Author Topic: Solid wall buildings part elebenty - alternatives to lath and plaster (Read 48634 times)

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #25 on:** 23 March, 2016, 06:57:33 pm »

You need a trip upstairs to take a look and see if it's holding anything up. If you're confident that it's not, pull it all out in a mad half hour and stick it in the skip.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #26 on:** 23 March, 2016, 08:25:02 pm »

I appear to have little mushrooms growing out of the mortar upstairs. Which is nice.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #27 on:** 23 March, 2016, 08:54:54 pm »

For anyone interested in such things here is the kinder surprise chimney haunching (not replaced by the previous slater as requested, swine)

Kinder surprise chimney by The Pingus, on Flickr

Just Chuck some cement on top, it'll be fine....

Had a funny feeling some pots were unvented... by The Pingus, on Flickr

Re-bedding copes:

2016-03-03_08-15-01 by The Pingus, on Flickr

The project manager dude said the chimneys were all soaking inside.

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #28 on:** 24 March, 2016, 07:05:27 am »

The joy of old buildings. That mushroom is probably living off the lath or a bit of buried timber underneath the plaster

The chimney looks like it'll turn out just fine, but I hope you're not getting the wicked frosts we've got at the moment. I was hoping to repoint our little stone barn, but I think I'll wait until May before I start, so its cobble duty instead.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #29 on:** 24 March, 2016, 12:14:46 pm »

I woke up very early this morning with the fear that there is going to be a big pile of dry rot waiting for me behind the plaster 'thing'. Not feeling very happy today.....

Oh well, looks like Saturday is going to be horrible weather so I will be taking the rest of the alcove down and then I will have a peep behind the plaster into the 'thing'. Fingers crossed, but it did feel quite wet there so I'm feeling a bit pessimistic.

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #30 on:** 24 March, 2016, 03:18:11 pm »

Don't worry about dry rot, it takes a lot of water to get it going and if you dry the wall out it will die of DEATH.

Believe me, most of what you read about dry rot is, well.................BOLLOX. And most builders wouldn't recognise dry rot, even if it poked them in the eye.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #31 on:** 24 March, 2016, 07:06:18 pm »

Took a bit more down tonight. The bit of lath I exposed looked nice and dry, can't vouch for the whole way along but I might leave further poking to the builders.

Laths by The Pingus, on Flickr

Getting there by The Pingus, on Flickr

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #32 on:** 25 March, 2016, 07:41:51 am »

That looks good, and it looks like it's part of the original wall.

If you compare the lath that you've revealed with a piece of lath from another part of the building (the other side of the ceiling, from the loft, would be a good place to start), you should be able to see if it's the same or not.

Common timbers used for riven lath were Oak and Sweet Chestnut. Scots Pine has also been used for lath, but was normally sawn. I reckon you should keep the lath and plaster and repair the part you've taken off, it looks ok to me. The wall should dry out with the new pointing, repairs to the chimney and the dry heat from the wood burner.

If you're thinking of lime wash, you can get all sorts of colour from here........http://www.cornelissen.com

Pure lime putty mixed 50/50 with water works well, but if you want to paint timber or any other material with it, you'll need casein to mix in. I would just paint the walls, run moulding and ceiling with lime wash with a colour in it, as the casein mix is not as moisture permeable.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #33 on:** 25 March, 2016, 04:57:46 pm »

It's supposed to be windy and rainy and generally horrible tomorrow so I guess that will be the acid test for leaks...
I was thinking about using these claypaints which are good for lime http://earthbornpaints.co.uk/products/

I can see some laths near the floor here in the previously blocked off area (where the skirting used to be) but it all just looks like wood to me

. There are a few other areas of blown or cracked plaster for the team to deal with, as well as the bits they're going to hoover out any debris from so they can do all that before the lime skim.

Next question is going to be, can you lime plaster up to where the gypsum skin stops?

Plan for tomorrow is to take down the wooden frame, and chuck the dehumidifier in the loft for the day to dehydrate the mushrooms to deth

What I'm *really* dying to do is take the mantlepiece and surround off the wall so I can get an idea of how big (or not) the fireplace opening can be made for the stove. But Pingu will have kittens if I do that as well. Maybe in a couple of weeks....

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #34 on:** 25 March, 2016, 05:15:32 pm »

Send him out for a bike ride and say it just fell off by itself.

