Plaster vs. Dry Wall
The one thing I find comforting in life is that there are always new things to learn. Unfortunately, some of these new things you learn come at a cost - and a lot of extra work. I've only ever had dry wall in the homes i've lived in. I honestly didn't know that there were other types. No one teaches you this. So when I went into the second bedroom with a crowbar to pull out some old wood that held up a shelf, how was I supposed to know that I would end up with eight giant holes in the wall? Seriously, someone explain this to me. Now I need to learn how to apply plaster to walls. The other option is just dry walling over it.Has anyone had any experience with this? Would anyone recommend replacing all the plaster walls or is that just insane?
posted by Alex @ 3:55 PM
4 Comments:
IT IS INSANE!
There is a reason why only the nicest houses build now have even veneer plaster to say nothing about traditional plaster. Plaster walls are almost always worth saving and fixing. There is really now way to replicate the feel, the look, the sound deadening, the thermal mass, the uniformity, and the mold resistance of plaster. There should be people in you area that still replace or install plaster. If you do decide to repair it yourself make sure that you use something harder and closer to plaster than sheetrock mud. Stay away from the junk in the 1 and 5 gal. containers. The quality of that suff is a good match for sheetrock, but not a good match for original plaster.
If the holes are big, staple some metal lath or grid wire to the wood lath. Wet the edges of the existing plaster with a spray bottle of weter. Mix up some patching plaster with some sand and apply but keep the surface below that of the existing plaster. This is your "Browncoat". When this has set or almost set you have two choices. Either applt a top coat of joint compound or mix some hydrated lime (masons lime) with the patching plaster which makes it more malleable.
If the holes are small and the lath not exposed ignore the metal lath part. If you still have an uneven surface after applying plaster you can skim with joint compound. The two important things are 1) wet the existing plaster so it doesn't suck the moisture out of the new stuff and 2) apply the plaster keeping it below the surface level of the existing wall so as to prevent the unsightly bulge that often occurs that is hard to sand flat after the plaster has dried.
I got an email from my mom this morning - it read - "Dad read your house blog about the plaster and suggests that
you don't do anything until he gets up there - just a suggestion."
Sounds like Dad to the rescue- which is probably a good thing I am guessing. We have done just what Gary described and also skim coated old plaster walls that look great after a few years and still going strong. Unless your walls are seriously trashed, and a few holes would not make them unsave-able at all- I'd vote to keep the plaster also- just read up and do it right or get Dad's help if he knows!
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