lath and plaster walls and ceilings

[andrewsleigh]

Hi,

We have just bought a property which is a project (read money pit). The house is over 100 years old and all the rooms have decades old wood chip on walls and ceilings, which are all lath and plaster. I imagine trying to strip the wood chip is going to take half the plaster with it, and I've heard you can't just skim over this type plaster anyway.

I realise to get a really good finish it would be best to get rid of the lath and plaster and put up new plaster board (especially as we expect the house may need a rewire, we are waiting for the electrics to be checked). However, we have 6 rooms plus hallway that need doing soon and more rooms in the future when funds permit, and the amount of work and mess this will create is putting me off.

So am planning to overboard the ceilings, maybe fixing batons first. How acceptable would it be to do the same for the walls, accepting that I will need to take the achitraves and skirting off first and it will add some thickness to the walls? Presumably there might be some benefit in terms of thermal / noise insulation?

Any help much appreciated

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Bite the bullet and get rid of it. The walls are most probably uneven, wobbly, bumpy, lumpy etc.... anyway. So fixing boards to these is also going to effect the walls in similar fashion.
I am not sure what your position is with regards to re-wire, but it maybe worth just doing one side of the partitions for now and when it comes to re-wire then do the other side, giving access for cables, sockets, switches etc.. Or even remove the reverse side and leave open. Not ideal but depends what you are happy to live with.

 

[andrewsleigh]

Ok fair enough, resigned to having to remove it all. Going to need a bigger skip...

Another question though, if we are replacing the single glazed windows in all these rooms with uPVC what's the best order to do it in? Remove lath and plaster, install windows then board and skim? Remove plaster, board, install windows then skim?

Thanks

 

[JohnD]

if you rip it off, you can add thermal insulation to the external walls, and noise insulation to internal partitions. It will be pretty easy to run your pipes and electrical conduits.

If it is an old house, plastic windows will spoil it.

 

[andrewsleigh]

Yeah hoping what it will cost in time and effort to remove the old lath and plaster will be saved for the plumbing and electrical work.

The house is old but it's not what I would call a period house. Several others in the street have plastic windows and they look fine. Anything will be an improvement on what's there at the moment.