Plaster questions, answered like a neighbor would.
If yours is not here, call (330) 919-7626 and ask the plasterer directly. Straight answers are the whole pitch.
What does plaster repair cost around Canton?
The full table is on our cost page, the only published plaster pricing in Stark County. Short version: crack areas $250 to $650, ceiling stabilization $600 to $1,500, ceiling section replacement $800 to $2,400, room skim coats $900 to $2,200, water-damage work $600 to $2,500. National guides put the average plaster project near $3,840, which matches what multi-room jobs run here.
Should I repair my plaster or just put up drywall?
Repair, in most Stark County houses, and for practical reasons: sound plaster is denser, quieter, and flatter-looking than an overlay, and burying it steals trim depth from every casing in the room. Repair also usually costs less than a quality overlay once jamb extensions are priced. When a wall genuinely is too far gone, we say so and plan the replacement honestly.
My ceiling has a visible belly. How urgent is that?
Urgent enough to call this week. A belly means the keys holding the plaster to the lath have broken and the field is hanging on friction. Caught early, stabilization with washers and adhesive saves it for $600 to $1,500. Waited on, sections drop, and you are into replacement at roughly double, plus whatever was under it.
Do you use the same materials as the original wall?
Matched to its era, yes. Lime-era walls, roughly pre-1900, get lime putty or compatible setting plasters and breathable finishes. Early-1900s gypsum plaster gets setting plaster. Lightweight joint compound gets used almost never, because it is a drywall seam filler doing none of the jobs a plaster wall asks of it.
Is plaster repair dusty? My family lives here.
Managed properly, no worse than any careful trade. We tent work areas, run HEPA filtration, cut with vacuum attachment, and clean up daily. Pre-1978 painted surfaces get EPA lead-safe containment as a rule, not an upsell, and we can document the practice for your records.
Do you need a license for plastering in Ohio?
No state license exists: Ohio licenses electrical, plumbing, HVAC, hydronics, and refrigeration, not plastering. Local registration and insurance are the paper; method is the protection. We carry liability insurance, follow the National Park Service guidance on historic flat plaster, and put every quote in writing off the published table.
Can you fix cracks so they do not come back?
Cracks that come back were patched, not repaired. Our repairs cut back to sound plaster, secure anything loose behind the crack, bridge the joint with mesh embedded in setting plaster, and refinish. Seasonal movement then spreads across the bridge instead of reopening the line. Repairs that fail get looked at free, which keeps the first pass honest.
The house is being rewired. When should plaster repair happen?
After rough-in passes inspection and before paint. Electricians cut fast channels; we pack them with setting plaster in lifts, bridge them so they never shadow through, and match the finish. Booking plaster as its own line in a rewire budget, $250 to $650 per area, is the difference between invisible surgery and walls that testify.
How fast can you come out?
Assessments inside a week across Stark County, most jobs started within two to three weeks. Sagging ceilings jump the queue because gravity does not wait politely. We are based in Canton; Massillon, North Canton, and Louisville are fifteen-minute drives, and (330) 919-7626 reaches the plasterer, not a call center.
More detail lives on the cost guide, the ceiling page, and the historic districts page, or start at the Canton Plaster Repair homepage.