Removing trim to rehab walls ...

[kelt65]

I remember I asked about this on WG and someone warned about it ... I did follow through with it, but I can't say I'd do it again.

1. It seems most homes were plastered after the trim was installed - there is nothing behind the trim. This means you're going to have to lay some wall down where there wasn't any or it will never look right going back on. It isn't necessarily bad to do still; you can seal up those door and window frames very well if you take them apart, but it is extra work you may not have considered. I was wrong about my base board - they were installed before the wall was constructed. They only look like hell because someone in the past removed them to strip paint and reinstalled them with lots and lots of caulk, and too deep into the wall. Hah! And I am painting them, too.

2. Taking trim off will pull off some plaster, there's almost no avoiding it. Be prepared to fix all that. Not a big deal if some chunks fall off, but again, more work. My walls were honestly pretty crumbly in places. So I'm going to have to put some basecoat on the exposed lath (and the drywall covering the framing mentioned above) or have the plasterer do it.

Still, I'm glad I did it, as a lot of air intrusion has been taken care of and the final appearance will be much neater. The trim edges in my front 3 rooms were crusty and gross from 100 years of paint and caulk and other crap and it was just nasty.

But I doubt I'll go to this extreme in the rest of the house. The trim's neater and I don't know if I'm going to actually have the walls re-skimmed anywhere else ... it isn't cheap. My 2 cents.

[Kashka-Kat]

Greetings, I don't know if your premise #1 is correct. I've never seen that - perhaps it was a regional thing? So they just butted the plaster up to the trim and it doesn't go behind?

My situation was #2 - I had success with drywall patch approach even in 1 room where the entire wall was bad - leaving the plaster behind the trim in place which was held snugly in place by the trim and using bonding agent to adhere old plaster to new. 10 yrs later you cannot tell where the patches are except if you tap on the wall they sound different.

But what a chore eh??

[Mick_VT]

plastering after trim was installed is certainly what happened in my place. The backs of the baseboards had a large chamfer as well so that the plaster would smoosh down behind them a little ways, presumably so you didn't end up with a gap as things dried out and moved over time.

[kelt65]

But what a chore eh??

Oh yes. I've never felt so exhausted watching someone else work before.

[jharkin]

plastering after trim was installed is certainly what happened in my place. The backs of the baseboards had a large chamfer as well so that the plaster would smoosh down behind them a little ways, presumably so you didn't end up with a gap as things dried out and moved over time.

Same thing here, and all my books about historical construction techniques in early New England show this as the standard method - frame, install trim, install lath butting up to trim then plaster.

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I can only imagine that plastering first and then trying to attach trim with old handmade nails through the plaster underneath would have caused a mess.....

[Mick_VT]

I can only imagine that plastering first and then trying to attach trim with old handmade nails through the plaster underneath would have caused a mess.....

Good point, especially as we are talking Lime plaster not Gypsum so it cures more slowly

[kelt65]

plastering after trim was installed is certainly what happened in my place. The backs of the baseboards had a large chamfer as well so that the plaster would smoosh down behind them a little ways, presumably so you didn't end up with a gap as things dried out and moved over time.

Same thing here, and all my books about historical construction techniques in early New England show this as the standard method - frame, install trim, install lath butting up to trim then plaster.

I can only imagine that plastering first and then trying to attach trim with old handmade nails through the plaster underneath would have caused a mess.....

yeah, we forget there were no electric drills back then to drill pilot holes or anything like that.

[dpkmpy8]

The baseboards and door casing in my parents house were installed before the plaster. There is a piece of cap trim on the baseboard that was installed after the plaster, which makes skinning the room in 1/4 drywall a simpler task. Just pop the cap trim off, and leave the 1x8 in place. Then once the walls are done, reinstall the cap. It will stick out a smidge more, but it is not that noticeable. I would love to skim the house with veneer plaster, but cost says drywall

[SkipW]

Do those of you with plaster find that exterior walls were lathed prior to interior walls being built?

A home I am currently working in (bath redo) has lath on the exterior wall which goes beyond the interior walls of the bathroom. There are no partition posts either. As far as I can tell, the interior walls are original.

My guess is that the exterior walls were framed, the walls lathed, then the interior walls were framed and lathed, then the plaster was applied.

It is the same with the ceiling, so I guess it was done prior to the interior walls being built also.

The house was (from owner) built in 1840 if that helps any guesses...

[Don M]

I don't know about our plaster but do know in our 1830s vintage stone farm house the hard pine floors were laid before the interior walls were constructed.