Welcome to the largest plaster repair portfolio in Western New York! Carrigan Painting is the only painting company near Buffalo NY offering traditional Plaster Restoration Services and painting in one service call.

With over 15 years of professional service to the WNY community, we remain as the most trusted painting contractor when is comes to traditional plastering services.

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I learned how to plaster from my father. Not many can attest to that.

My dad in front of his work truck at his shop in Amherst NY.

We often see damage that many outside the residential painting industry never see. Below, is a small sampling of some of the wall and ceiling damage we have encountered and repaired over the years in Western New York homes. Plaster is not immune to damage. While it is much more durable and robust than drywall, plaster presents unique challenges for restoring it properly not found with other wall systems.

We work Exclusively in the suburbs of Buffalo NY.

Plaster Damage

All photos on this website are of actual projects completed by Carrigan Painting.

Water leaks, plumbers or even putting a new roof on your home can damage your plaster walls and ceilings. We often follow behind Ed Youngs Plumbing, they are very conservative in the damage they inflict on walls and ceilings.

The bubbling or corrosion you see on plaster ceilings and walls after a water leak is called efflorescence. The salts in the plaster are water soluble and work their way to the surface in the form of bubbling corrosion. If you have this in your home (minor) you can scrape it off with a putty knife, liberally apply white vinegar to the area and that will neutralize the chemical reaction causing the corrosion. However if water is re-introduced to the same area, the chemical reaction will resume. This includes high humidity.

Plaster Efflorescence

At Carrigan Painting we specialize in the art of plaster & lath repair. We focus on repairing walls and ceilings in residential structures. While we don’t know everything, we do work with those that do- Buffalo Architectural Casting^{(opens in new window)}. They only take on large projects, commercial work and they work in the City of Buffalo, we don’t.

We will take on plaster cornice and ornamental plaster restoration on a case by case basis. It is incredibly easy to get in over your head when it comes to repairing plaster. Damage can be very deceiving which can lead to costly Change Orders. However we always honor the price on our Contracts.

We also paint most of our plaster patches, which gives us the unique opportunity to see the job to its completion. This has enabled us to refine our technique and produce better results.

To begin the restoration process, we must remove the damaged plaster first. Unlike drywall damage, plaster damage often appears much smaller than it actually is. The extent of the damage needs an experienced eye, and even then we sometimes get it wrong! Below are some examples of seemingly small jobs, that turned out to be quite large!

Plaster & Lath Restoration Services

As you can see, the true amount of damage can be substantial. This is especially true with plaster bulges!

Plaster Bulge Repair

Plaster bulges can be problematic for both the contractor and the homeowner depending upon the situation. The extent of the damage can be quite substantial. In the spring of 2024, we did a seemingly small plaster bulge repair in a dining room. The next gallery, is that job. The pink stuff is a bonding agent we apply to glue the new plaster to the existing. It doe not aid in application of new material (actually it makes it more difficult)

Shocking is the word that comes to my mind! Most of that came off with a putty knife!

Once we are done with the demo, next is to break for lunch!

Depending on the amount of debris and jobsite conditions, we may opt to wait until the end of the day to do any substantial clean up. This is strategic planning. Real plaster doesn’t stick to anything. Makes it easy to work with. However that also means it splatters a LOT when you drop some off your tools! Dirt and debris on the floor (on our drop cloths) makes clean up easier.

Once the clean up is done (usually the first day) 90% of the dust and dirt related to plaster repair is gone. Unlike drywall patches, there is no sanding a plaster patch. Sanding a plaster patch would lead to more patching! We polish the plaster to a glass like finish using specialized finishing trowels which are unique to the plasterer. Your not finishing plaster with drywall knives.

Traditional Plastering

Below are some examples of Lime and Plaster of Paris just prior to being hand mixed for application

We work out of buckets when working with plaster. Because plaster is often a multi material exercise our buckets are color coded. We do this so that we can easily identify exactly what is in each bucket with out guessing or opening the bucket. This also avoid confusion on the job. Plaster of Paris looks strikingly like Diamond Finish powder. Mistaking those two can lead to undesirable results, and stress on the job. We strive for a stress free work environment.

Red: Plaster of Paris
White: Popcorn texture
Blue: Lime
Orange: Plaster basecoat
Green: Diamond Finish

Buckets are also easier to transport than bags, and are less prone to making a mess. Its easy to poke a hole in a bag of plaster. Either use it all or it will go bad in the bag. These are 80lbs bags. Aside from lime which is mixed at our shop, powders only have a shelf life of about 8 months – 1 year before the chemical make up of the material changes for the negative.

Our lime pails, are mixed lime putty with water on top. Wet lime can lead to chemical burns if exposed to bare skin. But can remain ready for use indefinitely sealed in a bucket. We keep a ready supply of lime putty at our shop should the need arise.

This is what sets Carrigan Painting apart from other painting contractors in Western New York. While many painters will use plaster basecoat for patch work, all of them finish with drywall compound.

Plaster Patches

We finish our plaster patches with plaster as it provides a superior finish over that of drywall mud. Below is a small sampling of some of our plaster patchwork.

The next step after finishing the repair is to wait for the plaster to dry. Depending on the complexities of the repair, that can either take a day, or a week or more. Plaster patches will turn white when they are dry, however they are rock hard in 60 minutes. Finishing plaster can be much more labor intensive than drywall.

It is normal for a brown water stain to appear around a plaster patch.

We will prime the patched area – or the entire ceiling / wall surface with oil base primer. It does smell a bit, and it will get you high. However it typically dries with in 30 minutes and the smell is gone. We have tried shellacs such as zinsser’s products, with unsatisfactory results. Shellacs will not stick to new plaster. It blisters creating more problems and ruining our beautiful work!

Plaster Repair and Painting

We paint 98% of our patches. This allows everyone time to critique it and gives us the opportunity to fix anything the client doesn’t like while still on site. This has effectively eliminated callbacks.