| Location | Roland Park (21210), MD |
|---|---|
| Service | Plaster repair and interior painting |
| Property | Older single-family house with radiators and a painted staircase |
What we found
In one bedroom of this Roland Park house, the plaster on a bump-out wall and inside the closet had come loose from what was behind it. Delaminating plaster sounds hollow when you tap it, and the paint over it starts to crack in a web pattern. The rest of the room had smaller problems: hairline cracks and blemishes from decades of settling. The staircase and upstairs hallway had the same kind of cracking on their walls and ceilings.
Bedroom work
- Removed all loose and delaminating plaster from the bump-out and closet.
- Secured the surrounding plaster so the edges of the repair would not keep growing.
- Applied a bonding agent, and installed new lath where the old lath could not hold plaster.
- Built the walls back with a brown scratch coat and a white finish coat.
- Skimmed the bump-out wall and the closet ceiling smooth.
- Repaired the hairline cracks and blemishes in the rest of the room.
- Primed the new work, then painted the closet and the bedroom walls and ceiling. Trim and doors got semi-gloss, and we painted the radiator too.
Staircase and hallway
- Repaired the cracks and blemishes on the walls and ceilings using traditional methods.
- Primed, then painted the walls and ceiling.
- Painted the trim, stair spindles, risers and the hallway faces of the doors in semi-gloss.
Why repair and paint in one job
Doing both is what makes the repairs disappear. When one crew rebuilds the plaster and another paints it weeks later, there is no one person making sure the repaired areas are sealed and sanded to the same sheen as the old wall. Here the same crew carried the work from bare lath to finish paint, including the details people notice on a staircase: spindles, risers and door edges.
A bump-out wall is also more exposed than an interior wall, with more temperature swing and often more movement. Plaster on those walls lets go first, which is why it needed new lath and a full rebuild instead of a skim over the top.
Have a similar problem?
Call or text (443) 806-8077 for a written estimate. We will look at the job, explain what is going on and give you a clear price before any work starts.
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