Removing trim to rehab walls ...

[dpkmpy8]

Skip,

In my 1895 Victorian here in Central Illinois, the exterior wall lath does indeed run behind most interior walls, It also appears that the stairs to the upper floor were installed after the walls were plastered. I have had to add a lot of blocking in corners and such for new sheetrock because the old lath was run long on one wall and butted up to on the other, not necessarily with a stud nearby . Kinda crazy how light the framing actually is, but once the mass of lath and three coat plaster were on it, it became quite a sturdy structure.

[Powermuffin]

In our 1908 cottage, the walls were plastered first, then trimmed. The trim is quite nice for such a small house too. Also, the floors were laid before any interior walls were built. The latter poises a problem should a future owner want to replace the floor. (Has anyone done this?) There is no subfloor in our house either.

Interesting the differences in building. I would have never guessed that walls were sometimes plastered after the trim was installed. Seems strange to me.
Diane

[kelt65]

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

I'm not sure what you're talking about here. By exterior wall do you mean the interior walls against the exterior of the house?

In my house (built in 1914), the walls were apparently all constructed at once. It seems to have been:
- framing, chimneys, foundation and roof
- flooring and trim
- walls

[Mick_VT]

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...

My 1865 place is this way too, plus the floors go under walls.

[Gothichome]

The interior walls of Gothichome have two separate arrangements. Those running parallel to the floor (perpendicular) to the floor joists rest directly on the joists. The walls running perpendicular to the floor boards (parallel to the joists) rest on the floor boards. The lath and plaster was installed after the trim so no plaster behind trim. Our stair case was also built and trimmed out before lath and plaster. The walls parallel to the floor boards are all main load bearing.

[Don M]

The plaster on the exterior stone walls of our 1830s farmhouse is applied directly to the stone with out lath. The interior walls are built on the floor boards which pass under them.

[ZoraQ]

My walls in my 1910 bungalow were plastered before the trim was installed except for the finish coat. Removing trim exposes the base layers of the plaster. I've tried removing trim to rehab both the walls and the trim and have settled on a compromise approach. I remove the picture rails and the baseboard cap molding and leave the casings around the doors and windows. I tried removing all trim in one bedroom as an experiment and had mixed results. The compromise approach seems to work best in my home. YMMV based on what kind of trim you have.

[kelt65]

The plaster on the exterior stone walls of our 1830s farmhouse is applied directly to the stone with out lath. The interior walls are built on the floor boards which pass under them.

Yeah I would think so. They only used lime back then, and it's the perfect thing for covering masonry. Portland cement ruined EVERYTHING.

[Mick_VT]

The plaster on the exterior stone walls of our 1830s farmhouse is applied directly to the stone with out lath.

This is very much the norm in the UK. Most houses there do not have wooden walls, and plaster is applied directly to the block or brick walls. The plaster system is gypsum based (usually pink), with a base (or browning) coat applied first, then a finish / skim coat applied afterwards. It works very well, I became quite skilled at it 25 or so years ago. I used to be able to get it glass smooth, it almost showed your reflection.

[phil]

My baseboards were installed after the bulk of the plaster, with a skim coat of colored plaster that went on after. I am pretty sure the baseboards were done while the plaster was still a bit wet. I assume it is easier as the plaster would squish down a bit that way but I'm not sure how long it took to plaster or what the drying time of it was. I assumed they did that to contend with any warpage of the baseboard lumber. if it wasn't dead straight , the plaster compensated a little or they hid any gaps in the skimcoating.

If I pull the baseboards there is plaster behind them but it is rough.