Is the crack in my plaster serious?

Usually it's the house moving seasonally at a weak point — cosmetic, and fixable for good with the right materials. Wide cracks paired with bulging or a crunchy feel mean the plaster is separating from its lath, which is still fixable if caught early. We'll tell you which you have.

Can you match my original plaster finish?

Yes — skim-coated repairs finished smooth read exactly like traditional plaster once painted, and we keep the reveals at trim crisp, which is where careless patching gives itself away.

My top-floor ceiling stains every February. Paint or replace?

Neither, first — the ice dam has to stop, which is an attic insulation and air-sealing job. Then we test the ceiling: dry and firm gets sealed and repainted; soft or crumbling comes out. Done in that order, you buy the repair once.

Do you work on the small cottages near the lake?

All of them — cottages, foursquares, and everything between. No job too small, and the batched-visit format works especially well in smaller homes.

Drywall Contractor Lakeside, Duluth MN | Plaster & Repair

Lakeside and Lester Park are Duluth family neighborhoods at their best — street after street of foursquares, bungalows, and cottages from the 1900s through the 1940s, walking distance to the lake. Nearly every one carries original lath and plaster, and nearly every one has an ice-dam story somewhere in its ceiling history. Duluth Drywall works these blocks constantly, and the houses have taught us their patterns.

Drywall Services in Lakeside

Drywall Repair

Plaster cracks, winter movement, and past patch attempts repaired era-appropriately and blended to disappear.

Water Damage Repair

The Lakeside classic — ice-dam staining at the top-floor ceiling line — restored properly, moisture verified first.

Finishing & Texturing

Whole-room skim coats that take century plaster from tired to smooth without losing the character.

Drywall Installation

Kitchen remodels, attic conversions, and additions tied invisibly into the original walls.

Framing

Furring settled walls flat, leveling ceilings, and framing attic kneewalls.

Popcorn Ceiling Removal

Mid-century remuddles reversed — texture off, smooth ceilings back.

The Lakeside Ceiling Line

If there's a signature repair in this neighborhood, it's the stain where the top-floor ceiling meets the exterior wall — the fingerprint of an ice dam pushing meltwater under the shingles. The repair is straightforward when it's caught early; the trap is repainting it annually while the attic keeps making dams. We restore the plaster or board properly, and we'll tell you plainly when the real fix is insulation and air sealing above — because selling you the same ceiling every spring isn't service.

Plaster Worth Keeping

Lakeside plaster is mostly sound and entirely worth saving — it's why these houses sound and feel the way they do. We repair cracks with compatible materials, reattach loose sections to the lath, and skim coat tired rooms whole. Where a previous owner already swapped sections to drywall, we blend the two so the wall reads as one surface. Original trim gets protected like the irreplaceable detail it is.

Nearby Areas We Serve

We also cover Woodland, Congdon, Two Harbors and everything up the shore side of town.

Get a Free Estimate in Lakeside

Call (218) 752-2200 or send a photo through the form — free written estimates, honest triage, repairs that respect the house.

Request Your Free Estimate

Call us or send a message and we'll get right back to you. We answer questions, give honest advice, and schedule estimates fast.

(218) 752-2200

Service Area: Duluth & the entire Twin Ports area

Hours: Monday – Saturday, 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Estimates: Always free, no obligation

Drywall Contractor in Lakeside, MN