#Tearing down lath and plaster walls professional#

20 yards of material came out of a 10 x 15 room. Ripped out the drywall, then the lathe and plaster underneath along with the tile floor on top of mesh/thinset on top of plywood on top of linoleum on the original subfloor. I did the demo work on my kitchen down to the bones. So they did the plumbing and then built a 2x4 wall spaced a solid 12-14 inches in from the brick instead of making a small bulkhead for the plumbing stack and stay tight to the exterior brick wall which is what I did to gain 10% more floor space in the room while still insulating that exterior brick wall.Īnd yeah - gutting a lathe and plaster room sucks. Again, in hindsight I might have gutted both rooms and made a very nice small 2nd floor bathroom where it was originally and gain the bedroom back but 24 years later and one child, we've had plenty of room to live and grow here. They decided to use it as a large bathroom and turn the 5 x 7 adjacent room into a 2nd floor laundry. This 10x8 room wasn't a bathroom originally - it was a bedroom. The electrical and plumbing were done before I bought the house and before the previous owner reno'd it for a flip. In hindsight I should have framed it with 2x4 for more insulation and just done a jamb extension but these were early days in my reno experience and I wanted to keep it simple/save as many sq ft as I could. I didn't want to create a thick wall where the window was. On the wall to the left, which has a window, we left the original vertical strapping in place, put foam insulation between the boards and then vapour barrier/drywall. I presume it is a way to provide a flat smooth surface to then apply lathe and plaster to as well as provide a modicum of air sealing. I'm no expert in old masonry methods, but on the interior of the brick walls there is a skim coat of plaster/cement material. Probably spend that saved time clearing up the mess tearing a plaster wall down creates though Thank you for your suggestions, we really appreciate it.

#Tearing down lath and plaster walls professional#

We got the 3rd idea as well but professional drywall's said its not recommended as in future if plaster start peeling off or crumbles, then it gives load to drywall and then drywall becomes bad and cracks. it's just strange when you start drilling into it or hanging frames. you'll lose a bit of space but it looks quite good. a 3rd option that people do and whoever lived at my place before me did in one of my rooms, is to put up drywall over your lathe and plaster. if i re-insulated the inside, i would immediately need to strip and insulate the outside otherwise there's going to be major major problem. My house isn't brick as it as wood siding (and aluminum siding layered over top from the 50s or 60s or 70s). if you seal up one side of your walls airtight, you can trap moisure in there. Remember vapor barrier didn't exist back then and houses weren't sealed air tight like they are today.

THis is also your opportunity to do wire runs which will cost you.

Once you open them, you're going to need to repair some old 2x4's, re-plumb a lot of stuff. i've looked at the walls as they're in terrible shape but it's way too much of a bad bad hole you'll be going down. I've upgraded the wiring and the plumbing.

I have a 120 yr old home with lathe and plaster.