Mike Merola & Sons Plastering logo Mike Merola & Sons Plastering
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Mike Merola & Sons Plastering
Pittsburgh's Trusted Plasterers
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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
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Pittsburgh's Trusted Plaster Repair Specialists

Plaster Repair Servicesin Pittsburgh, PA

Pittsburgh's 5th generation plaster repair experts. From hairline cracks and water damage to full wall restoration, Mike Merola & Sons fixes it right the first time.

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✓ 30+ Years Hands-On Experience ✓ All Damage Types & Sizes ✓ 5-Star Pittsburgh Service
Why It Matters Who You Call

Your Plaster Repair Contractor in Pittsburgh

A plaster repair is only finished when you cannot find it. That means matching the texture and the depth of the surrounding wall, not filling the gap and sanding it flat. It is the part most contractors skip and the part we are known for.

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.

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What We Fix

Every Type of Plaster Repair

No repair is too small or too complex. Here are the most common plaster problems Pittsburgh homeowners call us about.

Hairline & Stress Cracks

Small cracks from settling or seasonal movement are filled, stabilized, and blended so they don't return. We address the cause, not just the symptom.

  • Foundation & settling cracks
  • Temperature expansion cracks
  • Long-term stability

Water Damage & Staining

Leaks and moisture leave behind bulging, crumbling plaster and stubborn stains. We remove all compromised material, treat the substrate, and restore the surface.

  • Full damage removal
  • Moisture barrier prep
  • Stain-blocking finish

Hole & Impact Damage

Door knobs, accidents, and renovations leave holes of all sizes. We patch and re-coat so the repair disappears entirely into the surrounding wall.

  • Small nail holes to large sections
  • Texture & color matching
  • Invisible blending

Ceiling Plaster Repair

Sagging, cracked, or fallen ceiling plaster is one of the most common issues in Pittsburgh's older homes. We re-key and restore ceilings safely and properly.

  • Sagging & detached sections
  • Lath & key repair
  • Historic ceiling restoration

Bulging & Delaminating Plaster

Plaster fails from behind before it shows. When the keys gripping the lath break, whole sections come away while the painted face still looks perfectly fine. Press it and it moves.

  • Loose sections re-secured to the lath
  • Only failed material removed
  • Sound original plaster kept

Repairs That Keep Failing

A crack that has been filled twice and opened twice is not a filler problem. Something behind the surface is still moving, and until that is dealt with the same line comes back every year.

  • Cause diagnosed before any filling
  • Movement addressed, not covered
  • Repaired so it does not telegraph back
Our Own Work

One Ceiling, Start to Finish

Three photographs of the same job on one of our own ceilings. Opened up, put back, and finished so the repair does not read.

Ceiling with a large section cut away, exposing joists, insulation and pipework above
Cut back to sound material. The joists and services are exposed above.
New board fitted and base coat applied across the repaired ceiling
Boarded and base coated, blending out past the edge of the original opening.
Finished ceiling skimmed and textured to match the original surface
Finished and textured to match. The repaired area is no longer the part you look at.
Know Your Walls

Plaster vs Drywall: What Is Actually Behind Your Paint

Most homeowners only learn which one they have when something cracks or a hole appears. The two materials are built differently, fail differently, and get fixed differently.

Plaster

Standard in homes built before the late 1940s.

  • Wet coats troweled over wood lath or rock lath, then left to cure hard.
  • Typically runs close to an inch thick, so it deadens sound between rooms well.
  • Cracks and loose sections can usually be repaired without opening the whole wall.
  • Repair is slower and needs a hand that has worked the material before.

Drywall

Standard in new build from the 1950s onward.

  • Paper faced gypsum panels screwed to studs, then taped and coated at the seams.
  • Usually half an inch thick, so it carries sound between rooms more readily.
  • Damaged sections get cut out and replaced with fresh board rather than rebuilt.
  • Faster to hang, cheaper in materials, and easier to finish flat.
How to tell which one you have

Knock on the wall with a knuckle. Plaster feels dense and dull with almost no give, drywall sounds hollow between the studs. Push a pin into an inconspicuous spot: it slides into drywall and stops dead on plaster. If your house predates the late 1940s and the walls have never been gutted, you almost certainly have plaster, and repairing it is usually the better call than tearing it out. If you are working on an addition, a basement, or anything built since, drywall is the honest answer and there is no reason to plaster it.

