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 ...

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 ...

Q. After reading the Sunday comics, I have been reading your home repair consulting column for years. It has always been interesting and helpful. I hope you can help me with some suggestions for ...

Q. We just bought our first house, an American Foursquare, dated 1917. It has been vacant for several years and the interior is not in the best condition. We'd like to gut it to get rid of the sagging ...

At the turn of the 20th century, plaster was the most popular interior wall covering in North America, and it remained so for the next several decades. But things have changed since then. Drywall, ...

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? — ...

Drywall started to replace plaster in the post-WWII building boom. It wasn’t stronger, longer lasting, more soundproof or a better insulator. It was quicker — by a mile. But it needed fasteners, and ...