Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [plaster]

416 questions
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1lb of cure is worth 10 tons of mold: DIY repair of a poorly sealed window? lots of photos herein

Preface I live in China. Construction is largely handled by unskilled migrants, and one cannot just call up a specialist contractor to fix a major issue. Problem I've got a window that was not properly sealed when the apartment was built, and which…
Drew
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Should I sand each layer of mud when joining drywall?

I'm plastering my first drywall and have been given advice from a friend who as done it a few times before. He believes I should not sand down the mud (a.k.a. jointing compound) between coats, but I think I should. I don't think the first layer is…
Craig
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How do I fill holes around a light switch?

I have a light switch where the plaster board around the edges of the face plate have broken away. I was thinking of using some kind of filler like Polycell to fill the holes but I'm not really sure how I would go about it. Is it simply a case of…
codingbadger
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What type of drywall tape should I use for a drywall to plaster patch?

What would be the best drywall tape for drywall to plaster patch? The patch is on a non-insulated garage ceiling, so there will be temperature swings from 0 to 100 probably through the year. I had to patch because of some water damage, the old…
Alex Moore
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Should we skim-coat or drywall over a textured plaster wall to smooth it out?

Our new house has textured plaster walls that my wife and I don't like. We originally wanted to skim coat the walls to smooth them out, but a contractor suggested that we could put up drywall over it instead since we have some room to give on our…
Joe Shaw
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Why should you add dry mix to water and not the other way round

During renovation I have used all kinds of dry compounds, be it mortar, conrete mix, tile glue, grout, plastering mud, ... On every one of them the instructions say to add the dry mix to water and mix thoroughly. Is there any reason behind this…
jnovacho
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Re-do paint over plaster in bathroom: How to feather/match?

I want to understand what went wrong, and how to repair it: This bathroom in a loft was done in 2012. The plasterwork is really good --- smooth and shiny; but the last year or so the paint (Dulux Trade, 2-3coats) has been peeling off. It has all…
user3445853
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Can I drywall over plaster

I live in an old house with horsehair plaster walls. One of the walls in my living room has a large crack running the length of the wall. It appeared after someone sat on the sofa with a little too much enthusiasm and pushed it into the wall. …
Mateo13
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What distance should I see between studs in a wood frame home built in 1943?

My house was built in 1943. It is a wood frame house and the interior walls are lath and plaster. My goal is to find the studs so I can mount a TV bracket for a flat screen TV. I have read that the stud detectors can in some cases detect metal…
Matt
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Can I install drywall on the ceiling, without removing crown molding?

I'm in the process of replacing a failing plaster ceiling in my finished basement with drywall. I originally had intended only to scrape down the popcorn finish and have it skim coated, so I did not initially try and remove the molding. Once I got…
Paul D
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Is this plaster over gypsum wallboard?

In a Philadelphia-area house built in the early 1950s: I cut out a piece of wall to fit an old work box. The piece I removed is shown below. The original walls were finished in plaster, but I can't understand what I'm seeing here: There's half an…
feetwet
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How can I tell if I have rock or wood lath plaster, and is there a difference when repairing cracks and peeling/flaking?

My wife and I are repainting our attic and aren't sure how best to proceed with fixing the wall cracks. We have several different kinds of problems: long parallel cracks set a couple feet apart, and especially in the corners of the hip roof;…
mcw
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Are there differences to drywall joint compound and plaster?

The drywall store near me told me the they don't have (or use) joint compound for drywall seams, they use something called "slow plaster" (free translation) for over the drywall tape with the same or better results. Any truth to that? Why would I…
Luiz Borges
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What is the difference between building sand and plaster sand

Recently I mixed a batch of mortar for building and was unsure if the hardware provided me with building sand or plaster sand.. What are the properties that differentiate the two? and are there any scenarios where its fine to use them…
Hightower
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What is the best way to patch 3" holes in plaster

I have a number of ~3" holes in my plaster from where my walls were filled with insulation. (Why did they drill a 3" hole? I have no idea). Obviously I would like to fill these holes in, but they have no lathing behind them, and I'm not sure what…
Dugan
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