Finishing a new wall or room with plaster or joint compound takes practice. If you have no experience with plaster or its near relative, joint compound, don’t learn in your living room. Experiment ...

A: It depends on the type and size of the crack. Hairline cracks take only a little patching plaster. Larger cracks require reinforcement with mesh tape. Cracks larger still, where the plaster keys ...

There’s just one problem with plaster (which was the wall finish of choice before drywall rose to popularity in the 60s). If you have a home with plastered walls, it’s so darn easy for a nice smooth ...

Q. How important is it to repair plaster before repainting? Our ceilings have peeling paint that we’re pretty sure was caused by past water damage. Since the water problem is no longer an issue, can ...

Dear James: I have an old house with plaster walls and many cracks that need to be repaired. How can I fix these so they stay fixed and are invisible? — Julianne T. Dear Julianne: Many older houses ...

Dear Angie: Is it OK to repair plaster before repainting? Our ceilings have peeling paint that we're pretty sure was caused by past water damage. The water problem is no longer an issue, so can we ...

Q. My wife and I removed beadboard wainscoting in a house we just bought. In the process we destroyed the wall. The beadboard was glued on, and when it came down, so did a thin coat of something. I ...

Before the arrival of prefabricated wallboard or "drywall" in the 1940s and '50s, plaster was the material of choice for interior walls and ceilings in American homes. Portland cement plaster was ...

Before you do any plaster patching, rid the rooms of any residual lead. If you try to vacuum up chips or dust, you must use a special HEPA filter-equipped vacuum cleaner. Some tool rental stores rent ...

There’s just one problem with plaster (which was the wall finish of choice before drywall rose to popularity in the 60s). If you have a home with plastered walls, it’s so darn easy for a nice smooth ...