Q:We are getting ready to repaint our home office. The walls and ceiling were cracked during the 1989 quake and poorly patched before we moved in. We had the roof redone this summer, and the banging ...

A crack in a plaster wall can look intimidating, and even be a cause for concern. While the sudden appearance of a crack in a previously pristine wall should always be approached with caution, they ...

Q. I have a problem with a crack in the ceiling that widens in the summer and closes up in the winter, although it is still visible. The crack is slightly larger than what I would call a hairline ...

Q We have plaster walls, and there are cracks showing up everywhere. What can I do to cover these unsightly blemishes? A Sheet rock does have a little elasticity, but plaster is unforgiving, and if ...

Q: Just off the side door in my house are the stairs that go down to the basement. The ceiling overhead is sloped where the underside of the stairs to the upstairs go. The house was built almost a ...

Q. I live in a condo (built around 1952) with radiant heat in the ceilings. Unfortunately, the builders didn’t give much thought as to how high to place the pipes above the ceilings. Over the past ...

Dear Allegra, I have a crack in my ceiling in the living room and bedroom that has traveled down the wall over time. What can I do to repair that? My house was built in the 1930’s. Another thing is ...

A: It depends on the type and size of the crack. Hairline cracks take only a little patching plaster. Larger cracks require reinforcement with mesh tape. Cracks larger still, where the plaster keys ...

Q: There are a number of narrow cracks in my popcorn ceiling. Is there something I can inject into these cracks to repair them and restore the appearance of the ceiling? A: A number of products are ...

Question: Every year I notice cracks to the walls above some doors and the latches don’t work. I fix the cracks but I don’t know how to fix the latch, and the door will not lock. I need to know what ...

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 ...