This was an amazing project. Initially, it looked like the water had seeped behind the paint and bubbled it out, but alas, the plaster was also damaged. After scraping off the plaster, underneath was concrete! What a wall! I have often wondered why it was so difficult to hang pictures!

So, the repair goes like this:

concrete - (get it right the first time - sanding doesn't work very well!)

plaster - (really get this right the first time, AND in the right amount of time - say 2 or 3 minutes. You mix plaster with very cold water, which begins heating up immediately and as the plaster heats up, it thickens to a paste/rock-like substance that doesn't do anything except stick to the floor, the chair, your gloves and the trowel. Then, when you finally get it on the wall - forget actually trying to get it smooth. But don't worry - you can sand plaster. That only takes a week or two to get your whole living room covered with plaster dust!)

sheetrock mud - YEA! I've used this stuff before. I can DO this!

special bonding stuff - uh - glue? What is this for? So it will all stay on your wall!

primer - oh good. I've used this before too.

And lastly - PAINT!

Nice short spring break project. It will take all week!