Repairing a Water-damaged Ceiling

Rainy season comes again. You may be having problems of keeping up with the prices of some of your favorite fruits and vegetables, cleaning your yard with all the leaves and trunks of trees that had fallen due to the heavy rains and gusty winds, looking out for your kids and keeping them inside your home since it’s not that safe to go outside. You are so busy doing a lot of stuff until you felt a cold drop of water on your forehead. Looking up, you noticed a crack in your ceiling. A water-damaged ceiling may also occur if you have a bathroom on your 2nd floor and there had been a leaky faucet in it. Now, what will you do when these situations happen? How will you handle these things in your own way? Like giving first-aid to a wounded person, it’s also very important for us to know how to give the proper “first-aid” to our home, particularly the ceiling. Here are some steps on how you will do it. • Place dropcloths on the ground You may also use disposable plastic for this. Remove all damaged ceiling texture. With a putty knife, scrape away loose areas. Clear about three areas around the cracked surface. Lightly spray the ceiling with water. Wait a few minutes for the damaged texture to absorb water and soften for this will make the removal much easier. Scrape away loose areas and allow it to dry. • Fill in the cracks Use a drywall compound or putty to fill in small cracks. Lightly skim the surface with a putty knife to fill in holes and cracks. Avoid causing the new plaster to crack by applying it in thin layers about ¼ inch thick. Allow each layer to dry and lightly sand with fine or medium grit sand paper. Examine the area so you can determine if additional layers are needed. • Apply Texture Apply texture over the repaired cracked surface. For popcorn ceilings, use a spray-on texture. Lightly spray it onto the surface. Before applying it thoroughly, practice the technique first. For stucco ceilings, you may apply joint compound, using a putty knife. Apply the texture in random strokes to copy the existing texture. If it doesn’t match, remove the plaster immediately and try the technique again. Allow it to dry for 24 hours. • Paint Paint the ceiling with a brush or a mini roller. Use existing latex paint that matches the ceiling. If existing paint is not available, repaint the entire ceiling. Repairing a water-damaged ceiling is quite tedious. It may also take a very long time to finish. That’s why before the rainy season comes, you must check your ceiling for holes and cracks so you can do the repair immediately. Be prepared for everything today so it won’t be that much of a problem in the future.