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We have a house built in the 1950s that has no overhang on the front (above the front door and window). This has led to water damage above the window from ice building up on the roof. We will be adding heating materials to the roof to avoid the ice problem, but I need to repair the wall damage inside. The wall has texture, which has been crumbling off, and the material underneath seems dry. How do I go about fixing this? I'm not concerned with adding texture back. I just want to fix the cracks, patch it up, and paint it. There isn't lath as far as I can see. In the past, I have used latex spackel to fix a much smaller issue on another window. This is much bigger.
detail of wall

top corner crack

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    You can't see the lath because not enough of the plaster has chipped away, but it's quite likely that this is a plaster & lath wall. It could be a skim coat of plaster over drywall, but I'm not certain when drywall came out (or if this was remodeled after that time). My money is on plaster & lath.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Aug 18, 2021 at 22:51
  • What does the wall look like on the outside? is it double-skinned? Does it have a lintel? If so, what's it made of? I've seen modern double-glazing put in on old-fashioned lintel-less windows without correctly shoring up - result, the next course of brick eventually falls onto the new frame, bringing a section of plaster with it.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Aug 19, 2021 at 18:49
  • If it's 1950s be sure you test for lead paint. Sanding lead paint can cause you serious health problems.
    – Machavity
    Commented Aug 20, 2021 at 2:30

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I would find it hard to believe that with that much damage to the interior surface, that there is not serious damage to the interior frame elements, including dry rot now.

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  • It looks like a relatively modern replacement glazing unit - they've probably not bothered to support the existing lintel, if there was one, & it's just dropped til it hits the new frame. Gobbing it up will work 9/10 - on the 10th try the entire course will fall out ;)
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Aug 22, 2021 at 17:57
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I have lots of plaster lathe in my house, this is almost certainly plaster lathe. They top coated it with plaster to give it the texture.

As long as all other issues are fixed, and you have no mold in the wall or other issues from the water damage, then some all purpose joint compound and sanding will fix up the cracks, toss on a coat of paint and your good to go.

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