Q: The walls of our 1938 San Francisco home are lath and plaster, with a canvas-like fabric over the plaster. There are cracks in the plaster, which can be seen through the paint as raised creases in ...

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 ...

In an otherwise charming older home, a sagging plaster ceiling can be an eyesore, especially when it’s a hodgepodge of cracks and crevices. To repair the entire surface requires mastering the fine art ...

At the turn of the 20th century, plaster was the most popular interior wall covering in North America, and it remained so for the next several decades. But things have changed since then. Drywall, ...

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

Drywall started to replace plaster in the post-WWII building boom. It wasn’t stronger, longer lasting, more soundproof or a better insulator. It was quicker — by a mile. But it needed fasteners, and ...

Q:We have a small 1924 cottage in the El Cerrito flatlands a little east of the El Cerrito Mall. Our lot has a minor slope, and we have a high water table. Our house continues to shift and settle, ...