lath and plaster repair sand texture wall

#Lath and plaster repair sand texture wall Patch
#Lath and plaster repair sand texture wall plus
#Lath and plaster repair sand texture wall crack

Old houses get a pretty bad rap for their old wiring, but many operate with knob and tube just fine.

#Lath and plaster repair sand texture wall plus

This, plus the potential of a fire hazard makes this a feared technology - so much so that many home insurance companies will charge more if your house has even a little bit of this outdated wiring system. However, this type of wiring isn't grounded, and often can't handle modern appliances and electrical needs. Here's my brief old house electrical 101: Knob and tube wiring is a pretty interesting technology made up of ceramic pieces that route the electrical wire through the walls. Since we knew the walls and ceilings were about to earn a beautiful new coating of texture and new paint, it was the perfect time to tear them open. Remember when I mentioned the phenomenon of 'well, if we're going to do that, we might as well do this?' Well, I did it again. Once we determined that the best way to get rid of the smell was to skim coat the walls, I was glad to be able to replace the walnut walls with a smoother finish. The walnut consistency wasn't my ideal surface, but the old house purist in me felt we needed to keep that original texture.

I was told this wall texture was created by grinding up walnuts and incorporating them into the plaster mix. The original texture was really sandy, and the previous attempts at patches were like extra coarse grit sandpaper.

#Lath and plaster repair sand texture wall Patch

We had this issue in several spots, plus some pretty bad patch jobs, and lots of chipping.

#Lath and plaster repair sand texture wall crack

The bummer with plaster is that after a few California earthquakes and 100 years of the house settling, the plaster can crack and even pull away from the lath. He gets me.Īll this is to say, I love my plaster walls, and would much rather repair them than replace them. When Daniel of Manhattan Nest reworked the walls in his bedroom, he doubled up two layers of 1/2' drywall to mimic the goodness of a thick plaster wall. It feels substantial and does nice things for the room's acoustics. I particularly love how it feels more solid than drywall. Unlike modern-day drywall, plaster and lath is quite thick and therefore is a great sound barrier and provides decent insulation. Once the plaster hardens and gets a few finishing coats, you have a wall! This construction has many perks adored by old house lovers. This is what the back of a plaster and lath wall looks like. Did you click that link and 'accidentally' watch 45 minutes of sloth videos? I sure did. The funny looking fingers are the plaster and the rim of the bucket is the lath. Imagine sloth fingers hooked over the edge of a bucket. The plaster is then coated over the lath with a trowel and pressed into the lath until the plaster oozes between the gaps and hooks onto the back side of the lath. Wood laths are strips of wood about an inch tall that are installed horizontally and attached to the wall studs with small gaps between each strip.

Turn to Chip and Joanna for all things shiplap, and refer to This Old House for all things old homes. There are so many other great resources that cover other wall materials and styles such as gypsum board, shiplap, etc.

Before I get into why the walls needed repair (other than to remedy the smell), I'll kick off with some old house wall 101 on plaster and lath, which is a common construction for lots of American homes at the turn of the century.