Water stains on an Eichler wall under the flat roof, cracked plaster in Professorville, the damp over a radiant slab and the knob hole, patched in the right material and primed. Priced in writing on the call.
BBBAccredited BusinessKaminskiy Care and Repair repairs walls and ceilings in Palo Alto homes, where the wall is drywall on an Eichler post-and-beam frame in Fairmeadow or Greenmeadow, 1900s plaster in Professorville or Old Palo Alto, or 1950s board in Midtown and Barron Park. The stain running down an Eichler wall from a clogged roof drain, the damp strip at the base of a wall over a leaking radiant slab, the crack following the lath in a Crescent Park living room, the ring under the hall bath in a College Terrace two-story, the orange peel ceiling in Palo Verde that is tested before anyone sands it, and the anchor holes after a Downtown North lease: each is repaired in its own material, finished to match and primed. Water waits for the source to be fixed and the wall to dry. The price is in writing on the call and most patches are finished in one visit.
Eight repairs, one crew, priced in writing before we start.
An Eichler has no attic and no drywall ceiling: the roof deck is the ceiling, the beams run through the wall to the outside, the heat is in the slab, and the drywall is on the walls only, so water from a flat roof or a slab leak shows on the wall, not overhead. The pre-war neighborhoods north of Oregon Expressway are plaster on lath, and the 1950s tracts south of it are the first drywall with sprayed ceilings. Three kinds of wall, three kinds of repair, and our technicians carry what each one needs.
AFTERBEFORE
Hole & Crack Repair
Water Damage Repair
Ceiling Repair
Texture Matching
Big Patches & Full Sheets
Nail & Anchor Holes
Corner Bead & Cracks
Primed & Ready for PaintEichler, plaster or tract, each of these is routine for our technicians, and the office is twenty minutes down the freeway in Sunnyvale. Say what kind of house it is and the size against your hand, and the price is in writing before anyone drives up.
Priced and on the calendar during the first call.
A written quote you approve before anyone drives out.
One crew, truck stocked, warranty in writing.
A one-year workmanship warranty, in writing, on every Palo Alto drywall repair.
Fairmeadow, Greenmeadow, Charleston Meadows, Meadow Park and the other Eichler tracts were built in the 1950s with post-and-beam frames, a flat or low-pitched roof with no attic, radiant heat in the slab, and a tongue-and-groove roof deck that is also the ceiling. The drywall is on the walls only, often half-inch board between the beams, and water shows on it from two directions: down from a roof that ponded or a drain that clogged, and up from a radiant slab that has sprung a leak. The roofer or the plumber fixes the source, the wall dries and reads dry on the meter, then we replace the stained board, cut cleanly to the beam line and finished smooth, because an Eichler wall is smooth and shows everything.
Professorville, Old Palo Alto, Crescent Park, University South, Downtown North and Community Center were built from the 1890s through the 1930s, and the walls are plaster over wood lath, patched with a bonding agent and a setting compound keyed into the lath and finished to the surface around it. Midtown, Barron Park, Palo Verde, Ventura and the tracts south of Oregon Expressway were built in the 1940s and 1950s with the first drywall, orange peel on the walls and sprayed ceilings. We tell you which wall you have on the first look, and a drywall patch is never screwed into plaster.
A two-story takes water from the bath or the laundry over the living room. A pre-war house takes it from a roof valley or a window frame in a January storm. An Eichler takes it from the flat roof and the slab. The plumber or roofer fixes the source, the board dries and meters dry, then we cut out the stained section and replace it. Dark growth bigger than a dinner plate is a licensed mold remediation company's job first, and we say so on the call.
A ceiling sprayed before 1980 and some joint compound of that era may carry asbestos, and a house built before 1978 may carry lead in its paint, which covers most of Palo Alto. A ceiling from that era is sampled by a licensed lab before anyone scrapes or sands it; abatement, if needed, is a licensed contractor's job before our patch; and painted surfaces are handled lead-safe by a certified firm. One extra step, built into the plan on the call.
Houses from the 1890s through the 1930s with lath and plaster walls, coved ceilings and corners that crumble, many with smooth-skimmed remodels beside the original rooms. Plaster cracks along the lath and goes hollow where the keys have broken; the seam between old and new cracks at the ceiling line. Plaster patched as plaster, smooth finished smooth, and a pre-1978 painted surface handled lead-safe by a certified firm.
Post-and-beam houses from the 1950s with no attic, radiant slabs and drywall on the walls only, finished smooth between the beams. The damage is water from above, a ponded flat roof or a clogged drain, and water from below, a radiant line leaking in the slab, and the fix is a clean cut to the beam line, new board and a smooth finish once the source is fixed and the wall is dry.
