Quick answers
A piece of plaster fell off the ceiling. What now?
Keep the area underneath clear, as more plaster around it may be loose. Then find out why it fell, whether damp, a leak or rusting steel, before it is re-plastered and painted.
Ceiling plaster doesn't fall for no reason. The most common causes are water, from a roof, a balcony or a bathroom above, age in old houses, where the plaster has lost its grip, and rust on the steel bars in the slab, which swells and pushes the material outwards.
Safety comes first. Around the spot where it fell, more plaster may have come loose without showing it. If it is hanging, or sounds hollow when you tap it lightly, keep people and furniture away until someone has looked at it.
In this apartment a section of ceiling plaster had come down, exposing the structure above. The ceiling was plastered again, the patches were sanded and then it was painted, along with the walls that damp had damaged.
If the gap shows concrete with rusty steel bars, the job is a different one. On another ceiling, the bars were coated with a protective layer and the section was built back up with repair mortar before filling and painting. If the rust is widespread or affects a beam or a column, an engineer needs to see it.
Keep in mind: if water was the cause, the repair only lasts if the leak is stopped first.
Jobs that show it
Damp Walls and a Collapsed Ceiling in an Apartment
Bubbling paint low on the walls and a section of ceiling that had come down. Scraping, re-plastering, filling and painting throughout the apartment.
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Ceiling Repair Over Exposed Steel Bars
The ceiling plaster had fallen away and the steel bars were showing. The bars were protected, and the ceiling was built back up and painted.
See the job step by step
A Hole in the Ceiling and Damp Stains
A piece of ceiling had come down and there were damp stains under the windows. The ceiling was repaired and the walls were cleaned up and painted.
See the job step by step