![]() ![]() Like their earlier counterparts, modern plaster walls are created by smoothing plaster over lath (usually metal lath designed to hold plaster). The best (but messiest) way to update to drywall is to completely demolish the old walls, tearing out the plaster and lath all the way down to the studs, and then updating the wiring and insulation before installing new drywall panels. As mentioned above, this tends to leave voids in the stud spaces. The only way to add insulation is to drill holes in the exterior siding and blow in fiber or cellulose insulation. Small runs are cut through the original plaster at the bottoms of the walls in order to install new wiring, and then drywall panels are installed over the plaster. This is the simplest and least messy way to go, but not necessarily the most efficient. You may cover the old plaster by installing drywall panels on top. Updating to drywall is typically done in one of two ways: This is usually done as part of a larger remodeling project and often includes the addition of new wiring and insulation (if necessary to meet code). If your plaster walls have seen better days, you may be eager to upgrade to drywall panels. If this is the case, the best way to ensure the walls remain in good shape is to regularly inspect them and have cracks repaired as soon as they’re noticed. For many, plaster walls are a big part of an older home’s historical charm, and they’re well worth keeping intact. ![]() As long as they’re in decent condition (not falling away from the lath in chunks), you may opt to leave them as they are. If you live in a house that was built before 1940 and the walls haven’t been updated, they are most likely plaster. When moisture from leaks saturates the wood laths, it increases the risk of chunks of plaster releasing and falling from the wall. Beginning in the 1970s, blown-in fiber insulation was added to many lath and plaster homes, but plaster obstructions and wood blocks within the stud spaces didn’t allow for even distribution, so the entire portions of walls didn’t receive any insulation. ![]() ![]() Older homes with lath and plaster walls rarely contain sufficient insulation in their stud spaces. That’s because the bottoms of stud spaces are often filled with a few inches of fallen plaster, which block the space and prohibit an electrician from “fishing” new wiring through the walls. It’s difficult to retrofit lath and plaster walls with new wiring without cutting into the walls. If the settling is substantial, chunks of plaster are likely to fall off the lath framework. When they do, plaster, which is hard and brittle, can often crack. If your existing home has lath and plaster walls – or if you’d like to incorporate new plaster walls in a remodeling project – keep reading to learn more about this old construction method that’s gaining new attention from fans. Lath and plaster construction is definitely an old school technique, but when compared to drywall, it has a few surprising benefits. When drywall panels came about in the 1950s, they soon replaced lath and plaster as a quicker, easier install option. Builder’s nailed thin, closely spaced strips of wood (lath) to wall studs and then smoothed multiple coatings of plaster over the lath to form flat wall surfaces. Ever since the 1700s and all the way through the 1940s, lath and plaster was the interior wall construction method of choice. ![]()
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