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Local Service Area

Plaster Repair Across the Greater Pittsburgh Area

Every area we cover has its own page, because the housing stock is not the same from one to the next. Find yours below.

Shadyside

Stately brick homes and pre-war apartments here hold original plaster, so we fix cracks, bulging walls and ceilings without disturbing the rest.

Squirrel Hill

Solid older East End houses carry thick original plaster, and we repair settlement cracks, ceiling damage and failed patches back to flat.

Sewickley

Homes along the Ohio River often carry plaster over a century old, and we stabilize it, fill it and preserve the original surface.

Fox Chapel

Grand estates and custom homes call for repairs that vanish, so we rebuild damaged plaster and match the surrounding texture exactly.

Edgeworth

This historic river borough keeps its heritage architecture, and its original plaster needs careful crack repair rather than tear out and replacement.

Franklin Park

Newer construction dominates here, so most repair work means patching, fixing hard coat plaster and sorting stucco cracks on exteriors.

Bell Acres

Custom homes need custom fixes, and we match existing finishes so a repaired wall reads the same as everything around it.

Bradford Woods

A quiet borough where homeowners want the crack fixed properly once, not covered over and left to open again next winter.

Gibsonia

Newer suburban builds and older character homes sit side by side, so repairs range from simple patches to rebuilding failed plaster.

Upper St. Clair

Well-kept South Hills homes show every flaw, which is why we feather repairs out until the patch disappears under paint.

Allison Park

Properties here run from mid-century to modern, so ceiling repairs, water stains and hairline cracks all get handled the right way.

Wexford

One of the fastest-growing suburbs, so repair here usually means additions, newer hard coat walls and stucco that has started to crack.

Mt. Lebanon

Tudor and Colonial homes here are plaster-heavy, and matching an original texture or profile is the hard part of any repair.

Peters Township

Premium newer housing means fewer lath ceilings and more stucco cracks, patch work and repairs to newer plaster systems throughout the township.

Canonsburg

Older borough homes and newer subdivisions mix here, so one repair is century-old lath and the next is a modern patch.

Mars

This Butler County community keeps growing, and its repair work leans toward interior patching, drywall blending and exterior stucco crack fixes.

Seven Fields

Planned communities built recently hold little original plaster, so repairs focus on stucco detailing, damaged corners and newer interior finishes.

Pine Township

Large lots and quality newer construction mean repair here is usually stucco, hard coat patching and blending a fix into existing texture.

Richland Township

Butler County housing of mixed vintage, where jobs run from a small patch to rebuilding a ceiling after a water leak.

Murrysville

Westmoreland County houses spread across wide lots, and we treat every crack, hole and failing ceiling with the same care.

View All Service Areas
Rooted in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh's Architecture Demands Real Plaster Expertise

Pittsburgh's historic homes weren't built with drywall. They were built with plaster — and they deserve to be repaired with plaster. For five generations, the Merola family has been the team Pittsburgh homeowners call.

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

Pittsburgh's Historic Districts

Pittsburgh is home to dozens of historic districts, from the Mexican War Streets on the North Side to the Schenley Farms Historic District in Oakland. These neighborhoods are filled with homes built between 1880 and 1940, when plaster-and-lath was the only wall system available.

Pre-War Architecture

The brick rowhouses, Craftsman bungalows, and Tudor revivals that define Pittsburgh's residential character were all built with three-coat plaster walls. As these homes age, their plaster develops cracks, bulges, and separates from the lath. Mike Merola & Sons has been repairing pre-war Pittsburgh plaster for five generations — we know exactly what it takes.

The Strip District & South Side

Converted industrial buildings and loft spaces in the Strip District and South Side often feature original plaster on masonry, a specialty repair that demands different techniques than wood-lath construction.

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 Plaster Repair Quote Today

Call us or fill out a quick form. We'll assess your repair needs and provide a free, honest estimate. No pressure, no surprises.

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