If your home is in the Fan, Church Hill, Bellevue, Ginter Park, or the older streets of Bon Air, odds are your walls aren't drywall at all — they're plaster, applied by hand over wood lath or early gypsum board, and they're a big part of why the house feels the way it does. When plaster cracks or crumbles, Richmond homeowners face a genuine decision: repair it, skim it, or cover it? Here's how we walk clients through that choice every week.
First, Know What You Have
Knock on the wall. Plaster sounds dense and solid and is cool to the touch; drywall sounds hollower between studs. Pre-1940 Richmond homes almost always have plaster over wood lath. Homes from the 1940s–60s often have “rock lath” — plaster over gypsum panels — a transitional system common in Tuckahoe, Lakeside, and Bon Air. From the late 1960s on, it's usually true drywall.
Option 1: Repair the Plaster
When it's right: the plaster is mostly sound — cracks, a few loose spots, cosmetic wear — and you want to keep the original walls, their density, their soundproofing, and their character.
Good plaster repair reattaches loose sections to the lath (with adhesive or plaster washers), fills cracks with the right materials, and blends the surface. It costs more per repair than drywall patching — typically 1.5–2× — but it preserves what makes the house original. Beware anyone who just smears joint compound into plaster cracks; without reattachment, the crack returns as the plaster keeps moving against the lath.
Option 2: Skim Coat
When it's right: the plaster is attached and stable but the surface is rough — decades of paint, patched-over wallpaper, hairline crazing, old repairs that show.
A skim coat lays thin coats of compound over the entire wall, sanded to a flat, modern surface while keeping the original plaster underneath. It's the sweet spot for most older Richmond homes: dramatically renewed walls at a fraction of replacement cost, no demolition, minimal disruption. Whole-room skims usually price by the wall area; we quote them room by room.
Option 3: Overlay or Replace With Drywall
When it's right: the plaster is failing broadly — delaminating from the lath, crumbling, bulging — or the walls are coming open anyway for rewiring, plumbing, or insulation.
Two paths: overlay (screwing 3/8" drywall over the plaster into the studs, then finishing) keeps the mess down and adds only minor thickness at trim and outlets; tear-out and replace costs more and makes the famous plaster dust mess, but it's the honest choice when walls must open for systems work. Our installation crew does both, and we'll price the comparison so you can decide with real numbers.
The Quick Decision Guide
- Cracks in otherwise solid walls → repair the plaster.
- Stable but ugly surfaces → skim coat.
- Broad failure, or walls opening for rewiring → overlay or replace with drywall.
- Historic detail (crown, medallions, curved walls) → bias strongly toward repair and skim; that detail is irreplaceable.
Get an Honest Assessment
Every one of these calls depends on how well the plaster is attached — something we check in minutes on site. Call (804) 660-8925 for a free assessment anywhere in Richmond, and we'll tell you which option your walls actually need, with a written price for each path worth considering.