Replace old plaster or not

Momojoko

New Member
Redoing the walls in a room with plaster. House is nearly 100 years old, original(I assume) plaster(on lathe) is mostly intact. Would you recommend leaving plaster and repairing where needed or should I just replace the old plaster with new plaster? Will the new plaster keep the old plaster intact?
 
Will the new plaster keep the old plaster intact?

No.

It may hide cracks in the old plaster for a few days or a few weeks or months, but at some point, cracks are likely to re-appear.

You can even embed fibreglass render mesh in your new layer, which can delay the re-appearance of cracks, but it's still just a band-aid, not a proper longterm solution.


Do any areas of the old plaster sound hollow if you rap your knuckles on the wall? It's extremely common for old lime plaster to blow (delaminate) from a wall, after a century has passed. It just gets to the point where it's extremely dry and extremely crumbly.


Everyone who has encountered old lath & plaster will be familiar with the dilemma you're facing:

'Do I avoid hacking everything off, in order to save money in the short term, or do I hack it all off now, so I don't have to re-do everything in the longterm, at additional expense?
 
Redoing the walls in a room with plaster. House is nearly 100 years old, original(I assume) plaster(on lathe) is mostly intact. Would you recommend leaving plaster and repairing where needed or should I just replace the old plaster with new plaster? Will the new plaster keep the old plaster intact?
Just repair where needed - world looks like it is gonna end soon
 
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