathered this out across 4'.
I'm concerned the mud will crack, etc in the future.


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## Termite (Apr 13, 2008)

This isn't the time to play nice guy. The GC is providing you a hack repair job on a slow schedule instead of making it a priority. Time to contact his insurance and file a claim. It might be a good idea to call your insurance as well. They might have the ability or willingness to advocate for you in dealing with the GC's insurance.


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## desrtrat (Aug 29, 2008)

That is pretty much how I am feeling. -I've posted some pics.


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## Big Bob (Jul 27, 2007)

This type of restoration can look awful during the process. The mud build out is typical in this type of restoration and should not crack if applied properly. 
Call the GC and advise, " to my surprise,the family is arriving on (so and so date) to celebrate old uncle Joe's 94th birthday...sadly it might be his last... is there anything they can do to speed things up..without sacrificing quality?"

The next time the mud finisher comes ...give them lot's of cola and make them a great lunch. They are near the end of their part of this...word will spread to the paint crew and they will rush to your place to get the goodies. Cola and cookies for painters on 1st day...No cookies the 2nd day...

I typically advise my clients to never feed the crew. They can be like lost puppies...start feeding them and they never leave. 


LOL.. I arrived on the job site of a 3 day project on the 5th day. I need to find out why this is taking so long.. I arrived at what should have been a little after lunch to find the crew seated at the home owners (a very nice older widow lady) dinning room table with what looked like Christmas dinner..hmmmm...

By handling this problem in house your GC/Roofer is trying to keep his loss/run ratio down.. and save on future insurance premiums.

Let us know how this project goes.. I hope well.


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## desrtrat (Aug 29, 2008)

I always thought the mud should be applied in several layers - should I be concerned about the mud (USG easy sand 45) going up in such a thick coating?


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## Big Bob (Jul 27, 2007)

Cross post thing going on here.

KCtermite, I find myself agreeing with you 110% of the time. I respect and appreciate the great input and problem solving you provide.:thumbsup:

, but you have a book of red tags that can stop things in their tracks.

The rest of the world has sugar and vinegar..

If you want the ants to move fast... use sugar 1st.:yes:


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## Big Bob (Jul 27, 2007)

desrtat,

Your posts and even your (presents) at this web site indicate a loss of confidence in your GC's ability to provide a satisfactory finished product. 

Please post a lot of photos... so we can share your concerns...OR, decide you will give the GC a chance to finish and make you happy. 

The loss of confidence..is poison to any relationship...(I've been married before)... and a primary party in thousands of other contracts.

I have been involved in insured loss restoration for over 25 years.. restored hundreds of losses like yours...and am a licensed insurance adjuster.


PS 45 min mud was the right thing to use... the installer should have spit in the mix and told you that it would make it stick forever...a salesman confidence thing.


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## luis71 (May 5, 2008)

*you should show by picture*

YOU SHOW BY PICTURE AND MY RECOMEDATION ITS YOU CAN GRADUALY MAKE SKIMCOATING OR INSTALL GRADUALLY SHEET ROCK AND SKIMINNG OVER big storm came and needless to say, it flooded my kitchen and dining room. Our house was built in the early 60's and the walls and ceilings are drywall with plaster over it. Kind of like the old lathe and plaster wall, only drywall instead of lathe. 
The kitchen, dining room and living room are 1 continuous ceiling. The contractor tore out the ceilings in the kitchen and dining room but not the living room. The problem is the thickness of the living room ceiling drywall/plaster is not uniform and the new sheet rock doesn't match up evenly. Some of the height mismatch is nearly .5 inch. It is not level (there are places where it is level with the drywall, places where it is 1/2" higher or 1/4" off, etc.) The span across the intersection of the dining to living room ceiling is a 12' span and I'm afraid this will really show.
What I need to know is what is the best way to fix this.
Any help, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.[/quote]


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## luis71 (May 5, 2008)

*Show By Picture*

You Can Install Sheetrock Gradualy And Skiming Over Or Maybe Plastered Over Surface The Plaster You Could Apply Ticknes And Very Light


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## luis71 (May 5, 2008)

*Fixin The Ceiling*

I SEE THE PICTURE ITS A LITTLE COMPLICATED BUT ITS NOT IMPOSIBLE TO BUILD AND DO STREET FINISH
TAKE CHALK LINE SIZE BY SIZE OR HUSE LASER LINE AND CATCH THE PART MOST DAWN AND FALLOW THIS ITS THE REFERENCE POINT FOR ALL CEILING WHEN YOU HAVE ALL SQUARE LINE YOU ILL SEE WERE PART IST MOR DAWN AND UP PLAY WHIT SHEET SHETROOCK, TO INSTALL TRY TO LEVEL , NEX YOU APPLY PURE PLASTER OF PARIS WHIT TROWEL KNIFE DONT HUSE KNIFE SPATULA 12 INCHES ILL LIVE WAVE SURFACE GOOD IF YOU WANT ANY QUESTION CONTACT [email protected] 












tdrywall instead of lathe. 
The kitchen, dining room and living room are 1 continuous ceiling. The contractor tore out the ceilings in the kitchen and dining room but not the living room. The problem is the thickness of the living room ceiling drywall/plaster is not uniform and the new sheet rock doesn't match up evenly. Some of the height mismatch is nearly .5 inch. It is not level (there are places where it is level with the drywall, places where it is 1/2" higher or 1/4" off, etc.) The span across the intersection of the dining to living room ceiling is a 12' span and I'm afraid this will really show.
What I need to know is what is the best way to fix this.
Any help, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.[/quote]


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

Geez, Luis, it's hard to read your posts...get with it and learn how to quote, and how to type. 

Really, it's not hard.


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