What are the signs when old plaster walls need to be replaced?
12/16/2014 at 12:22:11 PM
We have just moved into a 900 square foot bungalow built in 1946. It is plaster construction and the floors are sagging towards the middle of the house where the weight bearing wall is. Some of the walls are showing a 'lines' forming rectangles where the plaster panels meet up. There are no cracks just lines.
One contractor told us that we would be better to take the walls back to the studs because it is a framing issue. Another told us that they would just need to be reskimmed.
Please, your thoughts.
12/16/2014 at 3:17:25 PM
Both of those are effective solutions. It really all comes down to cost and long term or short term solutions.
Taking the walls down to the framing, strapping or furring out the studs and installing new drywall would be the most sustainable and expensive route.
Skimming the walls would be the cheapest solution, although there's no guarantee that the cracks or seems won't show up again in a few years.
In my professional opinion, the middle ground solution would be the best choice. Which is to laminate new drywall over the existing walls using drywall adhesive and 2" screws. You would have to remove any window and door casings and fur out the jams to meet the new drywall. As well as remove and replace the baseboards. You might avoid this by using 1/4" drywall instead of 1/2" Drywall depending on how thick your casing and baseboards are. I've personally done projects using this method and have never had any issues. The costumers were very happy with the results. Hope this helps!
~Nate
Infinity Renos Inc.
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