A crack in a plaster wall can look intimidating, and even be a cause for concern. While the sudden appearance of a crack in a previously pristine wall should always be approached with caution, they ...

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 ...

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 ...

Q. I’d appreciate your guidance with regard to the need to repair/replace a plaster ceiling in a bedroom in a 1910 house. A big chunk of the ceiling fell down and there are cracks in the rest of the ...

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 ...

Q: Just off the side door in my house are the stairs that go down to the basement. The ceiling overhead is sloped where the underside of the stairs to the upstairs go. The house was built almost a ...

Q. An ice dam left a small irregular brownish area and a crack in a bedroom ceiling. How do I fix it? A. You don’t mention if it’s a textured ceiling, the width of the crack, if there’s any loose or ...

Question: Every year I notice cracks to the walls above some doors and the latches don’t work. I fix the cracks but I don’t know how to fix the latch, and the door will not lock. I need to know what ...

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 ...

Do you have a crack that goes across your wall, maybe over a doorway or a corner of your room? You might have tried to fix it, but it returns just a few months later. Perhaps you even had a ...

Q. In the 1840 section of our house, we thought the staircase walls might be the old horsehair plaster because the wall is quite wavy. I discovered (the wrong way) that there was an air-pocket defect ...