Materials For How To Repair Plaster

Knowing how to repair plaster goes a lot easier for the do-it-yourselfer when you use the right stuff. For you, the non-professional, drywall finishing materials are the ticket.

Of course, this goes without saying when you are dealing with drywall (also known as sheetrock). But I like these materials for fixing plaster problems also, because they are forgiving and you can correct your mistakes.

Fix plaster with plaster?

You will be using drywall joint compound, which comes in a variety of flavors. These are:

--- taping mud

--- topping mud

--- "all-purpose" or "multipurpose mud

--- chemically-setting joint compound, known as "hot mud" or "speed mud".

--- texture mud, premixed or mix-it-yourself.

Many different brands are out there. And composition makeup will vary from one brand to another, and from one type of mud to another.

____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

How To Repair Plaster Right!

Professionals have their favorites. But my advice is to use whatever is locally available at the lumberyard, masonry supplier (who often stock plaster repair and drywall products) or your nearby Home Depot, Loew's, etc. I've never used any "bad" mud, although it may exist, I suppose.

One caveat: "Durabond" mud is designed for drywall and plasterboard seams. It works just fine for that. Don't use it over painted surfaces when you repair plaster. You may have adhesion problems.

Joint compounds come in "lightweight" varieties. If that is what's available to you, use it. But my impression is that the full-bodied muds are stronger; hence, better for plaster repair. Use those if you can.

Taping versus topping. Taping compounds have glue, a vinyl type adhesive. They are designed to stick joint tape securely over a seam. Topping mud is made for going over the taped seam/crack once it's dry. Do NOT try to tape with it.

"All-purpose" or "multipurpose" compound is designed for taping, topping and even texturing. "One size fits all." However, I don't believe it is as strong as taping compound, so the latter is better for plaster repair in my book.

If you have lots of cracks, get a box of pre-mixed taping mud forapplying paper tape to the cracks. Then top (when dry) with pre-mixed all-purpose mud.

Actually, forget topping compound. That's not how to repair plaster.

If you can't find taping mud, use the all-purpose to tape with. It will work okay.

How to buy and use joint compound for plaster repair

Don't buy those little plastic buckets of joint compound you see in hardware stores, unless you have just a few small repairs to do. It's much cheaper overall to buy the larger containers, either the 5-gallon buckets, or the smaller boxes (plastic lined).

If you already have one or more clean 5-gal. buckets in good shape, buy your mud by the box and dump it out into the bucket. Have one bucket for the compound, another to hold cleanup water.

Don't try to work out of the boxes themselves. You will end up with dried chips of mud falling into your wet material and then there will be h*** to pay when you try to spread it.

As you work out of the bucket, keep it covered as much as possible to prevent drying. Also, very important, keep the inside of the bucket wiped clean as your mud level drops, otherwide you could be fighting those dried chips again.

When you're done for the day, put a little water over the remaining mud (to prevent drying and a crust forming) and cover well. Next time, pour off the water, stir and you're back in business.

Chemically setting joint compounds (hot mud) are a special case. Very useful for plaster repair, but require special instruction. see Hot Mud

So .... now you know a little more about how to repair plaster as far as materials are concerned.

Texture compound You can use all-purpose mud to texture with, but my preference is for the specially formatted texture muds. I think they are a little easier to work with, in my opinion. You can get them in boxes of pre-mix but I prefer the bags of powder that you mix yourself. We'll talk about how to mix texture mud when we deal with textures.

__________________________________________________________