Ranch houses from the 1940s and 1950s with orange peel and sprayed ceilings from before 1980 that get tested by a licensed lab before anyone disturbs them, two-stories with the bath over the kitchen, and condos and townhomes with a neighbor above and a rental turnover every summer. We repair your side of a shared ceiling, match the texture and leave it primed for the turnover paint.
Palo Alto is the Peninsula edge of a South Bay crew that works the whole Bay; the Bay Area drywall repair page puts the Eichler tracts, the plaster towns and the East Bay ranches side by side, with every permit desk and the water-damage paperwork explained.
Hold your hand over the damage and tell us: smaller than your hand, bigger than your hand, poster-sized, or a whole sheet. We price it on the call, in writing, in under ten minutes.
Water damage is repaired after the source is fixed. If the stain is still wet we tell you who fixes the leak, and we schedule the drywall for when it is dry.
Backing where it needs it, new board cut to fit, every seam taped, three coats of compound sanded smooth, your texture matched, then primer.
Dust contained and the room left clean. Most patches are finished in one visit; a full sheet may need a short second visit for the final coat, scheduled before we leave.
Palo Alto's own exempt-work sheet, under the state building code, lists painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets other than kitchen cabinets, countertops other than kitchen countertops, and similar finish work as needing no permit. The California Residential Code puts a drywall or plaster patch, a replaced sheet in an existing wall and a ceiling repair in that class, as ordinary repairs. A new opening, a removed wall or a cut beam is a permit, and in the Professorville historic district an exterior change is a Planning question too, so we say so before anyone opens a wall.
The state's insurance department lists sudden and accidental water damage as typically covered by a homeowners policy and water damage from seepage or leaks as generally not; a radiant slab that has dripped for a year is the second kind, and the adjuster will ask. Photograph the stain and the source the day you find them, keep the plumber's or roofer's invoice, and we write the drywall scope on its own line. The source is fixed, the wall dries and meters dry, then we replace it.
Nearly every Palo Alto house predates 1978, so the paint may carry lead and a ceiling sprayed before 1980 may carry asbestos: painted surfaces are handled lead-safe by a certified firm and an older ceiling is sampled by a licensed lab before anyone scrapes it, with abatement by a licensed contractor if it is needed. In an Eichler the heat is in the slab and the wall is the only drywall; a leak in a radiant line is a plumber's job found with thermal imaging, and we replace the damp board only after the line is repaired and the slab has dried.
Can't find your answer? Call 408-916-4022 and ask us anything.
Call 408-916-4022Usually within days; the office is in Sunnyvale, twenty minutes down the freeway. The price is in writing on the call, and most patches are finished in one visit; a plaster repair or a smooth Eichler wall may need a short second visit for the final coat.
Yes. An Eichler wall is drywall between the beams, finished smooth, and it takes water from the flat roof above and the radiant slab below. Once the roofer or the plumber has fixed the source and the wall reads dry, we cut cleanly to the beam line, hang new board and finish it smooth so the repair reads as original. We do not touch the roof or the slab.
Yes, in the houses that have a drywall ceiling: the pre-war plaster ceilings north of Oregon Expressway and the sprayed 1950s ceilings in Midtown, Barron Park and Palo Verde, which are tested by a licensed lab before anyone sands them. An Eichler's tongue-and-groove roof deck is carpentry, not drywall, and we say so.
Almost certainly, if the room is original. Plaster is patched with a bonding agent and a setting compound keyed into the lath, then finished to the sand or smooth surface around it. A drywall patch screwed into plaster fails within a year, and we do not do that one.
Material, size, water and finish: plaster, Eichler smooth or tract drywall; hand-sized, poster-sized or a whole sheet; dry or water-damaged; orange peel or smooth. Say which on the call and the price is in writing in under ten minutes.
Yes. One hole, one crack, one damp corner is a welcome call, and a Downtown North rental with a room of nail and anchor holes is a menu item of its own.
Not for a patch, a replaced sheet or a ceiling repair in an existing wall: the city's exempt-work sheet names painting, papering and similar finish work, and the state code treats ordinary repairs the same way. A new opening, a removed wall or a cut beam is a permit, and we say so first.
All of Palo Alto, Professorville, Old Palo Alto, Crescent Park, Downtown North, Midtown, Barron Park, College Terrace, Palo Verde, Fairmeadow and Greenmeadow, plus Stanford, Menlo Park, Los Altos, Mountain View and East Palo Alto. Call 408-916-4022 to confirm your address.
Describe the wall or ceiling, or text a photo, and we call back with a written price and a time. Calling is still faster: 408-916-4022.
Priced in writing before we start, matched to the wall, warranted in writing.
We answer in under three rings, 24/7.No price games. You get a clear written quote before any work begins, backed by our workmanship warranty.
