Repairing Plaster Walls

We are helping our son with some remodeling repairs in his first house..the house has plaster walls and we need to know is there anything special we need to do if we are butting drywall upto the plastered wall, can this be done?, and look good as well. I know we will need to patch the seem with plaster, which I have..

Cathy,
Read ALL of my past columns about Dry Setting Joint Compounds.

plaster ceiling repair

I am looking at purchasing an old Tudor style house but have some concerns with the plaster walls and ceilings. The person who tried to repair some of the surfaces have created large bumps and uneven surfaces some as large as a 1/2 dollar piece. Can plaster surfaces be sanded down to make a flatter surface? Or how does one remove such large bumps and create a smoother wall and ceiling surface? The whole dining room has this terrible texture problem. Thank you.

Pauline,
Real plaster can't be sanded.

My house is 108 yrs. old. The plaster is the kind that has horsehair in it, however, the finish coat seems to be a finer, much smoother, harder texture. Is this a special plaster or is there an additive that can make it harder on the surface?

Julie,
You need to go read all of my Plaster columns. I describe in detail the two different products - the brown coat that contains sand and the white coat that is a putty lime.

Hi, I have recently purchased an older home and have big bumps on plaster walls i read one of the questions posted asking if u could sand it .you said real plaster could not but how about the joint compound used on the bad repair it could be sanded back down to the original plaster layer right if not how do u approch fixing the hugh bumps.please respond asap i really dont want to remove all the plaster thanks much

Dan,
Please read all of my Plaster-Repair columns.

I had water damage to my chimney wall due to old flashing (which was repaired). In my haste to remove the wall paper from part of the ceiling, I discovered a plaster patching area and ended up removing more wall paper on the ceiling than I intended. I don't want to remove all of the wall paper. But can I plaster the area where the wall paper has been removed? How easy or difficult would the task be for me? Thanks.

Hi,

Just puchased a house requiring extensive TLC. Structurally sound but plaster has gone, needs rewire etc etc.

Knocked off all old plaster and channelled out for wriring. Now have neighbour (adjoining property) saying crack in his chimmney breast appeared as a result of our renovation. The plaster on his wall is three years old and is a small hairline crack. I would like to tell him to whistle and think he is out to make on us but my husband keen to keep the peace. Any advice?

The problem that I am experiencing with my plaster is not exactly what I would describe as cracking. Instead the plaster seems to have buckled and small ridges have developed. Is it possible to repair this so that the walls will appear smooth again?

i have popcorn style plaster and have a old outlet hole and want to cover it up so i can paint it, how do i repair it, and get the the plaster to match the rest? also can i but plaster to look like what i have of is the a technique to do it?

Hi,
This is a multi-faceted question and I don't know if you can help me, but, my husband and I have a new home @ i year old now. It is a kit home (colourbond) and the manufacturer suggested a builder that has erected a large percentage of their kits, whom we subsequently hired to complete (to lock up). My husband is a cabinet-maker and actually did some work on a kit home this builder had erected and was impressed. Our problem is that the colurbond (particularly the back north facing wall) clicks and cracks when the sun goes on and off it. The builder hasn't been back to look at it (despite our best efforts); however, the manufacturer sent someone to put extra insulation into that wall. This has not helped. There are also a lot of cracks in our plaster everywhere and it's only a year old! The house is on steel supports, the highest point being @ 1 metre off the ground. The house does move in strong winds. Any ideas on any of these problems? Who should I chase to fix them??? Any ideas would help!!!!

I want to know the best way to "repair" little holes in the walls from hanging pictures without having to paint the entire wall. I am moving out of a shared condo and don't want to leave any ugly holes. Thank you

My home is 160 years old and I have a problem area that was damaged when one of the owners put in drywall for a closet build out. This added material caused a portion of the plaster to crack and crumble. I need to repair it but there are not any lath boards behind the area, there is only brick. Do you think you can help me find a solution? Thanks.

Hello,If I repair a crack in a plaster wall with drywall tape and a plaster repair compound,won't my repair job create a bump on the wall from the additional material that I applied?
thanks

My son put the door knob all the way through the plaster wall how do I fix this.

Karen,

Check Tim's column http://www.askthebuilder.com/702_Drywall_Repair.shtml. It describes a few methods to repair a hole in the drywall.

I too have bedrooms with plaster walls. The walls appear to have many uneven surfaces that look like it has been haphazardly repaired. What is the best way to achieve a smooth surface? Should I sand it? Is there some type of easily applied product that will give it texture? Thanks

I have an old house with plaster and lathe walls and ceilings with a alot of cracks. I have "dug" out the cracks and cleared out all the debris. I've heard of filling the cracks with paintable latex caulking to prevent the cracks from returning due to the flexability. Is this a good idea?

Hi,
We are repairing our plaster walls the problem is when it is finish and painted the new patch looks smooth rather then like the old plaster texture. Is there a special tools (sponge) that we could use to make it look like the old surface.
Tks
Lise

Tim: I have plaster wall in a rear bedroom where the plaster is applied directly to the brick wall - no laths. There was water damage to the wall which was repaired except behind the baseboard. I have removed the baseboard which now exposes the crumbled plaster at points down to the crumbling salmon brick. How should I repair the various layers up to the point where I will re-install the base board. What do I use against the brick and then on top of that.

Thanks for your assistance.

Andrew Dalton

do you ever answer questions or do you just refer people to read your old columns? do you not know are you just rewriting what you have read from a book? whats the real story here?