![]() This article isn’t about asbestos, but be careful and have the plaster tested if it might be an issue and you think you have reason for concern.Īnyway, some of the scratch coat of plaster oozed through the gaps between the lath strips. Some sources say that asbestos wasn’t used all that much in typical residential plaster work, but certainly it was used sometimes at least. This seems to be possible for plaster made anywhere between about 1910-1990 with greater likelihood between around 1940-1980. ![]() It is also possible that asbestos could have been included in the plaster mix. Horsehair was commonly used in the early years, and is fairly easily identified as such in broken chunks of plaster. The plaster used in this coat was relatively soft, and was reinforced with some sort of fiber for strength. These strips were nailed with gaps of around a quarter inch between them.Ī thick first coat (the ‘scratch coat’) of plaster was then applied on top of the lath. Lath strips were made of rough cut wood, generally around an inch to an inch and a half wide, by around a quarter inch thick. As a base for the plaster to adhere to, wooden strips of ‘lath’ were then nailed horizontally across the wall studs (and ceiling joists). ![]() The process was that stud wall frames were built, in a similar manner to today’s framed walls. Which is … oh yes … lath and plaster repair!īefore the advent of large convenient commercially produced sheets of perfectly flat and characterless drywall, walls were hand plastered over strips of wooden lath. Anyway, this is not an article about the perhaps unfairly derided, but certainly due for an update, knob and tube wiring system! The horizontal bit of wire we see is encased in a porcelain ‘tube’ that protects the wire where it travels through wall studs (although the tube pictured here is longer than standard for a single stud). The wires secured to porcelain standoff ‘knobs’ on either side of the cavity would have been ‘hot’ on one side of the cavity and ‘neutral’ on the other. This is more or less exactly how the wall would have looked from this angle a hundred years ago when it was freshly made, minus a bit of patina.īTW, yes, those wires we see above are part of the infamous, much maligned ‘knob and tube’ electrical system of days gone by. In the picture above, we have a behind-the-scenes look at a typical lath and plaster wall section, between a couple of wall studs. Like, how it’s faithfully held together for the last hundred years or so before finally falling apart a bit on you now… To understand what’s going wrong, let’s first look at how lath and plaster is supposed to work. ![]() So what are we supposed to do now? (Hint: Heading out to a bar that doesn’t have plaster all over the floor and ignoring the situation is not the correct answer). Either way, loose walls, loose ceiling, wall or ceiling plaster all over the floor, our old lath and plaster is in need of some urgent maintenance. Hopefully, we’ve discovered the situation before our walls and ceiling start falling off altogether, when they’re still at the ‘loose’ stage. So, what gives with this newly gravity challenged plaster? What do we do when we come home to a living room full of plaster ceiling all over the floor? It is always best to catch things early and repair before things get worse. Which will only make the eventual repair that much harder. To reiterate, once (and if) you notice loose sections of plaster, it is only a matter of time before they start to crack, crumble and fall. Maybe a section of the plaster has already fallen off and lies in crumbled bits on the floor.Īll of a sudden, the question of how the heck this gets fixed becomes very much front of mind. Sooner or later, that loose plaster will crack, break, and fall off the underlying lath altogether. You can gently press it back in to place where it feels secure, but when you release, it loosens up again. ![]() It happens eventually.Ī sure sign that something is wrong is when a section of the plaster wall (or ceiling) starts to feel loose – like it is floating over the underlying lath rather than being securely attached to it. After many decades of faithful service, the old lath and plaster walls and ceilings in your home have started to fail. ![]()
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