Call or Text 716-697-3560 Today!

Official Carrigan Painting Website

For 16+ years we have maintained a 5 star rating with over 50 5 star reviews on Google.

Repairing Plaster - It's What We Do

I learned how to repair plaster on jobsites, not from YouTube. My father owned Carrigan Plastering, and after settling his estate, I founded Carrigan Painting in 2010. Plaster repair is not an add-on service for us, it is a core trade. We enjoy diagnosing and restoring damaged plaster ceilings in Western New York homes.

plaster ceiling cornice repair, Williamsville NY.

Brief History of
Traditional Plaster in WNY

Between the late 1800s and the mid 1900s, neighborhoods in Amherst, Buffalo, Cheektowaga, and surrounding towns filled with homes built when plaster was the standard wall and ceiling finish. Drywall did not become common in residential construction until the 1960s, so most homes built before then relied on hybrid-plaster systems of lime and gypsum plasters. Wood-lath was replaced with rock-lath(which looks like drywall from the backside) in the 1940's.
Those systems are not all the same. In fact, Buffalo NY developed a somewhat unique combination of materials that reflected both traditional craftsmanship and emerging innovation.
Read more: The Unique History of Residential Plaster in Buffalo NY

Few modern contractors understand how plaster fails, why cracks return, or how improper repairs can lead to sub-standard results. We do. Our methods have been refined over decades of hands-on experience, allowing us to repair ugly plaster ceilings correctly, not cosmetically. This places us among a very small group of contractors in WNY still offering true plaster restoration.

Be sure to check out the largest Portfolio of Plaster Repairs in WNY. (200+ photos)

716-632-7151

The same Williamsville phone number has been associated with Carrigan-family plaster work since the era of rotary phones.

Recent Plaster Repairs
around Western New York


Since mid-2024, we have documented nearly every project on The Carrigan Archives—a publicly accessible reference library
of real plaster repairs, complete with photos, video and job notes. These are not stock images or staged examples.

Full Service
Plaster Repair

At Carrigan Painting we prime and paint our repair-work. Because of this, we have had the unique opportunity to see our repairs all the way through to completion. This has provided us valuable insights into refining our technique to provide the most seamless repair possible.

a large plaster ceiling patch in Williamsville NY.


716-697-3560
Professional Plaster Repair

The restoration of plaster ceilings presents unique challenges for contractors to contend with not found in modern building systems. Most will attempt to adapt modern building techniques with old plastering systems often with sub optimal results. (Why removing the wood-lath and installing drywall to repair plaster is a bad idea.)

However at Carrigan Painting we use real plaster whenever possible. A traditional plaster patch is superior to a drywall patch in every way - except dry time. It requires 3-14 days to dry depending upon thickness.

If your home was built prior to the 1940's your walls and ceilings are most likely wood-lath, in which case the plaster could be an inch thick or more. Where as homes built from 1940 - 1965 are generally built with rocklath (often mistaken for drywall), the plaster averages out to be around 1/2" - 1" thick. After 1965 all new home construction was/is drywall.

plaster bulge in wall. During repair, finished plaster patch photo collage

716-697-3560
Free Quotes.

Plaster is finished by hand. The entire surface is trowelled and polished using special finishing trowels. While finishing plaster with drywall knives may be possible, its not practical given the fact that plaster is not sticky.


large plaster ceiling patch.

We Protect our Clients & our Employees

All employees are covered with Workmans Compensation Insurance as required by New York and we carry $1,000,000 in liability.

Documented Results

We provide the most comprehensive archive of documented results in WNY - The Carrigan Archives

We honor our Contract

We honor the price on our Contract so there are no surprises! Plaster damage can be deceivingly substantial.

*
Reviews
  • All of our reviews are organic
  • Google Reviews
  • Facebook Reviews
  • Katheryn R-W.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

    Eggertsville, New York.

    Amazing work on plaster repairs and painting in our entry hall. We have an older home with a large curved ceiling, and Carrigan were the only people we trusted to actually repair the plaster ceiling. The other companies we received quotes from wanted to cover with squared off drywall. They did gorgeous work - just as good as brand new. Pleasant to work with and finished on time and below budget.

Raymond S.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clarence NY.

David promised a top notch job and fully delivered on his promise. David and Stacy were thoughtful and hardworking. A pleasure to have in the house. I would wholeheartedly recommend them.

Maryjo J.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

West Seneca NY.

After upgrading the plumbing, I wanted a contractor that was going to close up the openings with plaster and NOT drywall. After calling several “plaster repair contractors” and SPECIFICALLY telling them that I wanted original type plaster, and not drywall, many came out and gave me an estimate for drywall and joint compound! Dave Carrigan, on the other hand, understood exactly what I wanted: to restore the walls and ceiling to the original type of plaster. The only caveat was that he had a four to six week waiting list (to me that demand was for good reason, a sign of the quality of his work). Dave’s estimate was a written one with everything spelled out, unlike some other contractors’, which were verbal and with a cost “range.”

James R.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Snyder, NY.

This is my first review for Carrigan Painting although they have now completed two separate projects for us. For our first project I had four separate painting companies come out to estimate a repair for a very large 12 ft vaulted ceiling that sustained heavy water damage and black mold. Not only was Carrigan the most inexpensive option but their work was absolutely phenomenal. This is exactly why we hired them back for our second project to repair separate and fresh water damage to another area of the home. Once again the work was timely, efficient and most importantly, it once again looks like a brand new ceiling....

Cheryl S.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Clarence NY.

Dave and Stacey were fantastic! Prompt, professional, organized, tidy and did a wonderful job on repairing and painting damage to walls throughout our house. Highly recommend.

Jonathan D.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Williamsville NY.

Great work and great customer service. Explained everything that was done clearly and completely. Highly recommend!!

Susan M.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Snyder NY.

Repairs to plaster walls, ceiling, and cement board after galvanized pipes were replaced with pex. The work was done in a very professional manner, respecting and protecting our home as it was completed....

Read More

Nancy F.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pendleton NY.

We love having Dave and Stacey do work for us. They are such good and honest people and so nice to have around. They work very hard and are so careful about everything. The first time they did a lot of plastering and painting for us...

Our service area
Map of Carrigan Painting's service area in Western New York
Please note that we work exclusively in the suburbs of Buffalo NY.

716-697-3560



5 stars, 16 years strong. Get Your Quote with Confidence