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Request for advice: Can I cut a groove out of plaster wall Evan Dickson 12-10-2007
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Posted by Evan Dickson on December 10, 2007, 6:04 pm
I have a room that was formerly two rooms. The house is 70-90 years
old. The walls are plaster. Between the damage from knocking out the
wall, and the 7 different plaster textures that exist in the now single
room, I figure it would be easier to put up strapping and mount
wallboard over the plaster than to repair and skim all the plaster.
I've discovered stud sensors don't work through plaster and lath. My
idea is to cut a groove, maybe 1" high, circling the room near the
bottom of the walls and another near the tops, so I can look and know
exactly where the studs are. Would this cause any structural problems
to the existing plaster? I would hate to have stuff collapsing under my
wallboard.

Thanks for any advice provided!

AppliancePartsPros.com, Inc.
Posted by Norminn on December 10, 2007, 6:10 pm
Evan Dickson wrote:

> I have a room that was formerly two rooms. The house is 70-90 years
> old. The walls are plaster. Between the damage from knocking out the
> wall, and the 7 different plaster textures that exist in the now
> single room, I figure it would be easier to put up strapping and mount
> wallboard over the plaster than to repair and skim all the plaster.
> I've discovered stud sensors don't work through plaster and lath. My
> idea is to cut a groove, maybe 1" high, circling the room near the
> bottom of the walls and another near the tops, so I can look and know
> exactly where the studs are. Would this cause any structural problems
> to the existing plaster? I would hate to have stuff collapsing under
> my wallboard.
>
> Thanks for any advice provided!

If you have baseboards, you might be able to figure the stud spacing
from where the baseboards are nailed to the wall. Studs aren't
necessarilly regularly spaced, but could be. I would drill small holes,
rather than cut a "groove" ... if the bit comes out with wood, you've
hit a stud. Do that every 1/2" or so until you hit studs.

Posted by BETA-32 on December 10, 2007, 7:01 pm
I have a similar situation (long story).

First, I agree with the suggestion to just use a drill to drill pilot holes
and find the studs that way -- must less mess and easy to do.

A contractor just looked at my house and said there are basically 2 options.

The first is to rip out all of the plaster and lath down to the studs, then
put up new sheetrock and trim.

The second is to apply new sheetrock right over the old plaster walls. He
said sheetrock that is as thin a 1/4-inch thick is available so not much
thickness will be added, so the existing trim will still look okay, etc. (I
thought the thinnest sheetrock available was 3/8-inch, but he said they make
1/4-inch sheetrock.


> Evan Dickson wrote:
>
>> I have a room that was formerly two rooms. The house is 70-90 years old.
>> The walls are plaster. Between the damage from knocking out the wall,
>> and the 7 different plaster textures that exist in the now single room, I
>> figure it would be easier to put up strapping and mount wallboard over
>> the plaster than to repair and skim all the plaster. I've discovered stud
>> sensors don't work through plaster and lath. My idea is to cut a groove,
>> maybe 1" high, circling the room near the bottom of the walls and another
>> near the tops, so I can look and know exactly where the studs are. Would
>> this cause any structural problems to the existing plaster? I would hate
>> to have stuff collapsing under my wallboard.
>>
>> Thanks for any advice provided!
>
> If you have baseboards, you might be able to figure the stud spacing from
> where the baseboards are nailed to the wall. Studs aren't necessarilly
> regularly spaced, but could be. I would drill small holes, rather than
> cut a "groove" ... if the bit comes out with wood, you've hit a stud. Do
> that every 1/2" or so until you hit studs.



Posted by Evan Dickson on December 10, 2007, 8:08 pm
BETA-32 wrote:
> I have a similar situation (long story).
>
> First, I agree with the suggestion to just use a drill to drill pilot holes
> and find the studs that way -- must less mess and easy to do.
>
> A contractor just looked at my house and said there are basically 2 options.
>
> The first is to rip out all of the plaster and lath down to the studs, then
> put up new sheetrock and trim.
>
> The second is to apply new sheetrock right over the old plaster walls. He
> said sheetrock that is as thin a 1/4-inch thick is available so not much
> thickness will be added, so the existing trim will still look okay, etc. (I
> thought the thinnest sheetrock available was 3/8-inch, but he said they make
> 1/4-inch sheetrock.
>
>
>> Evan Dickson wrote:
>>
>>> I have a room that was formerly two rooms. The house is 70-90 years old.
>>> The walls are plaster. Between the damage from knocking out the wall,
>>> and the 7 different plaster textures that exist in the now single room, I
>>> figure it would be easier to put up strapping and mount wallboard over
>>> the plaster than to repair and skim all the plaster. I've discovered stud
>>> sensors don't work through plaster and lath. My idea is to cut a groove,
>>> maybe 1" high, circling the room near the bottom of the walls and another
>>> near the tops, so I can look and know exactly where the studs are. Would
>>> this cause any structural problems to the existing plaster? I would hate
>>> to have stuff collapsing under my wallboard.
>>>
>>> Thanks for any advice provided!
>> If you have baseboards, you might be able to figure the stud spacing from
>> where the baseboards are nailed to the wall. Studs aren't necessarilly
>> regularly spaced, but could be. I would drill small holes, rather than
>> cut a "groove" ... if the bit comes out with wood, you've hit a stud. Do
>> that every 1/2" or so until you hit studs.
>
>

Long stories are good. Which option did you go with, and were you happy
with the results?

Posted by BETA-32 on December 10, 2007, 9:48 pm
>
> Long stories are good. Which option did you go with, and were you happy
> with the results?

I didn't decide yet. I just went through the house with the contractor last
Thursday. It's a whole-house job and I am going to be doing new electric,
new plumbing, new kitchen, etc. I already have a couple of ceilings out
that I had taken down to the studs, and where I made two rooms into one (the
LR and dining room into one big room), I have a 16-inch wide section of the
ceiling out that goes across the whole room where the two rooms used to
meet. All 4 exterior walls of the house are solid red clay "stone/brick"
with plaster applied directly to that. So, it's just the interior walls and
ceilings that are plaster over wood lath. That means I need to decide if I
want to just go for the gusto now and take down most or all of the remaining
plaster and lath down to the studs, or just have 1/4-inch sheetrock applied
on top of what is already there.



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