Replace lath and plaster?

[Arjay12345]

Hi

I have bought a new house and some of the walls have lath and plaster. Is there any benefit of me ripping this out and replacing with plasterboard? The only benefits I can think of is that it will make my electrician's life easier plus give me the chance to add any wall insulation.

But then there's the mess of taking the lath and plaster out..

Also, which is considered stronger - L&P or plasterboard?

Thanks
Arjay..

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I assume that your plaster is knackered.
So you will be removing the plaster anyway.
Yes it is a messy job but removing the lath maybe a little more time consuming but will be no more messier than the removal of plaster.
And you want to install insulation, so you will need to take at least one side out.
I would remove the lot, plaster and lath all in one go.
As for the strengths, I don't suspect there would be that much difference between a new lath and plaster system Vs a new plasterboard system.
Also make sure your electrician is made aware that insulation is being installed in the wall, could well effect the designs of the circuits.

 

[mcluma]

I like it

bought a new house and then lath and plaster

Ok

This is messy, no i mean really messy

did i say it is messy

probably not

trust me its messy

If this plaster is with horse hair, beware, make sure you were full facemask and gloves when taking it out, well ventilated, and have a skip ready to dump it in, you do not want to handle it twice

oh i forgot to say

its messy

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

mcluma
did you mention the mess

 

[jrplastering]

is it a messy job ??? hahahaha

 

[Arjay12345]

Jeez - all everyone keeps going on about is the mess

No I get this, though it seems to be some rites of passage. On reflection, I think I going to have a look once again over the weekend (without my "take it off, take it ALL off" hat on) and then decide.

My structural engineer cousin has confirmed there's no real increase in strength.

I don't think the plaster is totally knackered though I still need to strip the old wallpaper away and check out. I figure it may in reality lead to a cost of bonding to even evrything out and then a skim over

Yes, replacing would allow me to add more noggins if required plus any soundproofing, but then there's still ol' Lord "The Dirt" Suaron to tackle..

 

[ajrobb]

Lathe and plaster is much heavier than plasterboard, so will probably be superior to simple plasterboard for noise insulation. OK there are acoustic solutions for plasterboard (resilient bars etc), but I don't think that is what you meant.

Be aware that if the walls are external, you may be required to bring thermal insulation up to modern standards when replacing all the plaster.

 

[roughcaster]

My structural engineer cousin has confirmed there's no real increase in strength.

I would beg to differ!!! Lath and plaster has "far, far" more strength than crap modern plasterboard. Try it out,,,, give a plasterboard wall a kick or a punch,,, you'll burst right through it,, then try the same on a lath and plaster wall,, no comparison.

 

[IanAnderson]

You must be joking, sure 'punching' a lath and plaster wall might not make a hole but it sure will break off a whole bunch of 'keys' or 'nibs' rendering a big chunk of the wall useless.

 

[1john]

In all fairness to roughcaster it would strongly depend on the condition of the lath and plaster, if it is in good condition with 1/4" laths then it will be much stronger, a few nibs popping off would make no difference. If however it had thinner laths that had perhaps suffered water damage in the and the plaster has started to crumble a bot then it would be as weak as plasterboard. The problem with lath and plaster is that is is heavy and messy when it does fail, plasterboard however is fairly clean to rip out and replace and much lighter.

 

[roughcaster]

You must be joking, sure 'punching' a lath and plaster wall might not make a hole but it sure will break off a whole bunch of 'keys' or 'nibs' rendering a big chunk of the wall useless.

It would take "some punch" to render a "big chunk" of a sound, lath and plaster wall, useless.
We're talking about strength here, between modern plasterboard and old lath and plaster. With plasterboard, (weak),, you can put your fist, your elbow, or your backside etc ,,"through it",, easily,,,,, but with sound, lath and plaster, (strong,, minimal damage),, you'll cause more damage to your hand,,, try it out on a couple of walls.

 

[stevethespreader]

You must be joking, sure 'punching' a lath and plaster wall might not make a hole but it sure will break off a whole bunch of 'keys' or 'nibs' rendering a big chunk of the wall useless.

laths are made out of woods such as birchwood, oak and chesnut, spaced closely together about a finger width apart covered with a screed of render and skim, if someone was to tell me i have to punch either the l&p or plasterboard i would choose the plasterboard, i think we should get plstering to do a test lol

 

[jrplastering]

haha yes steve i like it, plstrng you know what to do let us know what happens

 

[Arjay12345]

Gents, it's all relative.

I had the pleasure of taking both plasterboard and L&P down from adjacent walls.

Whacking the plasterboard with my crow of plasterboard made a neat localised hole. Doing the same on L&P disrupted a large area mainly due to the flex of the lath. Was especially easier if you managed to aim for between the lath.

But (where the plasterboard wasn't a full sized sheet), I was able to wrench the whole sheet out in one go. For the L&P, each pull limited the damage it to between the studs.

Now I KNOW you don't go whacking walls with a crow bar, but consider this a controlled experiment..