Paints used to repair and strengthen drywall and plaster were among the early products that the company introduced, as were chemical resistant coatings and protective paints and finishes for concrete floors.

The tenants were thereby given an opportunity to obtain coal for fuel, stones for repairing the old gatehouse and plaster for the walls.

Learn how to repair cracked plaster.

More than 40 architects, builders, restorers, landscape designers, academicians and artisans will be on hand to lecture, advise and demonstrate everything from repairing old plaster to making 19th-century nosegays, to restoring antique furniture, lining chimneys, reproducing quilts, rugs and faux finishes.

Before repairing badly cracked plaster, remove any old plaster that is loose or seems to be bulging away from the lath behind it.

Repairing cracked plaster may sometimes require you to make the crack bigger before you fix it.

Here are the tools you'll want to have when repairing cracked plaster: