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A recent article in FHB was, I thought, timely, until I realized that it wasn’t going to cover plaster-over-lath construction. So: suggestions for how to repair cracks? Just carving the skim-coat down to the plaster and taping it doesn’t seem adequate.
Not sure if its relevant, but this house was built in ’24, in a seismically active part of Southern California.
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Skim-coating with joint compound covers texture, renews old drywall and plaster, and leaves smooth surfaces ready to paint.
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A recent article in FHB was, I thought, timely, until I realized that it wasn't going to cover plaster-over-lath construction. So: suggestions for how to repair cracks? Just carving the skim-coat down to the plaster and taping it doesn't seem adequate.
Not sure if its relevant, but this house was built in '24, in a seismically active part of Southern California.
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Holmer:
All our work is in SoCal. I don't claim to be an expert, but here is how we do it:
1. Using a utility knife, widen the crack to about to about 3/8" to 1/2". I like to deepen it too, to about 3/8" as well.
2. I use California One Coat, which is a stucco mix, but it has a nice grit to it for a scratch or brown coat. Apply it into the crack. Wait 15 minutes, and strike it off, making sure that it is not above the surface of the plaster.
3. Follow up with drywall compound, once the plaster has dried.
In larger areas, I use diamond lathe, stapled to the wood lathe, and then "One Coat" over it, with fiberglass drywall tape over the edges. I don't use the tape over cracks, as the One Coat seems to have the same mechanical properties as the old plaster, and doesn't expand or contract differently.
By the way, I try to recommend to all my clients that here in SoCal, cracks happen, and the easiest way to avoid them is wallpaper. It never shows cracks, and I often double paper it, with a base coat of plain stock. Works great.
There are other tried and true methods as well, depending on how persnickity you want to be. I have used a system called NuWall, which is a large fiberglass mat applied to the wall, which works great on large areas. You can contact them at http://www.spec-chem.com
There is also a web site for plaster repair run by a group that specializes in restoring plaster, and that absolutely hates drywall. I don't have their site, but perhaps a diligent search at Breaktime (I think it was discussed here once) on on the Web could locate it. I found them fairly useless, but draw your own conclusions.