How can I tell if the sagging in my plaster ceiling is getting worse?

Question

We moved into an old house, and one room still has the original 1890 horsehair lathed plaster all over. On the walls it's the consistency of sawdust held in place by a layer of paint. On the ceiling it is sagging and cracking, but I'd just as soon not fix it right now, which would trigger a bit more of a remodel than I want to do right now.

But my brain keeps thinking the sagging is getting worse...and worse...or maybe it isn't.

Is there a simple way to see if the sagging really is getting worse over time?

Steven · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-19T20:11:55.090

7

Find the lowest point in the ceiling and place a small pencil mark there. Then measure from the floor to that point and record the measurement. Periodically re-measure and if measurement is getting smaller, then the sagging is getting worse.

edited Feb 19 '13 at 20:11

answered Feb 19 '13 at 20:03

Steven

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score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 19 '13 at 18:08

6

Put a camera on a tripod, have it take a picture at the same time every day, and then overlay the pictures on each other.

answered Feb 19 '13 at 18:08

Aaron

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 08 '13 at 20:41

A story pole: You cut a piece of molding to just fit at the spot in question. Very accurate in a differential sense.

Used in brick laying, tiling, kitchen cabinets, when ever repetitive measurements from a baseline are used.

For gadget freaks, (like me) a laser measuring tool is fast and accurate, but you must write down and keep track of the measurements enter image description here

How can I tell if the sagging in my plaster ceiling is getting worse?

3 Answers3