Lath and plaster wall repair

Just moved into an old house that needs some repair, upstairs there is a lathe and plaster wall separating two bedrooms, one side has been skimmed and papered and is in alright shape bar the paper choice,

On the other side the paper has lifted and when stripping off the old old style plaster mix has pretty much fallen off in one large area 50x50cm, and there’s other areas where the plaster has come away from the lath in large sections (although I’ve not pulled it off yet)

To repair is it a case of getting all the old plaster off, plasterboard onto the current vertical beams then skim? Rather than try to plasterboard over the old plaster?

With a few soft taps I think most of the wall would be off so more than just a patching job

Youd probably be best just getting down to the studing and starting from scratch with new noggins etc make sure its all square and level

woodchip. woodchip covers all sorts of sins.

woodchip covers all sorts of sins.

Yeah, they’ve papered over it with at least 3 layers previously!

Thanks Duncan, was just trying to assess if I was going overboard or not

We had a similar issue in our house built in 1912 whilst doing internal work. After a couple of attempts to patch which took time, effort and materials, the conclusion that we came to was it is always best to remove as Duncan says. Basically all the original plasterwork in our house crumbles if you look at it in the wrong way, let alone touch it/ try to strip wallpaper etc.

If the laths are still good could or not be replastered on to them after taking off the old loose plaster? Having removed a stud, lath and plaster wall to move it once, ANYTHING to limit the removal of the UK’s plaster and associated mess is worth considering!

Similar, our builder boarded over in most cases. Removing old lath and plaster makes a helluva mess. Not sure on the exact process as I wasn’t around.

Some challenges with coving and picture rails. Which collapsed and had to be replaced/remoulded.

Still have some old walls and it is a pain. Did try and change a light switch which turned out to be integral to the wall structure as the surrounding area just crumbled at the slightest disturbance.

Personally if it can be patched thats what i would do. Removing a lath and plaster wall is a really messy job and I like to keep stuff original where I can. its either minimal patching tho or strip down to the studs and start again.

I’ve moved in but it’s just me so I’m set up downstairs with the bed while the upstairs gets sorted, it’ll be a mess but it’ll be a contained mess with nothing else in the room so as good as could be wished for. the Henry will be on overtime mind…

Yeah, they’ve papered over it with at least 3 layers previously!

my first house had a significant amount of structural woodchip.

Thanks all, I’ll get the plasterer in to double check if they’re ok with me putting the boards up, it may be quicker for them to do, least I’ll save a few quid stripping and cleaning the old off I guess.

Out of interest, does anybody have any experience with whether you’re allowed to remove lath and plaster walls and ceilings in Grade 2 listed properties, especially when the ceilings are half fallen down already. Would LABC/LBO allow the whole lot to be pulled down, or would it have to be patched and redone with new laths and lime plaster.
Asking for a friend…

My friend….wasn’t allowed to remove a wall in his flat, even though the Grade 2 was really only concerned with the outside. (quaint High Street frontage, shop below)
What he should have done was removed it before he applied for change of use from office to residential. Conservation had no idea it was there in reality and now has a wall in the middle of living room doing nothing but creating a tiny room behind it.

The only thing I would be worried about is what you replace it with. You should really replace it with lime plaster and breathable paint or you could end up with damp issues.

Overboarding is worth considering. I took down walls and it really is messy. Once the nails holding the laths have started to rust away patching isn’t really an option, you’ll be chasing problems for years. I dry lined the walls but don’t expect the original studs to be anything close to square or flat, lath and plaster really hides a lot and studs didn’t need to be that uniform. My wall was a timber supporting wall so I couldn’t just strip out all the studs and start again, I had to leave all the structural elements and shim the studs as necessary

If the walls are failing due to the lime plaster drying out my understanding of list 2 is you can strip and replace with modern gyprock and insulation..the catch is the new insulation regs, some councils are different to others and have some fascinating ways of interpreting the rules, just phone them and they can advise.

To the OP, if you are sleeping downstairs it’s an opportunity to strip the walls and do as above, messy but not exactly complicated, the only tool you need is a claw hammer…and an old hoover, but does mean shelling out on new plasterboard/insulation/skim.

Reason being if the lime plaster is shot, or been patched with B+Q 2 pack or something it will continue to crumble, the alternative of patching on lathe is not hard for a plasterer but getting three layers of wallpaper off and still having a wall is usually what makes the decision, by the time you have the old paper off you may have more to replaster than just replace.

Out of interest, does anybody have any experience with whether you’re allowed to remove lath and plaster walls and ceilings in Grade 2 listed properties,

In theory you need listed buildings consent for any alteration from original. In practice for grade 2 they won’t care. If you have dowel corners rather than right angle I would want to keep them

We remove a lot of lath and plaster, the plaster goes to the British Gypsum specialist recycling centre and the laths get snaffled up by all the stovists that use them as firelighters.
It can be done without too much mess if you know what you are doing.

on walls i nearly always remove it all and board it, after straightening the studs up. once its started to come loose it’ll just keep going.
on ceilings i usually board over it, its horrible stuff to remove from a ceiling and it also saves work as the plaster will be a lot flatter than the joists.

My parent’s house is full of the stuff and it’s all falling apart for various reasons. So my advice is get rid of it if you possibly can! It’s horrible stuff to work with and needs near-constant maintenance, it also has a horrible habit of producing ridiculous amounts of dust whenever you do any work to that wall.

New boards and plaster but with dowel edging is my plan when I’m allowed to attack it.

You need more tools them just a hammer and Hoover. You need a shovel and a wheel barrow too