Q. I’d appreciate your guidance with regard to the need to repair/replace a plaster ceiling in a bedroom in a 1910 house. A big chunk of the ceiling fell down and there are cracks in the rest of the ...

Repairing a plaster ceiling with plaster is the best way to maintain an older home’s integrity. Step 1: Plastering is a messy job. Prepare the work space by removing furniture and covering everything ...

Man's hand finger pointing to the cracked wall in house. Building problems and solutions concept. Cracks in walls and ceilings are eyesores that draw attention in an otherwise attractive setting.

Q Am I right that when sections of plaster break away from the lath, an accepted repair technique is to roughly fill in those gaps with drywall and then drywall over the whole wall or ceiling? — M.H., ...

There are two kinds of cracks in old lath and plaster walls. Both can be repaired, but one is a much more serious problem. By Ronda Kaysen Q: Our Gramercy co-op was built in 1929. The thick plaster ...

Jeff Somers is a freelancer who has been writing about writing, books, personal finance, and home maintenance since 2012. When not writing, Jeff spends his free time fixing up his old house. He has ...

The smallest stain on your ceiling is rarely just a cosmetic flaw. It is usually the first visible sign of a leak that, if ...

Save the plaster! This might have been the rallying cry of Julia Child, were she a preservationist rather than a chef. “Preserving nice plaster work, if possible, is always worth it,” reBUILD Workshop ...

Q. We just bought our first house, an American Foursquare, dated 1917. It has been vacant for several years and the interior is not in the best condition. We'd like to gut it to get rid of the sagging ...

Popular in 19th century homes, plaster ceiling medallions offer a visual transition and seat for a light fixture in important rooms. Their elaborate bas-relief designs also helped hide soot from oil ...