Fixing plaster on garage ceiling

[BetterDays]

Home was built in 1979 so this ceiling has seen a lot since then. It is not a climate controlled area so it receives the heat and humidity in the summer and cold and wet in the winter.

We are experiencing sections that are peeling and seeing many bubbles that are just ready to pop and come down. This is just one section that has popped but I'm seeing many many others that are ready.

We are planning a garage refresh in the next two years where everything will come off the walls and the ceiling with new lights and new power. This is not our forever home, so we won't be putting a ton into it but just trying to make it nicer for us and attractive for the next owners.

What is the best way to get rid of these bubbles? Is it simply cutting them open and scraping as far as we can? I understand that once it starts, it will just continue and continue and continue, which is why I am asking. Ideally, we would not need to scrape the entire ceiling in our garage to fix it.

The next question is going to be the best way to repair or do something different on the ceiling. We are debating if we want to tackle it ourselves and potentially rent a plaster sprayer or sub it out and let somebody with more experience deal with it after we rewire for outlets and lights.

Help me understand what you've been through and how you've addressed it and what are some options for my wife and I to review as part of this improvement to come.

I appreciate your feedback and experience in advance.

 

[The Cobbler]

do you have adequate ventilation in the attic space? that appears to be moisture related to me . or bad primer sealer perhaps .

 

[Jim greengo]

Home was built in 1979 so this ceiling has seen a lot since then. It is not a climate controlled area so it receives the heat and humidity in the summer and cold and wet in the winter.

We are experiencing sections that are peeling and seeing many bubbles that are just ready to pop and come down. This is just one section that has popped but I'm seeing many many others that are ready.

We are planning a garage refresh in the next two years where everything will come off the walls and the ceiling with new lights and new power. This is not our forever home, so we won't be putting a ton into it but just trying to make it nicer for us and attractive for the next owners.

What is the best way to get rid of these bubbles? Is it simply cutting them open and scraping as far as we can? I understand that once it starts, it will just continue and continue and continue, which is why I am asking. Ideally, we would not need to scrape the entire ceiling in our garage to fix it.

The next question is going to be the best way to repair or do something different on the ceiling. We are debating if we want to tackle it ourselves and potentially rent a plaster sprayer or sub it out and let somebody with more experience deal with it after we rewire for outlets and lights.

Help me understand what you've been through and how you've addressed it and what are some options for my wife and I to review as part of this improvement to come.

I appreciate your feedback and experience in advance.

Hire a drywaller,you'll drive yourself nuts trying to fix that.

 

[BetterDays]

do you have adequate ventilation in the attic space? that appears to be moisture related to me . or bad primer sealer perhaps .

It is definitely moisture related. At this point in time, I'm sure there's not enough ventilation here. This is part of our discussions of everything we want to do to the garage and what's that return on investment for us and for the house

I do want to add some kind of heat out here for the winter. It will most likely be an electric heater since I don't have a good way to ventilate gas fumes unlimited form on the back wall due to storage.

The garage is a oversized three car that's approximately a thousand square feet with 10 ft ceilings

 

[BetterDays]

do you have adequate ventilation in the attic space? that appears to be moisture related to me . or bad primer sealer perhaps .

I see you mentioned attic. I missed that when I responded above. The attic does have a ridge vent and vented in the soffits. This was added when the roof was replaced in 2018. Guess I need to not only look at ventilation of the garage space but also the attic space

 

[BetterDays]

Hire a drywaller,you'll drive yourself nuts trying to fix that.

My wife and I both have that feeling. We just want to make sure the prep is done as well as possible to ensure we don't spend money on a cosmetic fix and not address the root causes

 

[jkuro]

This is not a hard repair. I would give it a try before I would call someone out to repair. Here's a you tube link:

 

[BetterDays]

This is not a hard repair. I would give it a try before I would call someone out to repair. Here's a you tube link:

Thank you for the video.
Although I hate drywall, my wife surprisingly enjoys finishing drywall. "It's like icing a cake!"

 

[mikedodge]

From the picture it looks like a reaction to the paint from the garage environment. Strip it off and repaint it.

 

[Thunderpigeon]

Home was built in 1979 so this ceiling has seen a lot since then. It is not a climate controlled area so it receives the heat and humidity in the summer and cold and wet in the winter.

We are experiencing sections that are peeling and seeing many bubbles that are just ready to pop and come down. This is just one section that has popped but I'm seeing many many others that are ready.

We are planning a garage refresh in the next two years where everything will come off the walls and the ceiling with new lights and new power. This is not our forever home, so we won't be putting a ton into it but just trying to make it nicer for us and attractive for the next owners.

What is the best way to get rid of these bubbles? Is it simply cutting them open and scraping as far as we can? I understand that once it starts, it will just continue and continue and continue, which is why I am asking. Ideally, we would not need to scrape the entire ceiling in our garage to fix it.

The next question is going to be the best way to repair or do something different on the ceiling. We are debating if we want to tackle it ourselves and potentially rent a plaster sprayer or sub it out and let somebody with more experience deal with it after we rewire for outlets and lights.

Help me understand what you've been through and how you've addressed it and what are some options for my wife and I to review as part of this improvement to come.

I appreciate your feedback and experience in advance.

Is a layer of paper peeling off the surface along with the drywall mud texture? If not it appears that the sheetrock was hung upside down. The back side of sheetrock is not designed to hold drywall compond.

 

[zak77]

Looks familiar to what i have happening except mine is popcorn covering. Mine was never coated with primer or paint, just sprayed on and that's it. So years of moisture is causing it to separate from the drywall, which is good and bad. Good since it scrapes off very easy but bad because i have to scrape it all off. I will be tackling this project this coming fall. I've scrape off the popcorn in parts of the house and was surprised how easily it came off. You could scrape it off, prime, then paint and be done. Easier said than done.

 

[Old Moparz]

Don't know for sure but it looks like the textured paint was applied directly to the drywall without any primer. I would doctor it up in the places that it peeled like in the above video & be done with it since it's not finished living space.

 

[BetterDays]

Is a layer of paper peeling off the surface along with the drywall mud texture? If not it appears that the sheetrock was hung upside down. The back side of sheetrock is not designed to hold drywall compond.

The paper is not peeling off. Can't tell which way it was hung or if it is just drywall up there or not. Good thing for me to look at shortly.

 

[DGersic]

Are you sure that’s plaster? Seems unlikely that anybody would have been doing a plaster ceiling in a garage in 1979.

 

[Jazz1]

apply tongue and groove pine to ceiling and be done with it. I dont think Its plaster, some other “Spackle” product.