How to save mouldings when plaster walls are replaced with drywall?
Repair the plaster and make sure that you use drywall products of good quality. I rely on 1800 Drywall in Calgary and they have always been good insulation suppliers for me all this while!
janewilly
in Drywall and Insulation 11 years and 3 months ago
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11 replies
ditmasmom | 12 years and 3 months ago
http://cdn.brownstoner.com/510c1bc2f2b2d-.jpg
The subject line basically asked the question… Much of the walls in my house must come out (plaster is bulging, falling off, etc.) even plasterers have come in and told me to take it out and replace with drywall. My concern is that we have all original wood mouldings (doors, windows, baseboards, etc) so how do we try to ensure that this work is done with minimal harm to the woodwork? The picture shows one of the rooms with the most plaster damage and a lot of windows I want to keep. I understand some of it may have to be replicated like the baseboards but the doors and window frames are what I would really like to keep. The contractors we are meeting with say that when removed the wood will sometimes break. All suggestions welcome!
Rick | 12 years and 3 months ago
If you want to keep the woodwork as it is, get the plaster repaired and the walls skim coated.
Erstwhile | 12 years and 3 months ago
I’ve seen much worse. A skilled plasterer and some plaster buttons and that room will be looking good in no time.
sethamin | 12 years and 3 months ago
It can be done. You just have to go slowly and be very careful. I just recently removed the woodwork and door casings in one of our rooms, as I didn’t trust anyone else to do it properly. I went through with a pry bar and two wide flat taping knives. Try to find the nails and apply pressure there, and work the entire length of the piece incrementally as opposed to pulling one end out all at once. And do it slowly so as not to crack the wood. Some of those old, large nails with the square heads are *really* well anchored.
Erstwhile | 12 years and 3 months ago
Removing them carefully is one thing, putting them back so they look right after you’ve completely changed the substrate from plaster to drywall is another. Interview some more plasterers…..
ProHeights66 | 12 years and 3 months ago
My GC did this on my parlor floor and left the major trim — windows, pier mirror, molding around doors — intact and drywalled around and under the edge of the trim. That trim was stripped and looks amazing next to new, perfectly smooth and sound-proofed walls. In the places where we removed and then reused trim, it was a bit of a nightmare. After 100 years, nothing is square or plumb, The wood bows and bends as the house settles. It took a lot of skilled carpentry work and in some places where trim had to be cut and pieced together, it’ll have to remain painted forever as the seams would show if it were stripped.
cate | 12 years and 3 months ago
Wood moldings do sometimes break, especially soft woods such as pine. I don’t see anything here a plasterer could not handle. Talk to some real plasterers. For skim coating, they should use a thin coat of pink Plaster Weld, followed by mesh, followed by three thin coats of plaster. I think the people you spoke with are not really plasterers. Sounds like their expertise is dry wall. Areas that are bulging and faking off can be repaired with plaster washers, dry wall patches, or starting from scratch with a plaster brown coat. (Structuralite.) A real plasterer can do this. It’s not a big deal. Ceilings, however, can be costly to fix. But worth it.
getroofingquotes | 12 years and 3 months ago
Yes it could be but you must be careful enough in removing the plaster and putting the dry walls in it so that it will not be mess up.
Townie | 12 years and 3 months ago
What to keep, what needs to come down? As a now retired painting contractor I have done it both ways. It is possible to remove all the plaster in hopelesly damaged areas and replace with 5/8 sheetrock if you remove the thinner most outer strip of moulding at windows, doors, and baseboards and replacing with same or new like molding after rock is installed. You dont need to remove larger moldings. Often as Kate points out a combination of plaster buttons, structolite, and especially fiberglass mesh sheets or tape will hold everything together. You need a “this old house type” contractor who can approach each room according to the specifics of the troubled area of plaster wall. Before work begins blue painters tape can be applied to mouldings for protection. Don’t forget to protect your floors with masonite sheets duct taped together as old plaster dust gets everywhere and the grit acts like sandpaper destroying the finish of the flooring. Also remember as required by law you must find a contractors certified and knowledgeable about current lead paint laws and every method available to prevent dust from traveling throughout the house. Might also be a good time to do any electrical upgrades…
Townie | 12 years and 3 months ago
There is nothing quite as beautiful as a professionally plastered wall… the slightly undulating surface, the soft reflection of light from an unpainted, hand polished plaster wall can never be duplicted by sheetrock alone. You don’t mention how many room? This is in Ditmas?
ditmasmom | 12 years and 3 months ago
Thank you everyone for the comments! The plaster is pretty bad. On most walls it is not even attached to the lathe anymore. We have decided that where the plaster can be repaired, it will be (the first floor) and where it makes more sense to replace with drywall we will (the second and third floors). We are taking this opportunity to rewire the house and insulate the exterior walls. My biggest concern was making sure that the wood trim on the windows and doors does not get harmed when the contractor removes the plaster and replaces it with drywall. Yes, we are in ditmas. The house is 113 years old and I don’t think the plaster was ever maintained! The worse damage is on the top two floors (8 rooms total, plus hallways). Thanks again for the comments. I will likely have more questions as we enter into the renovation!