Q:We are getting ready to repaint our home office. The walls and ceiling were cracked during the 1989 quake and poorly patched before we moved in. We had the roof redone this summer, and the banging ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

IF YOU LIVE in an old house, it’s highly likely that you have plaster walls and ceilings. Most people love them — they’re a good, solid surface — but they can pose problems if they’re damaged. We get ...

Q. We're buying a house that is probably close to 100 years old. It has been vacant for the past several years and needs a good amount of cleaning up and fixing up. One thing we're concerned about is ...

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 ...

On most days, Bob Kaye walks to work. An ornamental plasterer, Kaye lives in a turn-of-the-century brownstone in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Many of his jobs are in nearby houses with ...

Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 4 of this story. So you live in an older home with plaster walls and ceilings, and you need to renovate. You need to run new electric lines, or repair plumbing, or perhaps ...