Lath and plaster ceilings and walls were a hallmark of homes built from the 1700s to the early 1900s. And if you live in a period home, they could well be hiding in plain sight. If unsure, there are a ...

Q Am I right that when sections of plaster break away from the lath, an accepted repair technique is to roughly fill in those gaps with drywall and then drywall over the whole wall or ceiling? — M.H., ...

For decades, ceilings were little more than blank canvases—painted white, fitted with recessed lights and quietly forgotten.