Am I crazy/picky to think that water damaged ceiling can become perfect?

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swy05

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Recently bought a condo and there were some water damage in the ceiling. The ceilings were repaired by the previous owner however, the work was extremely shoddy. There were bubbling and cracks throughout the ceiling. Everything was hastily done.

I've hired a contractor to fix the ceiling. The contractor has spent considerable time attempting to fix the ceilings.

However, it just doesn't look perfect. Granted, it's in better shape than it was before. But there is still some bubbling/bump. It's more pronounced when it's dark and I look at it from an angle.

Am I being extremely picky/ignorant to think that a repair for the ceiling could make it look perfect? Will it always have some bubbling short of completely tearing out the whole ceiling and re-doing it?

Thanks folks.
 
There are so many degrees of 'picky', that i don't think you'll get a definite answer. Yes, a ceiling repair can look perfect but that often requires cutting out a large section of drywall and replacing it. Then it becomes a matter of how well the taping /mudding is done. Is it a smooth ceiling? Was any drywall replaced?

And :welcome: to the forum.
 
slownsteady said:
There are so many degrees of 'picky', that i don't think you'll get a definite answer. Yes, a ceiling repair can look perfect but that often requires cutting out a large section of drywall and replacing it. Then it becomes a matter of how well the taping /mudding is done. Is it a smooth ceiling? Was any drywall replaced?

And :welcome: to the forum.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the warm welcome. :beer:

Only 1 section of the ceiling had drywall replaced. The other sections of the ceiling where the bubbling was not as severe, didn't have the drywall replaced. I think those spots were just sanded, spackled, and taped.

The ceilings are smooth. No patterns.

I'm just confused. If it's noticeable when looking at an angle, it doesn't seem right no? I can see these patch lines easily.
 
Drywall is subject to the structure it is attached to, trying for perfection is very expensive and on the top floor with trusses above in just impossible as the ceiling will actually change a little with loads on the roof. Imperfwctions are always more noticable with shadows.
These are the reasons that builders have the popcorn sprayed on the ceiling. But that dosn't always hide everything but it is alot cheaper that 2 or 3 skim coats on smooth.
 
"perfect" having no mistakes or flaws I really do not think this can be achieved in any painting project:rofl:
 
You said you hired a contractor to fix it but can still see the joints? What type of contractor? Any good mudder or plasterer would cover the seams.
 
As to the OP’s original question, I would have to say you are not Crazy or Ignorant but you might be Picky. That’s my definitive answer.

Around here the Amish make a quilt and every stitch is perfect except one. They do a perfect job or as perfect as man can do and they make one stitch off because they say man is not perfect.

You had a bad job you paid for a better job none of us have seen it so we cant say if its better and how much better. You could take it all down and likely get even better with a whole new ceiling. I have a ceiling I redid a year ago I thought was perfect but if the light hits it just right and because I know where the seam is I think I can see it. Everyone else says it’s perfect. I’m not going to fix it even though I have the time and materials to do it because its good enough and I’m Picky.
 
Turn off the lights and hold a flashlight perpendicular to the walls, you'll be amazed how many imperfections you'll find throughout your house or anyone's house. Nothing is perfect.
 
oldognewtrick said:
Turn off the lights and hold a flashlight perpendicular to the walls, you'll be amazed how many imperfections you'll find throughout your house or anyone's house. Nothing is perfect.
Click to expand...

So true Old Dog,
Ceilings are the largest unbroken expanse of drywall in a house. Walls get broken up by windows, doors, furniture, pictures. Ceilings go on forever, add to that ceiling mounted fixtures and defects get highlighted by shadows. This is why popcorn ceilings were so popular with builders in the 1980's and 1990's. They could disguise imperfections under a mountain of sprayed on texture.

Sight unseen none of us can now how bad your ceiling is. Trying to repair some of it instead of replacing it could have made the job much harder. Whether it can be repaired with another coat over the seams would need to be determined by someone on the scene. Butt joints and patches without tapered edges are the toughest to get right, and require the joint compound to be tapered out over a much wider area than on a factory tapered edge seam.
 
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