Steam-pipe and radiator walls, the ceiling under a nor'easter ice dam, cracked horsehair plaster in the triple-decker and the condo ceiling under the unit above, repaired and primed. Priced in writing on the call.
BBBAccredited BusinessKaminskiy Care and Repair repairs walls and ceilings in Boston homes, most of which were plastered before drywall was invented. The triple-deckers of Dorchester, South Boston and Charlestown and the Victorians of Jamaica Plain and Roslindale carry horsehair plaster on wood lath; the Back Bay and South End brownstones carry plaster on brick and on lath; the remodeled units carry blueboard with a veneer plaster skim, which is Boston's own version of drywall. Then a winter arrives. A steam pipe or a radiator valve lets go in a January cold snap and soaks the wall below; a nor'easter leaves two feet of snow on a flat roof or a slate roof and the ice dam that follows stains the top-floor ceiling in February; the condo trust meets about the ceiling in unit two that the shower pan in unit three caused. Each wall is repaired in the material it was built in, finished to match and primed. Water waits for the plumber or the roofer and a dry meter reading. 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.
Boston walls are old, layered and heated by steam, and the winter finds every weak spot. Horsehair plaster cracks along the lath and bows away from it; blueboard with a veneer skim shows every careless patch; the ceiling under the radiator upstairs stains in a ring. We repair plaster as plaster, veneer as veneer and drywall as drywall, match the finish and leave it primed, and we say on the first look which wall you have.
AFTERBEFORE
Hole & Crack Repair
Water Damage Repair
Ceiling Repair
Texture Matching
Big Patches & Full Sheets
Nail & Anchor Holes
Corner Bead & Cracks
Primed & Ready for PaintHorsehair plaster, veneer plaster and drywall are three different repairs and our technicians do all three. Say which you think you have and the size against your hand, and the price is in writing on the call before anyone drives over.
We answer in under three rings and get you priced and scheduled in minutes.
A clear, written quote with upfront pricing. You approve before work begins.
Kaminskiy-certified pros finish the job with a workmanship warranty.
Every drywall repair carries our one-year workmanship warranty, in writing, and is done by a Kaminskiy-certified, background checked technician.
Before about 1940 the city was plastered on wood lath with hair in the mix: three coats, hard as stone until a key breaks, and then a section goes hollow and bows. From the 1980s on, Boston remodelers used blueboard, a gypsum board faced for a veneer plaster skim, so the smooth walls in a renovated condo are plaster over board, not paint over drywall. Ordinary drywall shows up in the newer townhouses, the finished basements and the 1950s to 1970s houses of West Roxbury and Hyde Park. A crack, a hole or a stain in each is repaired differently: plaster keyed back to the lath or reattached with washers, veneer skimmed to a hard, smooth coat, drywall patched and textured. Using the wrong one is the repair that shows.
Boston heats with steam and hot water, and the pipes run inside the walls of houses that were not built with insulation. A cold snap freezes a riser in an outside wall or a radiator valve weeps all season, and the plaster below it softens, stains and lets go of the lath. The plumber fixes the valve or the pipe, the wall dries and reads dry on the meter, then the stained plaster or board comes out and new material goes in, keyed, taped or skimmed to match. Painted over wet, the stain bleeds through by spring.
Two feet of snow, a thaw, a hard freeze: the ice dam backs meltwater up under the shingles or the slate and it comes through the top-floor ceiling or down the inside of an exterior wall, worst on the triple-decker roofs and the Victorian eaves. The roofer clears the dam and fixes the flashing or the ventilation; the ceiling dries; then we replace the stained section, or reattach and skim the plaster if it is only loose. A sagging ceiling or dark growth bigger than a dinner plate is a licensed mold remediation company's job before ours, and we say so on the call.
In a triple-decker condominium or a Back Bay building the leak upstairs and the ceiling downstairs belong to different owners, and the condominium trust's master deed and the association's policy decide who pays for what crosses the floor. We repair the ceiling on your side after the source is fixed and the board reads dry, write the scope as its own line, and leave the question of who pays to the documents. The trustee or the property manager who needs the list priced in writing gets it on the call.
Three-family wood houses from the 1890s through the 1920s with horsehair plaster on lath, steam and hot-water pipes in the walls, flat or low roofs that hold an ice dam, and three owners under one condominium trust. Plaster cracks along the lath and bows at the ceiling; the wall below the radiator stains; the ceiling under the unit above rings. Plaster patched as plaster, the scope written per unit, and a pre-1978 painted surface handled lead-safe by a certified firm.
