farmhouse tear down

[Bret Chase]

Semtex is entirely stable, thankfully (can hit it with a hammer, light it on fire, run it over with your car), but you did the right thing calling for disposal- it could also lead them to ask questions about the origin.

Now old dynamite... maybe different story

They did ask... I told them the truth.... I don't know... the previous owner is deceased.

 

[Whitepine2]

Just an FYI, most of the old plaster contains asbestos. Be safe.

Too late I'm a gonna die,guess slow death cause it's been 40 years now!

 

[jharkin]

No undoing it now... but any particular reason why you wanted to gut the place? Was the plaster failing? Its hard to tell from the photos but the old insulation looks like grey blown in cellulose.. if it is its not that old and actually quite harmless. One of the best options for retrofit insulation actually in an older house when you want to retain original detail and charm.

I wish prior owners of my place hadnt ripped out all the original plaster. Kept maintained a good plaster job can outlive us all and has some advantages over drywall.

 

[peakbagger]

A friend years ago was rehabbing an old house including a bathroom. In some old medicine cabinets there was a slot to dispose of old razor blades that would fall into the wall cavity. When they pooped open the wall in that area they found all sorts of coins and no razor blades.

 

[Clarkbug]

No undoing it now... but any particular reason why you wanted to gut the place? Was the plaster failing? Its hard to tell from the photos but the old insulation looks like grey blown in cellulose.. if it is its not that old and actually quite harmless. One of the best options for retrofit insulation actually in an older house when you want to retain original detail and charm.

I wish prior owners of my place hadnt ripped out all the original plaster. Kept maintained a good plaster job can outlive us all and has some advantages over drywall.

Any good tips for patching plaster? Going to pull down the sweet fake wood paneling in several rooms soon, and its plaster underneath. Probably going to hang shiplap over it to clean things up, bit if the plaster is in decent shape, I would love to save it.

 

[brian89gp]

A friend years ago was rehabbing an old house including a bathroom. In some old medicine cabinets there was a slot to dispose of old razor blades that would fall into the wall cavity. When they pooped open the wall in that area they found all sorts of coins and no razor blades.

I'll be. I've done a few houses that I find these wall cavities full of razor blades. The medicine cabinet was long gone so I was always left puzzled as to why there were all these blades in the wall.

 

[brian89gp]

Any good tips for patching plaster? Going to pull down the sweet fake wood paneling in several rooms soon, and its plaster underneath. Probably going to hang shiplap over it to clean things up, bit if the plaster is in decent shape, I would love to save it.

Use lime on lime, gypsum on gypsum. Plaster washers on loose plaster. The application of the repair material is similar to drywall mud on drywall, except it dries much slower and is not really sandable at least in the case of lime. Also a lot of old types of paint will make it very difficult for any new repairs to bond unless it is a mechanical bond (scoring the original surface or attaching metal lath etc)

 

[semipro]

Any good tips for patching plaster? Going to pull down the sweet fake wood paneling in several rooms soon, and its plaster underneath. Probably going to hang shiplap over it to clean things up, bit if the plaster is in decent shape, I would love to save it.

I've seen somewhere where setting-type drywall compound was used for plaster repairs. Just throwing it out there, don't know enough about it to recommending it.

 

[Ashful]

Just an FYI, most of the old plaster contains asbestos. Be safe.

most of the old plaster contains horse hair... and lime.

I think you two have different definitions of "old". Asbestos plaster was a thing of the mid-20th century, not old. Bret's lime and horse-hair plaster is 18th into 19th century, with portland coming into the mix starting around 1860.

Now, why in the world would anyone tear out plaster and lathe? To replace with cheap, temporary, and less attractive drywall? Do you have any idea what a good plaster and lathe job costs, today??? I've never seen a case where the structure was good as yours, and the plaster was beyond repair.

Any good tips for patching plaster? Going to pull down the sweet fake wood paneling in several rooms soon, and its plaster underneath. Probably going to hang shiplap over it to clean things up, bit if the plaster is in decent shape, I would love to save it.

