Repairing Corner Cracks In Plaster Walls

If cracks are simply filled with spackling or joint compound they have a tendency to telegraph back through.

Repairing corner cracks in plaster walls.

No matter what the cause you can repair the plaster cracks by using drywall tape and joint compound. He asks us in an e mail. The plaster keys holding it to the underlying lath can also crack and break over time causing the plaster to partially separate from the wall. The key to any fix is to reunite the plaster with the strips of wood lath underneath.

The process is different for plaster than for drywall. Understanding how plaster walls are constructed will help you fix your cracked plaster wall. Corners and edges seem to get the most abuse and on corners the damage is especially noticeable. And if the tape has pulled loose from the wall surface.

No special tools no special patching products. To repair small cracks in plaster you ll need patching compound medium and fine grit sandpaper a sanding block a putty knife a masonry chisel a paintbrush a rag and a screwdriver. You do not have to tape and finish the corners. For finishing you ll need primer and paint.

To solve this problem apply self adhesive fiberglass mesh drywall tape over the crack for reinforcement. You can try to find a matching caulk that will cover the cracks as well as possible or. Otherwise the cracks come back no matter how many times you patch over them. Plaster walls in older homes are often plagued by cracks and other defects such as pitting and uneven texture.

Repairing small cracks in plaster is easy compared to plastering a whole room. An overview photo by david carmack. Fortunately you can repair chipped plaster and fill wall dings in a matter of minutes. A quick and easy way to fix cracks in plaster wall corners.

Here tom silva shows how to repair plaster walls to make them look as good as new. Even the most careful family occasionally cuts a corner too close or bumps into a wall resulting in chips and dings in the plaster. If the crack is on a vertical or horizontal seam carefully widen the crack with the corner of a paint scraper utility knife or chisel to determine if the crack extends completely through the paper that is covering the seam image 1.