Thought I could patch a ceiling corner in an hour, but the old plaster had other plans

Got a call for a small repair in a 1920s house downtown. The corner bead was rusted out, no big deal. Started pulling it off and a three foot section of the original plaster key just crumbled away. Had to cut back to the lath, sister in some new wood for backing, and do a full float. What I thought was a sixty minute fix turned into a full afternoon, about four hours total. Anyone else get blindsided by old construction like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

xena14h ago

Old houses love to turn a quick patch into a full-blown history lesson.

the_eric3h ago

My 1920s bungalow begs to differ lol