Tanya Eaddy
Owner and plasterer
Tanya reads each wall before anyone picks up a trowel, and puts the finish coat on herself. She is the person who will tell you honestly if a ceiling has to come down.
Plaster and lath restoration
Plaster that was put up by hand is repaired by hand.
We repair the walls, ceilings and cornices of Baltimore's row houses and older homes. We keep original plaster wherever it can be saved, and we write down what we found, layer by layer.
- Original plaster kept wherever it can be saved
- A written survey before any scope
A sample survey note
Read the wall before anyone touches it
Every job starts with a note like this one: each layer on a sample wall, marked original or added later, with what we would keep.
- 1
Original: the brick
Hand-laid, soft-fired brick in lime mortar. Everything else hangs from it. We leave it alone and match new mortar to it.
- 2
Later: a hard grey coat
A cement-heavy patch coat from some earlier repair. It is harder than the brick behind it, and it is the part letting go. We cut it back to sound edges, not to bare brick.
- 3
Original: a thin pale coat
What is left of the first finish, soft and lime-based. It is the best evidence of how the wall looked, so we keep every piece that is still bonded.
- 4
Later: green paint over a patch
A later owner's paint over a different coat. In a house built before 1978 we treat it as lead paint and wet it before it is touched.
- 5
Original: the upper courses
The wall above the old coat was never covered. It shows the brick's own color and the joint profile we match.
Sample content.
Sample jobs, as found and as left
Matched pairs, with what was original
Three sample jobs, written up the way we write them: the room as found, what we did, and what was original and stayed.
| Sample job | What we did | Original, and kept | As found |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second-floor ceiling in a row house | What we didRe-fastened to the lath with plaster washers, patched two failed areas in three coats, masked the medallion and left it in place. | Original, and keptThe lath, the first two coats and the medallion. | As foundA bay about 3 feet across had sagged. Hairline cracks ran in a ring around the medallion, under six or more coats of paint. |
| Front-room wall, east side | What we didCut the cement back to sound edges, re-keyed the loose plaster, patched in gypsum and matched the trowelled finish. | Original, and keptLime plaster on the upper wall, the picture rail and the baseboard line. | As foundThree patches in cement-based plaster, cracking at their edges, with a hollow sound across the lower half of the wall. |
| Stair-hall cornice | What we didCleaned the remaining run, made a mold from it, cast the missing length and fixed it in place with plaster. | Original, and keptEvery length that was still attached, with its paint history photographed. | As foundA length of about 9 feet was gone after a roof leak, and paint had filled the detail in what was left. |
What we do
Six kinds of plaster work
Each has its own page: what is included, what changes the job, how it goes and which rules apply.
Cracks, holes and loose plaster, repaired to match the wall around them.
Sagging ceilings re-fastened where they can be, re-plastered where they can't.
Cleaned, mended and, where a length is gone, cast from what is left.
Scratch, brown and finish coats when a wall has to be done over.
Exterior coats repaired so that water leaves the wall instead of staying in it.
A finish that matches the wall beside it, shown on a sample board first.
The shop
Four people, one shop, one way of working
The same four people survey, repair and finish every job.
We work from a small shop off Greenmount Avenue. Tanya Eaddy surveys the house and does the finish coat, Herminio Mayorga leads the plastering, Akeem Richmond preps and learns the lime work, and Adelaide Burrows writes the report you keep.
How a job runs
One written survey before any scope
A photograph of every layer we open
The same plasterers on site each day
Dust contained, and a HEPA cleanup at the end
The crew
Who will be in your house
Four people, so you meet all of them.
Herminio Mayorga
Lead plasterer, cornices
Herminio runs cornices in place and makes molds from what is left of a broken run. When a profile is gone, he works it out from the shadow lines on the wall.
Akeem Richmond
Apprentice plasterer
Akeem does the prep: lath repair, containment and the first two coats. He is learning lime work from Herminio.
Adelaide Burrows
Surveys and paperwork
Adelaide photographs every layer we open, writes the survey you keep, and prepares scope documents for preservation boards and architects.
After the survey
What owners say about the work
“Herminio showed me the old coat under a cement patch and left what was sound. The crack in the hall is gone and the wall still looks like our wall.”
Joanne T.Row house owner, Hampden
“The survey came with a photograph and a note for every layer. Our committee could read it at the table without calling anyone.”
Lissette K.Preservation committee chair, Mount Vernon
“I was sure the front-room ceiling had to come down. Two days later it was re-fastened, and the medallion had not been touched.”
Freddie M.Homeowner, Reservoir Hill
Sample reviews.
Before you call
Questions owners ask first
What happens at the first visit?
Adelaide and one plasterer come to the house. We tap the walls and ceilings to find hollow areas, check for moisture, photograph what we open and look at the paint layers. You get a written survey with a scope, and the survey says what we would keep.
Can plaster this cracked be saved?
Often, yes. Cracks, sags and hollow spots can usually be re-attached to the lath and patched. Plaster that has turned to powder, or lath that has rotted from a leak, can't be, and the survey says so plainly.
My house was built before 1978. Is the work lead-safe?
We treat paint in a house of that age as lead paint unless a test says otherwise. Federal rules cover paid work that disturbs paint in homes built before 1978, and a certified firm has to contain the work area, keep dust down with wet methods and clean up with a HEPA vacuum. Minor repairs that disturb less than 6 square feet of paint inside a room, or 20 square feet outside, are exempt, but window replacement and demolition never are. Taking plaster down counts as demolition, so we wet it, contain it and bag it.
Do you work with preservation boards and architects?
Yes. For a house in a local historic district we write the scope in the terms a board asks for, with photographs and a materials note. You or your architect files it; we don't speak for you to the board.
What don't you do?
We don't hang drywall, paint, or fix roofs and pipes. If a wall is past saving, we say so, and we will plaster the new one to match if you want that.
Our map
Baltimore, the close-in county and Havre de Grace
A small shop covers a small map. We go where a crew can be on site for a full day and home by evening.
- Baltimore City: Hampden, Mount Vernon, Canton, Woodberry, Guilford, Homeland, Reservoir Hill, Pigtown, Union Square, Waverly, Patterson Park · Row houses and rowhouse blocks, most days of the week.
- Baltimore County: Arbutus, Lansdowne, Parkville, Overlea, Timonium, Reisterstown · The inner suburbs, by appointment around the Beltway.
- Harford County: Havre de Grace · Booked in blocks of two or three days.
We don't work in Howard, Anne Arundel or Carroll counties, in Washington, or in Pennsylvania. We don't take new construction, drywall-only jobs or painting-only jobs.
Book a wall survey
Tell us about the wall
A photo helps most. Text one to the shop number, or send the form and we will call to set a time.
Phone(410) 555-0105
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.
- SaturdayToday
- By appointment
- SundayToday
- Closed