5 Things To Remember When Repairing Your Plaster Walls in Omaha, NE

It can happen out of the blue -- you think you're tossing your smartphone onto the table but somehow your strength is greater than anticipated and it goes flying against the wall and suddenly, there it is -- a crack in the wall.

It could also just happen from the way your house is sitting on its foundation -- the way that it settles over time could very well cause a crack in the plaster.

You may think all hope is lost but that's not the case -- there are things you can do to get the cracks in your plaster repaired.

As this is the case, here are five things to remember when repairing your plaster walls in Omaha, NE.

1. You Can Improve The Repair By Opening The Crack First

It may seem odd that one would have to possibly open up the crack in their plaster to improve it, but this is often the case.

Since you will be using a joint compound to do some of the repair on your plaster wall, opening up the crack a bit will help in the repair process.

Once you have opened up the crack in the plaster just a little -- you don't want to open it up too much, after all -- you will want to clean up the dust that showers down from you opening of the crack.

2. Do Not Wait After Spreading Joint Compound To Apply Drywall Tape

Though in general, there's not much of what one would call a time crunch in the repair process, applying the drywall tape is not one of them.

You will want to apply the drywall tape that is the next step in the repair process shortly after spreading the joint compound -- a thin layer, that is to say -- over the entirety of the cracked section of the wall.

One thing you can do in order to make sure there is as little delay as possible between applying the joint compound and putting on the drywall tape is to pre-measure and cut the tape.

3. Joint Compound Over The Tape Should Go Beyond The Tape Itself

After you put the drywall tape over the crack in the plaster and flatten it with your utility knife, you will want to apply a layer of joint compound over the tape -- but you should apply it beyond the edges of the tape itself.

The coverage of the tape will benefit from the joint compound being spread over not just the tape but past the tape itself.

Before you sand the surface of the joint compound that you have applied, you will want to allow the compound to fully dry.

You don't need to sand so hard that you actually are touching upon the underlying tape, but it would be helpful to get down the ridges that come up from the joint compound.

4. A Third Layer Of Joint Compound Will Be Helpful

As good as you have it with the two layers of joint compound, it's going to be considerably stronger if you apply a third layer of joint compound.

You will be applying the joint compound even further than the last time and then once again lightly sand it, making sure to not get down to the tape layer.

5. Prime And Paint

The last thing you're going to want to do once you've cleaned up from sanding the third layer of joint compound is to prime and paint.

People will often skip right over the prime step in the painting process after having repaired the crack in the plaster but it's just as important after this sort of thing as when you are just painting a wall for the first time.

Primer still will help the paint adhere to the surface much better than if you do not first apply it -- and it gets the paint job to last considerably longer as well.

If you need a professional to help you with your exterior painting in Omaha, NE, our team at Brush & Roll Painting can help.

To get started with us, book a FREE estimate below or call us on 402-932-9764 for more details.

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