Restoration Primer: Tips on Plaster Repair

In my restoration and renovation work on early American homes I'm often faced with repairing old plaster walls. I have found that even severely damaged plaster walls can be reclaimed. The most common problem is loose or bowed plaster that has lost its key with the lath but is still in place. This plaster can be reattached, making the plaster sound again (see Figure 1). "Injected adhesive bonding" is one method to re-attach loose plaster. It was developed by Morgan Phillips and Andrew Ladygo for the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA). Through this method, they inject specially formulated acrylic adhesives in between lath and plaster through holes drilled in the face of the plaster (or through