Check out Big Wally's Plaster Magic. I've used it on two rooms so far, and it's holding very well. If you give them a call, they'll talk to you about plaster repair well into the evening. Really excellent product, with great support behind it: http://www.plastermagic.com/

The other option is the traditional screw and washer technique, with new top coats. Definitely works, but you're adding thickness and weight, and you're going to want to redo all of your trimwork, if you go that route. Plaster Magic might give you another 40 years or more, before you have to go to screw and washer.

 

[Bret Chase]

I think you two have different definitions of "old". Asbestos plaster was a thing of the mid-20th century, not old. Bret's lime and horse-hair plaster is 18th into 19th century, with portland coming into the mix starting around 1860.

Now, why in the world would anyone tear out plaster and lathe? To replace with cheap, temporary, and less attractive drywall? Do you have any idea what a good plaster and lathe job costs, today??? I've never seen a case where the structure was good as yours, and the plaster was beyond repair.

I have been tearing out the plaster in my house... because the only thing holding it up was habit.... and the wall paper. There's only so much repair that can be done when the nails have pulled out of the riven lath. I also needed to remove the last remaining knob & tube.

in the unused two upstairs rooms..... there is no saving the plaster.... it's done. and I'd like to get above a r-lol in the ceiling assembly.

 

[Ashful]

Riven lathe! [drool] The lathe in this house is about 50 years newer than the house, installed during a major make-over around 1820, and thus it's sawn.

Yeah, in your case Bret, I understand. However, the OP's structure seems to be in excellent shape. I can't imagine the plaster was that bad.

In my last house, we left all the old knob and tube in place. None of it was in use anymore, those circuits having been redone in Romex, it was just hanging out there.

 

[Clarkbug]

Check out Big Wally's Plaster Magic. I've used it on two rooms so far, and it's holding very well. If you give them a call, they'll talk to you about plaster repair well into the evening. Really excellent product, with great support behind it: http://www.plastermagic.com/
The other option is the traditional screw and washer technique, with new top coats. Definitely works, but you're adding thickness and weight, and you're going to want to redo all of your trimwork, if you go that route. Plaster Magic might give you another 40 years or more, before you have to go to screw and washer.

Thanks for the info! Ill check it out and might give it a shot. Would love to keep the plaster alive and well if I can...less work for me, less $, and I am trying to keep the old house as original as I can. Definitely keeping the windows, which has been a challenge, but appreciate that I can fix them and rebuild them myself without having to replace them.

 

[jharkin]

Check out Big Wally's Plaster Magic. I've used it on two rooms so far, and it's holding very well. If you give them a call, they'll talk to you about plaster repair well into the evening. Really excellent product, with great support behind it: http://www.plastermagic.com/

Thanks for this link! - I'll have to check it out the next time I need to do any repair. Ive only got 3 rooms left with plaster and so far only had one big nasty crack to deal with that I managed by opening up the crack a bit, using plaster washers and then filling with patching plaster. Its held up one winter OK but looking at the plaster magic site that would have been a better fix.

 

[Ashful]

Damn, Jeremy... I thought you'd have known about this stuff! It's not cheap, but I'm satisfied. I always use 2x - 3x more than I plan and purchase, not because I'm using more than recommended, but because the project always grows by 2x - 3x what I see on initial inspection, as things progress.

I'm at a crossroads with my plaster ceilings on the second floor. All indications are that this house had wood planked walls and open joist ceilings on the second floor, when it was built in the 1770's. Someone did a massive renovation, probably around 1820, in which they added plaster walls and ceilings. So, now I have very old plaster work, which any old house nut would die for, but it's covering even older original colonial work, which is really what I would love to see.

I have already redone two of the three bedrooms and the hall bath on the second floor, so those aren't getting touched again real soon. However, the master suite and hallway will need attention at some point, and I'm really toying with the idea (as horrendous a job it would be), of tearing out that 1820's plaster work to expose what's hidden within.

 

[jharkin]

Never had a lot of reason to go looking yet, as almost my entire interior was gutted and redone in drywall along the way in renovations. There are only 3 or 4 places that still have old plaster - the front entry, the stairwell, the front parlor (now tv den) and a small room that probably was a buttery and I now use as home office.

Most of the plaster is in really good condition and as best I can tell its all sawn lath so its either not original to first construction, or the house is younger than I think.