Boring ceiling details
I've been working on the plaster ceiling in my middle room upstairs. I have to get it level and cover holes where the plaster has fallen in so I can hang the 1/4" drywall over it. So far, I've found couple good product for this. First, are plaster washers that I heard of from this article on the internet. They they can be difficult to find, but I found some at my local hardware store, Falkenhan's Hardware in Hampden. Local shops in the city tend to carry a lot of items that Home Depot won't because 100 year old houses have different problems than new suburban homes.
Basically plaster washers are thin metal washers that go around drywall screws to help you refasten plaster that's become separated from the wood lathe behind it. Without them your drywall screws will just disappear right through the plaster and won't do anything. They work well but can be kind of tricky. Sometimes they just end up cracking the plaster and make it fall off. They seem to work a lot better on the walls than on the ceiling.
The other trick I've found it that 3/8" drywall is a good for covering areas where the plaster had come off the wood lathe. It's just about the same depth and really easy to work with. I've been pulling little bit of plaster around the hole to square it off and screwing a square of 3/8" drywall in place with 1.25" course drywall screws. I'm actually going to but back some wood lathe that I pulled down. That seems to be the easiest way to math the original ceiling thickness: wood lath and then 3/8" drywall hung on the ceiling joists. The drywall screw gun makes a world of difference too. If you're hanging drywall, it's well worth the investment. It's too bad they aren't much good for anything else.
Now, in theory I could finish off the ceiling with joint compound. But instead I'm going to laminate it with another layer of 1/4" drywall. This way it'll be stronger, smoother, and probably a lot easier to finish. The only thing I'm worried about is the whole skylight area. I'm still not sure if i'm going to laminate drywall on the inside of the skylight opening or try and patch it. I think I'm going to hire a drywall taper so I'll ask him what his advice is. For those who don't know, a drywall taper is a guy who just does the finish work on the drywall, applying joint compound, hiding fasteners, seams, etc.