Mike Merola & Sons Plastering logo Mike Merola & Sons Plastering
(412) 583-7294 Get Free Quote
Mike Merola & Sons Plastering
Pittsburgh's Trusted Plasterers
Services
All Services Plaster Repair Patching & Hole Repair Plaster Restoration Drywall Repair Ornamental Plastering Crown Molding Repair Stucco Repair Venetian Plaster Hard Coat Plaster Skim Coating Tadelakt & Microcement
Service Areas About Us FAQ Our Work Reviews Contact
(412) 583-7294 Get Free Quote
merolaplasteringpgh@gmail.com
2 Communities in Butler

Plastering in Butler CountyPennsylvania

Plaster repair, ceilings, skim coats and stucco across Butler County. Mike Merola & Sons is a fifth generation family business with 30+ years of hands-on plastering, and we travel to the job. Free estimates.

(412) 583-7294 Get a Free Quote
✓ 30+ Years of Hands-On Plastering ✓ Fifth Generation Family Business ✓ Serving Pittsburgh Since 1997
Where We Work

Plasterers Serving Butler County

Butler County sits on the northern edge of our area and has grown quickly, so the housing runs from newer planned communities to farmhouses that predate all of it. The two need very different work.

Real plaster over wood lath was the standard wall system in Western Pennsylvania until roughly the late 1940s, and plenty of it is still in service. It behaves nothing like drywall, so it does not take a drywall repair. We work in plaster every day, we come out to look at the wall before quoting anything, and we go where the work is rather than asking you to be within a certain radius. The standard, in the owner's father's words, is quality, long lasting work.

Our Process

How It Works

The same four steps on every job, whatever the work turns out to be.

01

Free Consultation & Quote

Give us a call or submit a quote request online. We will discuss your project, arrange a visit to your Pittsburgh-area home, and provide a detailed, no-obligation estimate. No surprises, no pressure.

02

Scheduling & Preparation

Once you approve the quote, we lock in a start date that works for your schedule. We arrive on time, prepared with everything needed to get the job done right, and protect your home before we begin.

03

Expert On-Site Work

With 30+ years of hands-on plastering and five generations of craftsmanship behind us, our team carries out the work with skill and pride. We keep the workspace clean and keep you in the loop throughout.

04

Final Walkthrough & Completion

When the work is done we walk through every detail with you to make sure you are completely satisfied. We clean up thoroughly before we leave. Your home is left better than we found it.

(412) 583-7294 Get a Free Quote
What We Do

Plastering Services We Bring to Butler County

Every service below is available across the county. Pick the one that matches what your wall or ceiling is doing and it will tell you how we approach the work.

Plaster Repair

See Plaster Repair

Patching & Hole Repair

See Patching & Hole Repair

Plaster Restoration

See Plaster Restoration

Drywall Repair

See Drywall Repair

Ornamental Plastering

See Ornamental Plastering

Crown Molding Repair

See Crown Molding Repair

Stucco Repair

See Stucco Repair

Venetian Plaster

See Venetian Plaster

Hard Coat Plaster

See Hard Coat Plaster

Skim Coating

See Skim Coating

Tadelakt & Microcement

See Tadelakt & Microcement
Communities

2 Communities We Cover in Butler

These are the communities we are called out to across the county. If yours is not listed, call anyway, because the list is where we have worked and not a boundary.

(412) 583-7294 Get a Free Quote
Why Plaster, Why Here

Older Western Pennsylvania Homes Were Built in Plaster

Across the region, houses put up before the post war years were finished in real plaster over wood lath. That housing stock is still standing, still lived in, and it needs a plasterer rather than a filler and a sanding block.

5th
Generation Family Business
30+
Years of Hands-On Plastering
100s
Historic Homes Restored
100%
Pittsburgh-Based & Proud

Lath and Plaster Is a System

Wet plaster was pushed through the gaps between wood laths and hardened behind them into keys, and those keys are what hold the ceiling up. When plaster comes loose it is usually the keys that have broken, not the surface. Filling the crack without re-securing the plaster to the lath leaves the real problem in place.

Old Walls Move With the Seasons

Timber frames take up and give off moisture through the year, and the freeze and thaw swings in this part of the state move a building more than most. That movement is where seasonal cracking comes from. We deal with the movement at the joint rather than filling the same line every spring.

Plaster Is Worth Keeping

A sound plaster wall is denser, quieter and flatter than the board that would replace it, and once it is skimmed back it takes paint beautifully. Tearing it out is expensive, dusty and rarely necessary. Most of what looks like a lost wall is a handful of areas that can be cut back and rebuilt.

Straight Answers

Pittsburgh Plaster Questions

How do I know if my walls are plaster or drywall?
Press a thumbtack into an out of the way spot. Drywall takes it easily, plaster is hard and will resist or stop it. Knocking helps too, since plaster sounds solid and dense while drywall sounds hollow between the studs. In a house built before the late 1940s, plaster over wood lath is the likely answer.
Why do the cracks keep coming back after they are filled?
Filler treats the surface, not the reason the wall moved. Cracks usually come back because the plaster has come loose from the lath behind it, or because the house is still settling and shifting with the seasons. The fix is to secure the plaster back to the lath first and deal with the movement, then rebuild the surface. Skip that step and you are refilling the same line next year.
Can plaster be repaired, or does it have to be replaced with drywall?
In most cases it can be repaired. Plaster that is sound and simply cracked or loose in places can be reattached and patched in, and the wall keeps the hardness and the depth that made it worth having. Ripping it out for drywall is a bigger, dustier job than most people expect. We will tell you straight when a wall is too far gone to save.
Do you work in older city homes with original lath?
Yes. That is the bulk of what we do. This is a fifth generation family business with more than 30 years of hands-on plastering behind it, serving Pittsburgh since 1997, and wood lath, three coat plaster and old ceilings are ordinary to us. Estimates are free, so if you want a number, send a photo of the area along with the address and we will come back to you within 2 to 3 business days.
How do you match the texture on an old wall?
By reading the existing surface first and then working the new material to suit it, since a smooth wall, a sand float and a hand troweled finish all need a different approach. Feathering the patch out past the repair is what keeps the join from showing under a raking light. The standard we work to is the one Mike's father set: quality, long lasting work.
(412) 583-7294 Get a Free Quote
Ready to Get Started?

Get Your Plastering Quote

Send a photo of the crack, the stain or the ceiling and we will tell you what it needs. Free estimates, no pressure, no surprises.

(412) 583-7294 Request a Quote

5th generation family business · Pittsburgh, PA · Free estimates