Before the arrival of prefabricated wallboard or "drywall" in the 1940s and '50s, plaster was the material of choice for interior walls and ceilings in American homes. Portland cement plaster was ...

Q Am I right that when sections of plaster break away from the lath, an accepted repair technique is to roughly fill in those gaps with drywall and then drywall over the whole wall or ceiling? — M.H., ...

Q-Our apartment is in an old building with high ceilings. The ceilings are plaster. They are badly cracked and very rough from years of poor-quality patching and finishing. We have tried repainting ...