Ceiling Repair
Service

What are ceiling repair services? Ceilings are the surfaces in your home that no one thinks about but can influence the feel of a room greatly. We repair a wide range of damage to both plaster and drywall ceilings. I have written about it extensively here here here here and here. At Carrigan Painting we specialize in the art of ceiling repair. For us, repairing the ceiling is only half the job, so we also paint our repairs as well. One job, one crew.

Ceiling damage can occur from water leaks- think plumbing, roofs, ice dams, too much snow on the roof, an overly excited Champaign bottle, I have seen a cork go through a ceiling. We fix that too, but often (almost always) the entire ceiling has to be repainted. This can get expensive if you have a “forever ceiling”.

Kids are another source of ceiling damage. Don’t play ball in the house and before you know it a lamp is missing and there’s a hole in the ceiling and miraculously no one one knows anything.

Just like no two houses are the same no two repairs are the same. Repairs can be different in the same ceiling. 75 years of home building evolution means a ceiling can have a whole host of secrets just waiting to ruin your day at the worst possible time. Luckily you have us, being around awhile-15 years, we haven’t crossed a ceiling we couldn’t make look better.

A forever ceiling is a large ceiling with no natural breaks. Usually found on the first floor of homes built in the last 30 years. Often found in East Amherst, Clarence and parts of Lancaster NY, these ceilings present unique challenges for painters as the entire ceiling must be painting in a monolithic approach in order to avoid lines which will be nearly impossible to get rid of.

Most ceilings have natural breaks, such as a doorway with a header above it, or a stairwell. However, large open floor plans often create these "forever ceilings" which gives an expansive view of the space. Problem is, if you have water damage to the kitchen ceiling (common), your repainting the ceiling on almost the entire floor. This can add substantial cost to the repair.

Why Your Bathroom Ceiling Is Peeling, and Why It Might Happen Again

The number one cause of bathroom ceiling issues? Excess moisture. Most bathrooms don’t have proper ventilation. If your fan isn’t strong enough, or if it’s not run long enough after each shower, that steam builds up and lingers. Combine high humidity, high heat, and frequent use, and you’re asking a lot from any coating system.

Even premium products — oil primers and expensive "bathroom paints" — aren’t miracle solutions when steam is baking the ceiling twice a day, every day.

Can We Fix It? We don’t replace bathroom fans, but we can repair the damage to the ceiling. But even a perfect repair isn't a guarantee. Roughly 10% of bathroom ceiling repairs fail within 12–18 months, not because of bad workmanship, but because of ongoing environmental stress.

⚠️ What You Should Know:

• Joint compound dissolves in hot water. That means the substrate itself is vulnerable, not just the topcoat.
• Ceilings that have been skimmed multiple times will eventually delaminate — usually around the 4th or 5th skim.
• Your best investment isn’t more paint. It’s a properly sized exhaust fan, ideally with a humidistat timer.

Realistic Expectations Matter: We’ll always do our best to repair and repaint your bathroom ceiling — but long-term success depends as much on ventilation as it does on our tools and materials. We’ll fix it right. Just make sure your fan’s up to the job.

Read more about why bathroom ceiling repairs fail — and how to fix them right.

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We can repair your Popcorn Ceilings!

Many people believe that popcorn ceilings can be repaired using a $20 can of "Popcorn in a Can" from a big box store. Its like ordering oatmeal and getting cream of wheat! The problem is in order for the texture in the can to be sprayable, it needs to be watered down. Also, that stuff goes extremely hard, harder than plaster, and is a nightmare to remove. You can not duplicate popcorn ceiling texture using a spray can. Can't be done.

Popcorn ceiling texture comes in 3 levels of coarseness: fine, medium, and coarse. The majority of homes in Western New York, are medium texture. It comes in a 50lb bag, mix to the consistency of watery oatmeal, spray it on. A big air compressor is required. Volume is more important than CFM here.

We repair the ceiling damage, then prime the repair. This shows us the imperfections in our work. Then we spray popcorn ceiling texture using the same materials and equipment used to install it originally. This provides the best way to match existing popcorn.

See also: Popcorn Ceiling Repair in Lancaster NY and Popcorn Ceiling Removal and Painting

After the popcorn-texture is sprayed, we apply two coats of paint to the ceiling. Due to the nature of the popcorn-overly pourus, two coats of paint will give the optimal uniform appearance. However it needs to be said, that if your popcorn ceiling is currently not painted, and we paint it, removing it later becomes much more difficult, and expensive.

I have written extensively about popcorn ceiling repair, and popcorn ceiling removal.

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Repair or Remove?

We repair sand swirl ceilings too!

Swirl ceilings are created a few different ways. Often using a tool called a float, a tradesman will swirl heavy paint, or plaster mixed with an aggregate such as fine sand, to create a half moon like texture on a ceiling. Keeping the swirl straight across a large area takes a bit of practice and stamina. Its one of those things that once you start, you can't stop til its done, or you will see the stop/start marks forever.

Pro Tip: If your ceilings are in nice shape with out substantial repairs, instead of painting the ceiling with a flat-sheen, using an eggshell or satin-sheen, will enhance the appearance of your swirl ceilings.

Repairing swirl, requires knowing how the texture was created in the first place. This requires experience, as different tools, create different textures. From a professional standpoint this is often a float. However sometimes people will use a brush as well.

Paint swirl is more subtle than sand swirl, due to viscosity differences between paint and plaster. But the effects are similar. Repairing these textures, takes finess, and patience. There is no cheat sheet left behind from when the ceilings were originally textured. Removing the swirl-texture is labor intensive and involves skim-coating the entire ceiling to make it smooth and flat.

If your home has damage to a sand swirl ceiling, its important to call upon a contractor that has experience with textures. Whether that is us, or another plastering company. People who do strictly drywall repair often lack the experience to properly repair these types of finishes as its very niche.

We recently completed a swirl ceiling repair in Amherst NY, involving water damage.

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Knockdown texture can be done a bunch of different ways. The most common application method is rolling watered down drywall mud onto the ceiling, waiting a few minutes and then using a large drywall knife, or a darby to lightly knockdown the points so theyre flat. This technique saves having to finish the ceiling or walls for smooth finishing.

Repairing a knock-down texture, requires knowing how the texture was created in the first place. This requires experience, as different tools, create different textures.

Knock-down texture repair can be a real challenge as timing here is critical to get the right effect from the trowelling. If you miss the window, by even seconds, the material will act differently creating the wrong texture. Because there is a chemical reaction occuring there are no shortcuts.

These textures are popular in areas where there is often a lack of skill to finish smooth surfaces. However in WNY, these textures are sometimes found in higher end homes and commercial work. Interesting how that works. But we can repair this as well.

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Call Carrigan Painting Today

Carrigan Painting is the only painting and plaster repair company in Western New York. We repair plaster damage, with plaster. Every other painting company is using drywall compound and calling it plaster in hopes that you don't know the difference!

Plaster and drywall are similar but different systems. Plaster doesn't stick to anything, which creates a major problem for those who use knives to complete their repairs.

Every wall or ceiling repair adds material to an existing painted surface, especially true with drywall repairs, which can create bumps or unevenness in certain lighting. Most painters don’t know how to account for that. Sometimes its unavoidable..

Almost anyone can repair drywall, after all you can buy drywall mud pre-mixed in a bucket, it sticks to everything and sand it smooth and its "fixed". But when it comes to lath and plaster^{(new tab)} ceilings, it is very easy for the novice to get in over their head often leading to expensive Change Orders.