There are many reasons why your ceiling might be damaged or need fixing. Your ceiling could be damaged from water leaks, cracks caused by the construction work next door or you’ve removed walls to open up the home and need the ceiling fixed. Perhaps you’re just tired of the old textured look and want something new. When it comes to ceiling repair or replacement Glacier Drywall Systems in Calgary can offer a number of options including:
– repairing the texture patches.
– scraping down the old texture, float the ceiling and apply a new texture finish.
– removing the old ceiling and install new drywall, tape the joints and apply the new texture finish.
– boarding a second layer of drywall on the ceiling, tape the joints and apply the new texture finish.
When should you consider one of these options vs. another?
Repairing the texture patches is generally the best option when:
1. the ceiling texture has not been painted previously.
2. water leaks or cracks in the ceiling are minor.
3. the damage is in areas that are not subject to high light reflection on the ceiling.
4. the damage is in rooms that if the ceiling repairs are best match at 95% or greater matched it will be just fine.
5. the budget cannot handle an entire redo of the ceiling to 100% perfection and best match of 95% + of a perfect match is acceptable.
Scraping down the old texture, float the ceiling and apply a new texture finish is the best option when:
1. the ceiling intersects with cabinets that go right up to the ceiling and you do not want to remove the cabinets in order to finish the ceiling.
2. you have a low ceiling and do not want to lose any height; 8’ height or lower.
3. the room has crown moulding that you do not want to partially cover with a new layer of drywall.
4. there are a lot of bead edges that intersect with the ceiling that you do not want to tear off, install new board and install new bead corners.
5. when the walls have been painted recently and you do not want to paint them again.
6. AND there are only minimum drywall patches required due to lighting changes.
In these circumstances Glacier Drywall recommends scraping down the old texture, floating mud on the entire ceiling and it will be finished and ready to paint, or ready to install the texture of your choice.
First Glacier Drywall will scrape the old texture off the ceiling. If previously painted, not a lot of texture will be removed by scraping. Then they will complete the drywall patch repairs and repair any delaminated tapes. They will use a steel edge to reveal any sagged areas of the ceiling, mark the areas that require a drywall concrete to be installed and flatten those sagged areas. Glacier Drywall will float the entire ceiling with two coats of mud with a rough sand between coats and then sand the ceiling. Once everything is sanded, including sponge sanding all edges, it will be finished perfectly and ready to paint ceiling finish including the texture of your choice.
Removing the old ceiling and install new drywall, tape the joints and apply the new texture finish is a good option if the changes in lighting are excessive resulting in a lot of drywall patching of the ceiling, but the concerns under “float the entire ceiling option” apply, your best option is to remove the old ceiling to within 6” of the cabinets or bead edge, install new drywall, finish the joints, and apply the new texture of choice.
Boarding a second layer of drywall on the ceiling, tape the joints and apply the new texture finish is the preferred option vs. the demolition option where:
1. The ceiling is on the top floor and you do not want to disturb the blow-fill and vapor barrier of the attic.
2. The home is older and you are concerned that there may be asbestos in the joint compound or the texture that was installed originally. Asbestos was still used in the manufacturing process in some cases as recently as the mid-1980’s.
In these circumstances installing a second layer of drywall on top of the existing layer, finishing the drywall joints and installing the texture of choice is the most expedient and cost effective method of bringing life back to an old ceiling.
Need more information? Contact Glacier Drywall Systems Inc. to discuss your renovation project.
