Patching A Wall

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Plaster walls

Plaster walls can take a beating a from repeated contact with chairs, doorknobs and the general mishaps of daily life. Plaster ceilings are prone to small cracks, the result of vibrations from the floor above or from the house settling. If you are planning to paint or to hang wallpaper, now is the time to examine your walls and ceilings, determine what they are made of and undertake the appropriate repairs.

Walls and ceilings built after the 1940s are likely to be made of wallboard, also known as gypsum board or plasterboard. Such walls are put together from rigid factory-made sandwich panels that are nailed to interior framing. Typically 4 feet wide, their seams and the nail heads holding them in place are covered and disguised with special tape and plasterlike mixture known as joint compound.

Older, solid-plaster walls consist of several layers of true plaster applied wet on-site over a backing of wire mesh or wooden laths. Know your limitations before you set out to repair problem walls or ceilings. Minor cracks and holes left by picture-hanging nails are easy to handle for someone new to do-it-yourself repairs. But anything larger takes more preparation and a more practiced hand. For tiny cracks and holes in plasterboard walls or ceilings (1/2 inch or smaller), clean out the opening, apply spackling compound with a joint knife, allow to dry, and sand smooth.

We’re going to discuss how to take care of larger cracks and holes on our next post.

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