Finishing a new wall or room with plaster or joint compound takes practice. If you have no experience with plaster or its near relative, joint compound, don’t learn in your living room. Experiment ...

Fixing a hole in the wall is a relatively simple DIY project. Even the largest holes can be patched with just a few materials ...

Dear James: I have an old house with plaster walls and many cracks that need to be repaired. How can I fix these so they stay fixed and are invisible? — Julianne T. Dear Julianne: Many older houses ...

You’re proudly hanging your first picture on your new home’s antique plaster walls. A few minutes later, it’s no longer hanging. And now you now have a bent nail, a large hole and a new diagonal crack ...

Before you do any plaster patching, rid the rooms of any residual lead. If you try to vacuum up chips or dust, you must use a special HEPA filter-equipped vacuum cleaner. Some tool rental stores rent ...