My neighbor in the North Valley swore by adobe patch and I doubted him for 8 months
Carlos from two doors down kept telling me to skip the big box store caulk and use the real adobe mud mix for the cracks in my 1950s wall. I figured he was just old school and it would crumble by spring. Finally tried it last month after a 3 foot crack got worse. That stuff is ROCK hard now and blends perfect with the old plaster. He said the secret is letting it dry slow under a wet tarp for 2 days. Has anyone else had a local old-timer give them advice that beat every YouTube tutorial you watched?
Gonna be honest, I've watched the old timers in my area try that adobe trick and it did not hold up the same way for everyone. Part of the problem is that adobe mud mix depends a lot on your local dirt, and what works in the North Valley soil might behave totally different two miles away. The wet tarp thing is real though, that slow cure is what keeps it from cracking out on you. My take is it works great on old plaster and adobe walls but you get in trouble when you slap it over newer drywall or painted surfaces, the stuff needs to breathe or it just pops off.