Victorians, Queen Annes and 1920s colonials with plaster walls and ornamental ceilings, plus the 1950s to 1970s houses with the city's first drywall and sprayed ceilings that get tested by a licensed lab before anyone disturbs them. The eave ice dam, the radiator wall, the finished attic in drywall, the finished basement that took the spring water. Each repaired in its own material and finished to match.
Masonry rowhouses from the 1850s to the 1900s with plaster on brick, plaster on lath, party walls that pass water from the neighbor's roof deck, and renovated units in blueboard and veneer plaster. Bubbling plaster on a party wall, the ceiling under the roof deck, the hairline cracks in a veneer skim, the condo ceiling under the unit above. Repaired in kind, skimmed smooth, the landmark rules in mind for anything that touches the street face.
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.
The Massachusetts State Building Code, 780 CMR, lists painting, papering, tiling and similar finish work as needing no permit and says ordinary repairs need no application; a plaster or drywall patch, a replaced section in an existing wall or a ceiling repair is that work. Boston Inspectional Services issues a short-form permit for minor alterations and repairs that open a wall without changing the structure, and we tell you before the job when a repair is big enough to need one. Cutting away a wall, removing a structural member or changing an egress is a full permit and a different job.
The Massachusetts Division of Insurance says coverage for a sudden and accidental pipe burst depends on the house having been kept heated and not left unoccupied, and an ice dam loss is usually covered while a radiator that wept all season usually is not. Photograph the stain and the source the day you find them, keep the plumber's or roofer's invoice, and we write the plaster or drywall scope as its own line so it reads cleanly beside theirs. We do not touch the pipe, the boiler or the roof; new material goes in only after the meter says the framing is dry.
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 183A and the master deed decide whether the trust or the owner upstairs pays for the ceiling below in a triple-decker or a Back Bay building; we repair your side, write the scope separately and leave who pays to the documents. Nearly every Boston wall was painted before 1978, so the painted surface is handled lead-safe by a certified firm, and a ceiling sprayed or a compound applied before 1980 may carry asbestos: tested by a licensed lab, abatement by a licensed contractor if needed, before our patch.
Can't find your answer? Call 617-606-4859 and ask us anything.
Call 617-606-4859The written price comes back on the call, usually in under ten minutes, and the visit is booked from there. Most drywall and veneer patches are finished in one visit; a horsehair plaster repair, a reattached ceiling or a wall that is still drying after a pipe gets a short second stop for the last coat, scheduled before our technician leaves.
Knock on it. Dense and solid in a house from before 1940 is horsehair plaster on lath. Hard and perfectly smooth in a unit renovated since the 1980s is veneer plaster over blueboard. Hollow and papery is drywall. Each is repaired its own way and our technicians tell you which you have on the first look, because the wrong patch is the one that shows.
A roofer clears the ice dam and fixes the flashing or the ventilation that caused it, the ceiling dries and reads dry on the meter, then we replace the stained section or reattach and skim loose plaster. The order matters: patch it before the roof is fixed and the next storm brings the stain back.
No, and we say so on the call. The plumber or the heating contractor fixes the riser or the valve; we repair the wall after it dries. The stained plaster or board below the pipe comes out, the framing is checked, new material goes in, keyed to the lath or taped and skimmed, and the finish is matched.
That is a question for the master deed and the trust's policy under Chapter 183A, not for us. We repair the ceiling on your side once the source is fixed and the board reads dry, and we write the scope as its own line so the trustees and the adjusters can read it.
Material first: horsehair plaster, veneer plaster or drywall. Then size, water and finish: a crack, hand-sized, poster-sized or a whole ceiling; dry or water-damaged; skimmed smooth or textured. Give us those on the call and the price is in writing before anything is scheduled.
All of Boston, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Hyde Park, South Boston, Charlestown, Brighton and Back Bay, plus Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, Newton, Quincy and Milton. Call 617-606-4859 to confirm your address.
Tell us what the wall or ceiling looks like, or text us a photo. We'll call you back with a price and a time. Calling is still the fastest way: 617-606-4859.
Priced in writing before we start. Kaminskiy-certified technicians. A one-year workmanship warranty on every job.
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.
