ASK THE HANDYMAN : How to Fix Plaster Ceiling That Droops
Q. Our old house has a plaster ceiling that’s beginning to sag in a couple of spots in the living room and master bedroom. What’s causing it and how can I fix it?
S.T., Santa Ana A. “Usually this is caused when you have a leak or some water damage from above,” says plasterer Charles Jackson of Newport Beach. “That’s probably causing either the plaster to pull away from the wooden lath, or the wooden lath to pull away from the ceiling joist.
“The plaster will have to be chipped away and the lath will have to be nailed back into place and then the whole area needs to be replastered. This type of patch is pretty difficult, even for a professional. You’ll need a lot of patience or you’ll have to call someone in to do it.”
Q. Every time I turn on the hose in the back yard, there’s an incredible pounding and rattling inside the house. I suspect the problem’s in that back-yard spigot, but could that be causing all the noise inside the house?
J.A., La Habra A. “It sounds like it’s the stem on the hose bib,” says Murrita Faller of Jordan Hardware in Santa Ana. “If there’s a loose washer or if the threads on the hose bib are loose, it’s going to make a pounding noise when the water’s on that you’ll probably hear inside the house.
“Usually, you see this problem inside the house, like in the kitchen sink when the bottom washer loosens and starts going up and down, making a lot of noise. To replace the hose bib, you’re looking at a fairly easy job unless it’s soldered on, which takes a little more skill. You’ll need to melt it off and then resolder it on. Most of the time, bibs are just threaded onto 1/2- or 3/4-inch pipe, and you can wrench it off.”
Q. I’d like to install a ceiling fan in our living room. However, there’s no ceiling fixture there now and I don’t know how you would hook up the electrical supply.
T.C., Orange A. “In newer homes where there’s no ceiling fixture, there might be a wall switch that turns something on, like an outlet for a lamp,” says Ed Steenbergen of Martenet Hardware in Anaheim. “Usually, you try to tie into that switch.
“If you can’t do that, you’ve got to run a whole new line from some other existing receptacle. To get to the line, you have to go through the attic and attach a connection for your fan to the wiring from that switch or another outlet.
“If you’re trying to do this in a condominium or in the first floor of a two-story house, you’re dealing with a tougher project. Sometimes, you might have surface lights around the ceiling. The fan would hook into that and the wire runs across the ceiling. Or, there’s usually a dead-air space of 6 to 8 inches above your ceiling. You can cut a hole in there and try to work the wall receptacle wire up there with what’s called fish tape, but that’s not an easy job; it takes a lot of work.”
Q. I’m considering putting a concrete sidewalk in our back yard myself, but I want to know about curing the concrete. I’ve seen professionals hosing down concrete driveways to make sure they don’t dry too quickly, yet I’ve been told that with today’s concrete, I just have to pour it and forget it. Who’s right?
S.A., Costa Mesa A. “After it’s poured and finished, you’re better off not putting any more moisture on there,” says Ken Newland of Tustin Block. “If it’s drying and getting wet, drying and getting wet, the concrete is constantly shrinking and expanding and you’re apt to get hairline cracks. When you pour it, make sure that it’s wet enough to finish and let it dry naturally.
“Keeping it moist used to be fairly common. During construction of freeway bridges, you’d see workers put wet burlap bags on top of the concrete because the burlap retains moisture, and they’d stay wet as the water tried to evaporate from the drying concrete. The object was to keep it constantly wet until it was cured. However, to ask the average homeowner to go out and constantly hose down the sidewalk, that’s too much to ask, especially in this weather.”
