The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
First Aid For The Ailing Houses
Plaster over Masonry One of the commonest causes of trou- ble is when plaster is applied directly to masonry, such as on a chimney. This practice by many builders trying to cut comers, brings nothing but woe to the inexperienced home owner.
Invariably, condensation will develop on such a wall, because of warm house air coming in direct contact with the plaster on the cool (frequently damp) masonry. Plaster is not made to withstand such treatment, and it results in cracking, softening of the plaster itself, even falling away.
Wallpaper on such plaster will be stained, and frequently cracked. Paint will peel and flake off.
The only remedy is to fur out a space of an inch or so between the masonry, to create an insulating dead air space. The furring strips can be covered with plywood panels, plasterboard, etc., and painting, papering or plastering can follow.
The filling is applied with a trowel that is guided by the points of the roughnesses, the deeper parts being filled with the paste. For subsequent painting, the surface should be made smoother than will usually be necessary for papering.
Washing Painted Plaster Walls When washing painted plaster walls, begin at the level of the baseboard and work upward, using a circular motion. Do not wash too large an area at a time, and rinse at once with clear water, not letting the wash water dry on the walls. The water should be lukewarm, not hot. If washing starts at the ceiling, dirty water may trickle down over the dry parts of the wall and make streaks that will be almost impossible to clean off afterward. Instead of using one of the commercial preparations, washing can be done with lukewarm water containing 1 or 2 tablespoonfuls of trisodium phosphate to the gallon.
Smoothing Rough Plaster Plaster walls are often made with a rough surface, as in sand-finish and textured effects. When it is desired to convert such walls to a smooth surface, the process will depend on the roughness of the finish. For extreme roughness, the projecting points can be cut down by rubbing with a carborundum block, available at paint or hardware stores. The rubbing can be continued with the block or with sandpaper wrapped around a flat piece of wood, until the desired smoothness is obtained. Slight roughness, as on a sand-finish wall, can be smoothed by a filling. This filling can be texture paint, ordinary paint thickened with powdered whiting to a paste, or white lead thinned with lin seed oil. Before applying paint, the wall should be brushed and cleaned by washing off dust, grease, and smudges (see section on Preparing for Painting).
