I found a damp patch in the ceiling gyprock and made the big mistake of touching it with my finger :eek:
i now have a finger size hole to fix
apart from replacing the cracked tile that caused the problem how do i go about fixing the ceiling
best wishes
greg

It depends where abouts in the house the hole is as to how fussy you are about the quality of the patch job. If the hole is in a dark spot you can get away with using gap filler to fill the hole. The most important thing to do is get the surface flat before you start to fill. Cut of any dagy or flackey bits of plaster. Make sure you rub some gap filler into the inside of the hole to ensure it bonds with the lose plaster. Then squeeze in enough gap filler to do the job. Then carefully scrap of excess. You can use a wet rag to smooth of the edges. The gap filler may shrink a little so a skim coat of gap filler may be nessesary. Note that this patch job may show on a larger well lit ceiling.
Another option is to use a patching compond that you mix with water. I use cornice cement as you can mix a little salt with it to make it go of quicker. Use the same technique as desribed above. But this time you dont have to wipe the edges smooth as you can sand when dry. However be sure to keep an eye on it for a couple of minutes as it goes of so you can scrap the area flat as the filler tends to droop a little due to gravity.
Happy patching, Pineman

Farm Boy, it will depend on how long the ceiling has been leaking as to how much damage has been caused.

There is no point patching that hole only to find that a large section of ceiling has sagged.

It you were able to put a finger through the plasterboard it is a fair bet the leak has been there quite a while.

Let the ceiling dry out completely, before patching anything. Get a straight edge and check that the sheet hasn't sagged. If it has you can try screwing it back up, there is no gaurantee this will work if the sheet is sodden. So it is best to let it dry out a bit first (but not completely) If you try to screw it up when its too wet the screws will just pull through. If you wait untill its too dry the sheet will be too brittle and it will not straighten up. It's worth a try though. If all else fails then you may have to cut a section of sheet out and repair.

We have some detailed descriptions on our web site, how to go about patching different size holes. See the tips section.

Cheers Rod Dyson

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Hey Greg,

How'd you go with the ceiling.............I think I have a similar problem in our laundry.

Chris