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Ceiling Repair: A Helpful Tip

First off, kudos for having the courage to tackle this ceiling plaster repair job yourself, Janine. We love to see homeowners doing repairs the right way and making the effort to preserve historic plaster.

Thanks to gravity, ceilings present a unique problem when it comes to conditioning the lath and plaster in preparation for the adhesive. Indeed, the liquid will want to drip back out. I have discovered one tool that helps, though — a pressurized garden sprayer, which you can pump as much or as little as necessary to produce a stronger stream than the standard spray bottle. Continue reading Ceiling Repair: A Helpful Tip

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Maintenance is the Best Medicine

Just like an old car, your home requires maintenance. The insertion of small amounts of capital into a building over an extended time period can mean the difference between a beautiful, functional house and a falling-apart, expensive headache of a house.

At this point, you may be expecting some tips on maintaining your plaster walls and ceilings. But it’s not the plaster that needs maintaining, it’s the structure supporting it. Continue reading Maintenance is the Best Medicine

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We Could Have Saved This One!

We recently saw a television commercial that made us laugh, then nod our heads in agreement, then cry (Okay, we didn’t actually cry. But the seriousness of the commercial’s message was well received).

The ad was for a carpet cleaning service. Two cleaning techs are driving down the road in a company van when they see a worn-looking rug rolled up and tossed out on the side of the road for trash pickup. The driver of the van slams on the brakes, dashes out of the van and kneels beside the rug. “No!” he cries. “I could have saved this one.” He glances up at the offending house… “I could have saved this one!” Continue reading We Could Have Saved This One!

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Glossary of Plaster Repair Terms

There are lots of tools, processes and materials specific to plaster and plaster repair. Some of their names you may recognize, some may sound vaguely familiar, and some may be completely foreign.

Thus, we present to you a plaster repair glossary. Read them, study them, memorize them and wow all your friends at cocktail parties when you explain that a “hawk” is not only a bird of prey of the Accipitridae family, but also a flat sheet of metal with a handle, made to hold globs of wet plaster during the application process. Continue reading Glossary of Plaster Repair Terms