Yeah, the This Old House explanation of how to fix plaster walls (when the plaster is pulling apart from the lath) says easy/intermediate, but immediately, you need a masonry bit for your drill. Not that I'm unwilling to buy stuff, but that already seems like more than I'd be willing to do.

I think I have a masonry bit. I don't know that I could lay my hands on it, but I think there's one in the shed somewhere from some previous project.

I've had a crack in the ceiling in my living room for, I don't remember how long, since we had that earthquake with the epicenter only a couple of miles form here. Five years? I kind of like how it looks, so I'm thinking I'd like to fix it using something like that technique that fills cracks in vases with gold and lacquers over. Only not with gold. Meanwhile, it doesn't seem to be growing...

See, Erik starts with 'start sanding to see what chunks fall off and you'll need to replace.' I'll have to go look at TOH, masonry bits, what? But then, our walls aren't true lath and plaster, from my understanding. There's plaster, and there's lath, but I'm told they aren't the traditional p&l.

Dang, the announcers were just saying how this game didn't have offense to watch. Oops.

Oh, I was thinking the product they mention, Big Wally's Plaster Magic, might be the thing you need, more than the whole how-to. But I don't have any plaster repair experience, just drywall.

Yeah, maybe. I'll see what the hardware store people think tomorrow.

All this ice cream talk forced me to stop on the way home and buy Americone Dream.

I believe that is the recommended treatment for Ice Cream Deficiency.

Does gelato count? Cause all I have is sea salt caramel gelato.

My guess is that the stuff that's coming off is a skim coat and the person who did it either used the wrong stuff or didn't properly prep the wall.