I have an old house?
Question:I recently bought an old house (at least 100). I have the old lath board and plaster walls. My question is how do i fix or repair them. the corners are falling apart and you can see all the way thru it. someone put the THICK wallpaper stuff on them and painted it. the old wall paper is peeling and cracking, and pulling away from the trim. how do i fill the gaps and cracks around the trim and in the corners?
Answers:
For repair of minor cracks, use fiberglass mesh tape then go over with a wide trowel and joint compound. There are also plaster patch compounds available that are excellent.
For larger cracks and holes, you need to remove all the debris and enlarge the crack until you reach solid plaster. Remember that in the case of impact damage, the damaged area can extend 6-12" from the actal hole. Make sure that you clean out the lathe as well. Then, back-cut the hole and fit a piece of drywall into the void. (in our house, we were able to use drywall screws to hold it to the lathe), then use mesh tape over the edges and fill the hole with several thin layers of joint compound or plaster patch.
You also have the option of actually putting down plaster (scratch coat, brown coat, and finish coat) if the hole is large enough. It is a tough skill to learn, and even harder to finish properly (there is a reason that plasterers are so expensive!). Try it in a closet or something first. They make it look so easy on This Old House, but it's really hard to do.
If the walls are simply slighly wavy or oddly textured, you may want to apply a highly textured wallcovering, such as Lincrusta or Anaglypta. The busy pattern and deep texture can hide many imperfections. Another option is to apply canvas or a product called NuWall to crumbling plaster to smooth out the walls for further wallcoverings or paint effects.
y didja buy n old broken house in the 1st place?
I dont really buy houses I hire people to build me one cause my husband thinks it is weird to live in a house that other people have lived in so I wouldn't know. Sorry I can't help you)-:
that's they way they did things back then. It gives it character.
I had a old house & i used brown bags wallpapered over the holes after i stuffed it w/ brown bags but then i wallpapered most of it.
U mite ask u'r local hardware store esp the old timers b/c i'm sure they r aware of what they used & how to repair it more than younger ppl. today.
I have the same kind of walls in my house. I have used plaster that you use when sheet rocking to fill cracks. My husband says the only way to really "fix them" is to tear the walls down and sheet rock...so as for big projects that would be what I would do! Good luck...Oh and if you do "patch" them expect them to re-crack as the house settles more!!
i would first try a normal drywall mud over the plaster. if the plaster is in real bad shape i dont think it will stay there long before the plaster beneath it will let go and fall. the best way i can think of would be to cover the wall completely with 1/4 inch drywall. use a longer screw to get all the way to the studs.
if your going to all this i would check the electric, phone, cable, pc, and insulation inside the wall. it would be a great time to upgrade or repair.
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