Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with plaster

Interior Design FAIL

GuffProof — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:54:29 -0800

Can the interior walls of a log home be plastered smooth? Fairly simply? After a frustrating six month search for a country home in my semi-modest price range, I found a real possibility. The location is a dream, the price is great. Yes, it needs a lot of work, but having searched this long, I am realistic about the options available to me.

There's just one thing. It's a log home, something I had not even considered. I adore the country setting but when it comes to interior decorating, I am the farthest thing from "rustic".

The living room-- UGH.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43417725@N05/3999122328/

None of my furniture belongs in a room like this, nor do I want it to. The only way I could be happy with it would be to somehow cover over the interior loggage and make them look like "normal" walls.

So that's what I'm wondering... Can you just trowel on a good layer of plaster to fill in and smooth over the logs... or would it take a complete drywalling project... and what the heck would I do with the vaulted ceiling?

Voices of both experience and/or creative ideas are welcome!

For what it's worth, I'm a fairly handy person who could likely handle a plaster-and-paint job herself if given instructions to follow. Never attempted dry wall or the like, though, and would definitely leave something like that to a professional.

I've seen the place from the outside and peered through the windows. I'm touring the inside with the realtor on Monday.

Oh, and yup I know that if I don't really *like* log houses then it's sort of silly to consider buying a log house. I hear ya. But again, I've been searching for SIX MONTHS and if I have to be willing to compromise, that's what I'm going to do! Thanks, all!

(PS- sorry about the link, it wasn't showing up in Preview so I assumed I was doing something wrong and just skipped it.)

What's the best way to remove wallpaper from plaster walls?

nitsuj — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 06:53:34 -0800

I'll be spending this coming weekend removing possibly several layers of painted-over wallpaper from 70-year-old plaster walls in my new house. Got any tips, tricks, secrets, or advice? So we bought a house -- yeah! -- but the previous owners (and perhaps beyond) lovingly painted over what I'm anticipating to be several layers of old, thick wallpaper. Naturally, I'd like to start fresh and do this correctly, but I need your advice.

I've a ton of different guides on the Internet, many with bits of conflicting information; I'm looking for your anecdotal advice! What methods worked the best for you? What's the One Thing I should definitely do? How bad is this really going to be?

Thanks!

How can I remove Dr. Pepper stains from an unpainted plaster wall/ceiling?

MrToad — Mon, 04 May 2009 07:44:36 -0800

How can I remove Dr. Pepper stains from an unpainted plaster wall/ceiling? One sunny day MrsToad came home from work, and as she was just walking into the kitchen, she dropped an unopened can of Dr. Pepper. The can took the exact impact required to spray forth soda in a million directions. She quickly tossed the can into the garage where it sprayed until it was dead.

The result is we now have brown soda stains on our unpainted plaster kitchen ceiling and unpainted plaster garage wall. We've tried a bit of cleaner and scrubbing but obviously don't want to be too aggressive in fear of damaging the plaster. The plaster is semi-rough, textured with sand, if that makes any difference.

We're hoping to not have to paint. If we try to paint this one spot, we'll likely end up having to paint an expansive area just to get everything to match.

So, good people, any ideas of anything we can spray on it to make the stain come up?

Googling tends to lead me to results of cleaning painted plaster walls. I did see the previous AskMetafilter post, but I'm afraid of doing too much scrubbing with a Magic Eraser.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

Will our drained pool survive a NE winter?

thankyoumuchly — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:45:40 -0800

Will an empty in-ground plaster pool survive a winter in the North East US or does it need to be filled/winterized/etc.? We drained our 30,000 gallon, in-ground plaster pool this summer to paint it and ended up never painting or refilling it with water because of money issues. The pool is about 30 years old.

To provide a little history (and the source of our concern due to this being the first year we are not following this pattern), every winter in the past, the pool has been filled about 75% of the way with water (to ensure the water level was below the pool filter jet/pipes), and winterized using chemicals from a pool store, then covered with a non-water tight cover (it's basically a tarp weighed down on the sides with sand bags). This worked fine in the past and the pool has been in good shape the following summers.

Now that the North Eastern US winter is arriving (sub-freezing temperatures at night, a few feet of snow expected over the coming months, etc.) we are worried that the lack of water in the pool might hurt it (cracking, the pool itself "rising" due to the lack of water in it weighing it down? (if this is even possible)).

This year we have blown out the pool filter jet/pipes to ensure no water remained in them and prevent a freezeing/cracking problem. We also removed the pool pump (normal procedure) and blew any remaining water out of those pipes as well.

Our Ask For You: Now our concern is the pool itself. Does anyone out there in the MeFi hive mind know if the pool will survive the winter without any water in it?

Please be blunt, we would much rather spend the money to fill the pool and winterize it with chemicals than loose the pool due to a crack (which would cost more to repair than filling it).

Thank you muchly!

