Too much filler on ceiling

[Nathanlowe25]

Morning.

Going to put my hands up here and admit an absolute balls up.

I have been attempting to cover up plasterboard cracks in ceiling with scrim tape and ready made filler.

Issue I’ve got is I’ve used too much, too thick, too wide and 120 grit sand paper is barely making a dent.

What are my options to remove?

All I can think of is using 80 and 40 grit sand paper and a B&D mouse sander to slowly bring it down and level.

Appreciate I’m going to have to be careful here or else I’ll damage the ceiling.

Lesson learned
- do not use ready made filler

Thanks

Nathan

 

[blup]

Probably a delta sander or similar. It will produce a huge amount of dust so protect your lungs, and cover any furniture and/or rig some polythene sheeting either side of the crack with decorators tape to catch the dust.

Blup

 

[conny]

If you use a sander with a hose attachment make sure you use glasspaper with holes that correspond to the holes in the sander plate!

Watched one of my brother in laws using a sander with suction attached and was amzaed at the amout of dust produced. When he took a break I had a look at his vacuum first, (nothing in it), then looked at his sander and found he was using standard paper without any holes in it!

 

[opps]

The Mirka Handy Sanders are useful for those kind of jobs.

Mirka Handy Sanding Block with Extraction - 80 x 230mm

Dust free sanding is now a reality when using Abranet® abrasives combined with dust extraction. This 'D' handled hand sanding block with a 80 x 230mm hook and loop attachment pad from Mirka is light in weight and very comfortable to hold. A great...

www.axminstertools.com

You can connect them to dust extractors (read: hoovers).

Unfortunately, most domestic vacuum cleaners have very short hoses, in which case you might be better off with the kit that includes the long hose. The mesh abrasives are not cheap but very little dust will be generated.

 

[JohnD]

Try a broad metal scraper first. If the plaster is a bit damp you can shave it away like a razor without the dust.

I do it on walls. A ceiling may be harder.

 

[opps]

Try a broad metal scraper first. If the plaster is a bit damp you can shave it away like a razor without the dust.

I do it on walls. A ceiling may be harder.

That is a good point.

Unfortunately, some premixed fillers don't become soft when wet.

 

[haringey_sash_w]

Sounds like you used a very hard finishing filler like Touprets. The lightweight fillers are designed for this work and are very easily sanded. you could just dig out and start again with the right filler. if you've used a very hard filler then you might find it cracks soon anyway so the lightweight more flexible version would be your preferred filler anyway.