Dear James: We are planning a substantial room addition to our dream home. We are not on a tight budget, and we want everything done right. Should we use plaster walls or standard drywall walls? — ...

Plaster was the construction standard up until the 1940s, when drywall burst onto the market. Before then, it was a popular choice for wall construction given its pliability, fitting around corners ...

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 ...

Unlike many career craftsmen, Byron Veal was not raised in the trade. He grew up in Mid-City, with no familial connections to the artisanal breeding grounds of the 7th Ward. At 42, however, he has ...

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 ...

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 ...