How to Fix Damaged Plaster

By: Tom Silva, This Old House magazine

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1. Acrylic conditioner

2. Adhesive (like Big Wally's Plaster Magic, used here)

3. 2-inch plastic washer

4. 1 5/8-inch drywall screw

5. Joint compound

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Drill/ driver with 3⁄16-inch masonry bit
- Safety goggles
- $latex gloves$ Disposable gloves
- Caulk gun
- Putty knife
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Photo: David Carmack

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7

3 hours the 1st day, 1 hour the 2nd day, 20 minutes the 3rd day
About $50

Difficulty: Easy to moderate Drilling lath holes and smoothing plaster takes special care

You just gotta love plaster. That rock-hard substance, which was applied to the walls and ceilings of nearly every house in this country until the 1950s, gives us surfaces that are seamless, mold resistant, fire resistant, and noise deadening. But what to do when plaster cracks, buckles, and pops loose? It's a perplexing question for many of our readers, including Tim Thorp, whose house in Providence, Rhode Island, is filled with badly blemished plaster. "How do I patch 100 years of gouges, cracks, and screw holes so the walls look flat and clean when painted?" he asks us in an e-mail. Here, Tom shows how sticking old walls back together can make them look as good as new.