clipped


Those DIY articles are meant for one or two cracks in an otherwise solid
wall.

100+ year old plaster can be simply deteriorating, and many hairline
"spiderwebs" through a wall usually indicates the plaster has broken away
from the supporting lath.

Wallpapering can buy you a few years.

Like everything else. there comes a point where patching just does not work,
and total restoration is the only real fix.

You just remove all the old plaster, and re-plaster, or drywall.

But only you can see if the wall is bad enough to need that.


AMUN



Plaster lath can be re-fastened, I believe, if not in bad shape. I
would try screwing a couple of laths back onto the studs long before I
papered or replaced it. I like old stuff ) If the hairline cracks
are only that, and you don't have a lot, any wide cracks or bulges, I
would just smoosh in some paintable caulk, wipe with damp cloth, dry,
paint. If cracks reappear soon, or there is a pattern suggesting a
whole wall or section is failing, I would think about more serious
measures. The point is to cover the fine cracks with something flexible
so they don't come through the paint, esp. at corners.