Should I treat new plastering.

xla76 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:06:12 -0800

DIY Filter: I've just had my kitchen walls replastered following damp proof injection and am about to take delivery of new kitchen units. What should I do to the plaster where the units are to go? Seal it, paint it or leave it bare. It's a 180 year old brick built house with solid walls and prone to cold/dampness. I've read that you should leave new plaster for xx weeks in order for it to dry out, but can it be left indefinitely in its untreated state.

I think I need a putty knife...

roygbv — Sun, 25 May 2008 07:27:11 -0800

I need to hang things from my walls and ceilings, but can't. Help! I've just moved into an old apartment building in SW Portland. The walls and ceilings are made of some kind of plaster, and in places are very thin. For instance, part of our kitchen / living room area is divided by a wall about 2" thick. The maintenance guys haven't been a ton of help figuring out what exactly this is, but they think it's plaster over a wire lattice.

My issue: I can't hang a thing from the stuff. I've tried drywall screws (the little inserts) in predrilled holes, but those pull out. I can't use the anchor-type ones, because there are no gaps within the wall for the anchor to expand into. There are no studs (to my knowledge) and in places I hit metal (assumedly the lattice) and cannot drill or nail anything in.

My roommates and I are keen on mounting a few shelves (Ikea) to the wall, and hanging a bike or two from the ceiling. Please, help us!

Is plaster safe for hamsters?

luftmensch — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:08:55 -0800

Are plaster (of paris) objects safe for hamsters? I know they'd likely chew it, but would that be dangerous or toxic? I'd like to carve a neat little home for my new friend, but I don't want it to end badly.

where does "coal dust" come from?

MonkeySaltedNuts — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:14:27 -0800

In many old houses once you break through the lath-and-plaster (or it breaks on you and you need to repair it) there is a disgusting amount of "coal dust" that comes out. Where do these carbon particles come from? Yes old houses used to be heated with coal. But I assume the furnaces had chimneys to vent the combustion products. So why is there so much dust within walls and ceilings?

How do I install a shelf on poorly-installed drywall?

Braeog — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:27:11 -0800

How do I anchor a heavy-load shelf to a drywall/plaster wall? The trick: there are no studs and a brick wall is directly behind the ~1"-2" thick wall. I have two angle brackets (like here) on which I'm suspending an ~4-foot shelf that will come out about 1 foot from the wall. I previously used plastic drywall anchors with big screws in them. The entire shelf fell out today (the anchors slipped out of the holes) and so I'd like something stronger. But what? The stronger metal drywall anchors depend on a gap behind the wall so they can "catch" the back of the wall. I've just got brick and no studs to provide something stronger to hold onto. Our house is from the 1920s and whomever did renovation did it terribly. I'm thinking I could add L-brackets on the top of the shelf to provide extra support, but I'd still like something stronger attaching the actual brackets to the wall.

Avoiding Disaster Plaster?

DenOfSizer — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:46:15 -0800

I'd like to do a body cast, but I don't want to "break" the bank. Is there really a difference between regular old plaster of paris and cheesecloth and medical plaster strips?

Safe, strong adhesive for foam and paint.

silusGROK — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 09:44:51 -0800

Any suggestions on how to attach acoustic tiles to a regular plastered and painted wall — that will allow for easy removal of the tiles in the future? My business partner and I moved offices, and he does sound work for commercials... so our small office was bedecked in those foam tiles that are all different angles. Anyway, when we pulled them off the wall, they took the paint and some plaster with them. I don't want that to happen when we move again, so I'm trying to find a better way of attaching them. Ideas?

Hanging pictures on old plaster walls

SheIsMighty — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 07:11:18 -0800

I live in a 1910 Victorian house and many of the rooms have old plaster walls. They look OK, but I know the plaster isn't in the best condition just due to age. I want to hang some pictures. I hesitate starting the project because I hate poking huge holes in the walls to put the anchors in. Has anyone found another way to hang pictures on plaster walls? Should I just suck it up and start poking holes?

Anyone know treatments for wall plaster?

gingembre — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 15:15:19 -0800

I need some ideas for a finish for a semi-rough interior wall plaster made from sand, portland cement, and masonry cement. It's pretty beautiful already... I like the gradations of the plaster, but I am thinking of doing a color wash where the dark/light areas will still show. I can also imagine a "wax" finish over it like venetian plaster, but not exactly. This is a desert house, so it needs to be kind of that feeling.

Removing paint from lathe plaster?

thirteen — Mon, 22 Dec 2003 09:07:46 -0800

I have an old house with lathe plaster. There are rooms that have had peeling paint that just got painted over a few times in the distant past. I do not much like the way it looks, and I would like to expose the bare plaster and start fresh. Is there any way to remove all this paint? I do not want to sand the ceilings of such large rooms, as I feel I will get tired of that real easy. I have not seen any solvent that lists paint on plaster as an appropriate use. I am quite confident that the plaster itself is sound and uncracked. Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you are my only hope.