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 ...

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? — ...

Lath-and-plaster walls are common in older houses (built late 18th Century until the early 1950’s, when drywall became standard). Whether you want to hang a picture, mirror or kitchen cabinet, ...

Removing the plaster from a vintage house is a nasty job. It generates yards of debris and creates clouds of dust that go everywhere. We have some advice: don’t assume the plaster has to go. In fact, ...

Drywall is common and ubiquitous in commercial and residential buildings today. Many of us barely think about it until we have to repair a hole smashed in it. However, drywall has not been around ...

Q. My wife and I removed beadboard wainscoting in a house we just bought. In the process we destroyed the wall. The beadboard was glued on, and when it came down, so did a thin coat of something. I ...