Lath.

Riven lath has been split along its length and is generally uneven and lumpy with longitudinal ridges from where the grain has been split apart.
Sawn lath has been through a power saw and is smooth and regular along its length in width and thickness.

Take a couple of close up photos of the stuff you have from the recess and another part of the house. It's easy to spot the difference once you look close enough. Or run your nail across the lath you'll feel the difference if you have both types.

Like so.....

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #35 on:** 25 March, 2016, 05:26:49 pm »

Oh, I think it's all riven lath - it's certainly quite bendy looking, nothing straight here!

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #36 on:** 25 March, 2016, 05:36:21 pm »

If they're all the same type of lath, then the recess is more than likely original and if you measure the bead diameter on both recesses and they're the same, it'll give you an even better guess.

The other thing to look at is the nails on the beading. If they're the same then you could safely say that both recesses are of the same age and more than likely original to the house.

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #37 on:** 25 March, 2016, 06:30:46 pm »

Blimey!

That clay paint will break the bank @£45.00/5L

You can make your own with a 25 kg bucket of lime and 0.5 kg of colour (you won't need that much pigment anyway) for about £15.00 for 50 litres.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #38 on:** 26 March, 2016, 04:57:04 pm »

4

hours later we got the rest of the frame down.

20160326_155404 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Poly Hive · « **Reply #39 on:** 27 March, 2016, 12:03:00 pm »

Re the original question which was what to replace the plaster board with well surely a quick phone call to your surveyor? If he don't know then I doubt anyone does. or we could ask him for you on Monday next...LOL

PH

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #40 on:** 27 March, 2016, 03:21:34 pm »

I'm wondering if it's going to be easier/more economical to rip the lot down and replace it with woodwool board and then lime skim that.
I stripped of all the remaining wallpaper this morning, except for the bits that are holding up the plaster. That's pretty much all of the left hand reveal (the bit with the big hole bashed in it with the cable exiting), the holey area above the light fitting and several bits of the RH reveal.
That's not including all the bits on the chimney breast and round the fireplace opening.

Guess I'll see what the dude says on Weds....I'm finished for now, it's been a tiring weekend!

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #41 on:** 27 March, 2016, 05:45:06 pm »

Ask your builder, he's the one with the knowledge of old buildings. I wouldn't go on the advice of a building surveyor unless he's specialised in historic buildings, which most haven't.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #42 on:** 27 March, 2016, 05:51:19 pm »

He is.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #43 on:** 27 March, 2016, 06:13:16 pm »

Took a peep behind the mantelpiece. Thought "bodge job". Put the mantelpiece back again.

IMG_3898 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Yup, all that hole was just hidden by the mantelpiece, no wonder it's draughty

IMG_3899 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Great isn't it? Wonky bricks

IMG_3900 by The Pingus, on Flickr

IMG_3902 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Big piles of debris

IMG_3903 by The Pingus, on Flickr

God knows where those cables are going

IMG_3905 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #44 on:** 27 March, 2016, 06:55:22 pm »

That looks normal.

Sadly our whole house suffers from the same quality of workmanship.

It's looking better after 7 years of hard labour, so there's hope for you yet.

Canardly · « **Reply #45 on:** 27 March, 2016, 06:58:39 pm »

Oh very, very nice.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #46 on:** 27 March, 2016, 08:07:26 pm »

That's rather fancier than our humble 1 bed flat

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #47 on:** 27 March, 2016, 09:12:20 pm »

Thanks.

We managed to save it from the bulldozer, would you believe it was going to be pulled down......Philistines!

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #48 on:** 27 March, 2016, 09:14:49 pm »

A pretty house and karma points!

Aunt Maud · « **Reply #49 on:** 27 March, 2016, 09:45:50 pm »

Hell on a foundation more like.

I was looking at that woolly wood http://unger-diffutherm.de/en/udiproduktesystem/holzfaser-fuers-dach/udiflex/

I think this is what you mean and not the wool wood cement board abomination.

It looks quite interesting for insulation, but I can't imagine it would be very durable if it was in contact with a damp wall though. I'm assuming it's treated with boron or something to make it resist rot and I wonder what adhesive they use to make it stay together.

It looks good for loft insulation, but I think I would want to keep it as dry as possible.