Plaster repair in old homes

[JHZR2]

Hi,

I am close to buying a home, which is nice, but has some plaster "delamination" on vertical walls and ceilings.

My parents home was built c. 1921, and has a lot of horsehair in the plaster - its super strong and except for a couple ceilings, no repairs have had to be made. The house Im looking at doessnt have much horsehair content in the plaster, and I think this is why its starting to come off in a couple spots.

So, say you have a spot, say 2ftx2ft that is loose. or say you have a spot where you can see it hanging from the lathing - how do you re-attach?

Must you re-plaster an entire section of wall in order to fix it? The home Im looking at has good ceilings, but if the plaster becomes an issue, its easy to hang sheetrock toi cover the whole thing... but on vertical walls, I have no clue how to fix it,

All of the woodowork is original, not even painted over, its original wood. It is important to me that things stay looking original, and if I want to try to get things fixed before I move in for good... money will be tight, so I have high hopes that I can fix it myself, at least to some extent, prior to bringing a pro in to do the fine work to make it look good.

can you screw up loose palster to the lathing, if its disconnected in a large sheet? I know this seems silly, but if plaster is hard enough and a full sheet, it could be a nice option... no clue if it'd work though.

For spots that are still well attached to the lathing, but has a crack forming, is taping and spackling the best/only solution? Is it a good permanent solution? Id assume taping would stabilize it.

Any ideas or info on repairing would be most excellent.

Thanks for your help!

JMH

 

[michaelc80]

In the house that we restored many years ago we had a similar issue with the plaster. I simply drilled a few pilot holes and carefully secured it to the lathe with screws and plaster washers. Then covered the heads with patching plaster and repainted. It still looked perfect when the nearby school bought it and the houses around it and razed them for a parking lot.

 

[JHZR2]

aha... plaster washers.

I assume that you somehow scrape away some plaster so the screw heads and washers sink below the surface?

I can do that kind of work, Id love to know more if you can give me a bit more to the steps you do to make a nice job.

Thanks!

JMH

 

[Auto-Union]

I use WonderBoard (cement board) screws to stabilize the area around the crack/hole, then tack stucco mesh up and replaster. Alternative is drywall it and skimcoat after addding stabilizing screws.

 

[mormit]

Plaster washers are a *** send. You can buy them here: http://www.charlesstsupply.com/

I have plaster washered and repaired plaster in my 1906 home. Take your time and this is the cheapest, easiest, and gives the best results.

I have screwed 1/4 or 3/8in dry wall over damaged plaster. Mostly on second story ceilings that are water damaged from a bad roof. Quicker but drywall just doesn't look as good. I can see the seams even on professional jobs.

Sometimes it makes sense to take down the plaster and replace such as to insulate an exterior wall. Unfortunately, there I am stuck with replacing with drywall, again doesn't look as good as plaster. There I prefer to wallpaper and wainscot/lincrusta for a final finish.

Try www.oldhousejournal.com

 

[Auto-Union]

BTW- thin-set (sanded) mortar is the strongest material you can patch with.

 

[Amkeer]

Use the screws and washers to reattach to the lath. Take a good straightedge at least 6-8 feet long and make sure screws are below the surface before patching or re-skimming the wall. You will need mesh tape for the cracks before you skim. Its an art so if you are not good at doing this stuff its better to get a good plasterer to make necessary repairs.

 

[Winston]

"fender washers" from Home Depot work pretty well too, if you cant find "plaster washers".