Ceiling

[Mo1875898370]

My husband and I recently purchased a 1992 doublewide on 2.5 acres.

house.JPG

Two questions on this:

We have noticed some weaker parts both on the roof and the ceiling inside in several places throughout the house. If you look closely both roof and ceiling are wavy. If my 200 pound husband walks on the lower spots on the roof, you notice some give; it's not apparent if I walk on it. (I'm about 115 lbs.) The ceiling doesn't feel squishy if you press on it, but there seems to be some give.

The roof is in good shape. There is one water stain on the ceiling in the corner of the house near a skylight. The home inspector tested the area and it was completely dry (on a sunny day, but right at the end of a wet, wet western Washington winter). The flashing on the skylight was not right and has been fixed. He recommended we watch the area closely for signs of water, but said it probably wasn't an issue anymore.

I wanted to get some additional opinions on this: Should we keep an eye on it and take action if the "wavy" part increases or should we cut something open and look to see what's there? We have some money budgeted for repairs, but not a ton.


A related, but less important, aesthetics question. We HATE the texture of the ceiling.

ceiling.JPG

I'm sure a lot of people really like the starburst pattern. There is nothing wrong with it, but it's not to our taste and we are hoping to stay here for the next 20-30 years.

It looks like the ways to change it (assuming we aren't replacing our entire ceiling) involve a lot of sanding and mess and/or a lot of skill with a paintbrush. We were going to try sanding it down some (a long project over time) and then painting in one room, and see if making it more subtle works for us.

Any suggestions for that project?

Thanks for your ideas.

[Norm Frechette]

my opinion on the sky light would be to fix it now or pay dearly later on. do it once and do it right

i have watched home improvement shows on tv where they spray the offending ceiling with water and scrape off the coating.

that might work for you

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to ... index.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWmmjPhC5R4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYzUw_4NGQg

[Greg]

You could also go the other way and skim coat the ceiling to make it smooth.

Greg

[Mo1875898370]

Norm - Skylight was fixed before we moved in. As it was in the corner of the house, I don't think it was causing the dips throughout the house, but there always could have been another problem we don't know about.

Thanks both for suggestions.

[ponch37300]

It's hard to tell how "deep" that texture is from the picture but if it isn't that thick I would second Greg's choice of skim coating. It would be a lot easier and a lot less messy. Lots of articles out there on how to do it but basically you mix up some drywall mud really soupy and use a roller to apply it to the wall and then a large drywall trowel to smooth it out. Then a light sanding if needed but if done right you won't need sanding.

[Mo1875898370]

Thanks!