DIYbanter - View Single Post - How can I fix cracks in plaster of old house?

pamfree (Zemedelec) wrote in message ...
I bought a house 120 years old with quite a few cracks in its interior plaster
(under 8+ coats of paint.) The previous owners did some patch-ups, but now the
cracks are surfacing again. Is there any way to have a more or less permanent
fix (I'd sett;e for 20 years or so} without tearing the plaster off and doing
the whole thing over again? I don't aim at a seamless surface, because d an old
house doesn't have to look brand-new, just radical improvement--a slight
visible seam would be OK. Some of the cracks are hairline, some 1/8-1/4 inch
wide.
zemedelec

I am in the group that says keep the plaster and fix it. Tearing out
plaster and putting up sheetrock is a lot of work and, IMO, detracts
from the quality of older homes. Fixing the plaster is probably less
work in the long run. The walls in my 1895 home are in rough shape in
places but I'm willing to bet they would be in worse shape if they
were sheetrock. If you leave the plaster and put sheetrock over the
walls you lose definition of the trim and it does not look good where
it meets the baseboards and other areas.

I found this site that has step by step instructions for plaster
repair. Maybe it will help.

http://www.worleyplace.com/plasterrepair.html

Greg