Repairing Small Cracks In Plaster Walls

The building materials in a house expand and contract due to temperature changes and the soil under the house can shift both of which can cause cracks.

Repairing small cracks in plaster walls. Repairing small cracks in plaster is easy compared to plastering a whole room. The process is different for plaster than for drywall. For those pesky recurring cracks we prescribe good bye cracks. It works best on hairline cracks but it s worth a try on wider cracks too.

To repair small cracks in plaster you ll need patching compound medium and fine grit sandpaper a sanding block a putty knife a masonry chisel a paintbrush a rag and a screwdriver. Otherwise the cracks come back no matter how many times you patch over them. If you have ever repaired drywall you may know that it is often easier to replace entire portions with new pieces of drywall it s possible to remove just the section that needs fixing and a few. Understanding how plaster walls are constructed will help you fix your cracked plaster wall.

The plaster must be firmly anchored to the lath behind it. Plaster repair is much. The key to any fix is to reunite the plaster with the strips of wood lath underneath. Whether your walls are plaster drywall or concrete fixing small to medium cracks typically requires just a few tools and simple instructions cracks result when a wall moves and are usually due to the house settling.

It forms an elastic film that stretches and contracts along with the crack. For finishing you ll need primer and paint. Here tom silva shows how to repair plaster walls to make them look as good as new. The plaster keys holding it to the underlying lath can also crack and break over time causing the plaster to partially separate from the wall.

Some cracks keep coming back no matter how well you repair them. An overview photo by david carmack. No matter what the cause you can repair the plaster cracks by using drywall tape and joint compound. Try to undercut the crack with the corner of the scraper to give a better key for the.

The corner of a scraper or filling knife is ideal for removing any loose plaster and for opening up and deepening the crack. He asks us in an e mail.