The Property Brothers know a thing or two about updating homes on a budget. Check out their suggestion for covering a popcorn ...

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., ...

Dear James: One room has recurring cracks in the plaster ceiling. Instead of more repairs, is it wise to add a dropped tile ceiling to use it as a home theater? — Gary K. Dear Gary: Once cracks start ...

Q: My house was built in 1887 and is still in good shape except for the ceilings. They are all horsehair plaster, with many cracks that I tried to patch with a hard-setting Spackle that did not work, ...

Q. We just bought our first house, an American Foursquare, dated 1917. It has been vacant for several years and the interior is not in the best condition. We'd like to gut it to get rid of the sagging ...