plastering over distemper ceiling?

Hi. Various people, will tell you different ways. 1 recommended way, is to keep painting wall paper paste on it, about every 30mins,keep touching it. When the paste stays wet for about 10 mins, paint another coat on, then using a paint scraper. Scrape the distemper off. A much easier way, is to over board the ceiling with plaster board, then plaster it. Hope this helps. Shane

There are several ways this can be done. Either by scrubbing with hot water or wallpaper steamers can also be good for removing distemper. The best way however, to is to soften it and scrape it off.
This can be done by coating it with wallpaper paste until it can soak up no more.
Paint on the paste for 30 minutes until the last coat you put on stays wet for ten minutes. Leave it for those ten minutes and add some more. Leave for a further ten minutes then start to scrape off with a normal paint scraper.
Sealing is also an option for distemper but the surface must be completely washed down with hot water to remove all of the dusty, loose particles.
You can then use PVA or Artex sealer and there are also other proprietary sealers on the market.
The reality though is that there is so much work getting the distemper ready to be sealed that you may just as well work a little harder and remove it totally.

I would never plaster a distempered ceiling I would over board and skim. As the old paint once plastered it blisters and falls off in sheets when troweling up or once it has dried out

Distemper is easily identified, It is soft and dusty to touch and will come off the surface of walls onto your hands and is very flaky ,The down side to this surface coating is that nothing will stick to it which is a major problem when you want to redecorate with either wallpaper or paint or replastering. There are several ways this can be sorted. Either by scrubbing with hot water or wallpaper steamers can also be good for removing distemper. The best way however, to is to soften it and scrape it off and apply a stabilising soloution then seal the surface prior to plastering using either PVA or other bonding agents/primers such as thistle bond it or Feb blue grit.

Rub down then add a bonding agent, leave to dry and then plaster to finish

I have found the easiest way of doing this is to overboard the celing and skim it alternatively you can bond it over give it a coat of grit and skim

I would seal the ceiling with blue grit this need doing 24 hour before plastering then skim possible 3 coats to stain a level smooth ceiling