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bandw
Citizen
Username: Bandw
Post Number: 54
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 10:44 am: |     |
The foyer, stairs and second floor hallway of our house has extremely old walpaper that we would like to remove. We have been told, however, that we have a choice: 1) remove the wallpaper and replaster and repaint the plaster walls knowing that we may have to periodically replaster over cracks or 2) place dry wall over the existing walls but remove the wood molding and reinstall after installation of the dry wall. Does anyone have thoughts or experience on this sort of thing? It's a 1920's colonial that has as one of its charms, plaster walls. Are we doing a disservice to the house by placing dry wall over plaster walls? How much should each option cost? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 1934
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 11:12 am: | |
This is a hard one. We are/were in the same situation. Plaster absorbs noise, drywall tends to conduct. We've done both. Since we have very ornate crown molding, we've taken down the old plaster ceilings in two rooms & replaced with thin rock. We have several rooms that were painted within the last 3 years that now have fine cracks running through the walls. How much "character" are you willing to live with & how often do you think you want to repaint?
If you are willing to give up the space (about 3/8" all around) & deal with window trim, doorways, etc., you can rock over the old plaster walls & have the best of both worlds.
Tearing down the ceilings and rocking was not that expensive. I think the bedroom (@16 x14???) was around $350 in 2000. This did not include painting, as we did that ourselves. Rocking over the plaster should not be that much more expensive. I imagine, however, that removing & reinstalling the molding will be costly. That's another reason to remove the old plaster; they won't have to move the molding. Is it intricate, nice wood worth saving or replicating? If it's original to the house and in good condition, make sure to ask your contractor if they are confident that they can safely remove it. Even then, there is no guarantee...
Good luck! |
bandw
Citizen
Username: Bandw
Post Number: 55
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 12:05 pm: | |
Thanks for the thoughtful response. As proposed to us by two different contractors, the sheetrock would go directly on top of the existing plaster walls and the molding (which is nice but not particularly ornate) would be removed and (hopefully) replaced. I don't love the idea of losing almost 1" of hallway width(it's already narrower than I would like), but I also don't like the prospect of patching and repainting every couple of years. Ughhh!!! |
monster
Citizen
Username: Monster
Post Number: 70
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 12:15 pm: | |
I'm in the process myself, a chunk of my plaster dining room ceiling fell down, I took a hammer to the rest.
I haven't repaired it yet, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, good thing too because I found that there was a small leak on the ceiling portion of the room that is a bump-out. We had previously noticed a slight stain in that portion of the ceiling but thought it was from a problem long past.
Turns out that when it rains hard with the wind blowing against that side of the house, it leaks, now I'm just waiting for the right day to get up there and replace some caulking.
As for the ceiling, I've decided to replace it with a recessed wood paneled ceiling, painted with a thin white coat so the grain of the veneer shows.
I have to take off the chestnut trim before putting up the ceiling, comes apart in three sections, according to my neighbor who did this in his house.
To top all this off, my bathroom leaked and I had to cut a section of plaster off the kitchen ceiling, not to mention that I'm currently taking showers in a plastic sheet cocoon since I've had to take most of the tiles off the walls they only had deteriorating regular old drywall behind them, most of them just pulled right off.
I got so disgusted at pulling off the old drywall, that happened to moldy too, that it prompted me to decide to call my insurance company, turns out that I was covered for replacing all the tile in my bathroom and replacing the ceiling in the kitchen, now I'm just waiting for a check.
Not sure if I want to continue fixing the bathroom on my own or not, so I may be hiring someone too.
Shoot, as long as I'm in the wall I might as well run the pipes up to the attic, just in case I ever decide to add that dormer and bathroom.
Guess I kinda hijacked the thread here, must have needed to vent a little. |
bobk
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 4195
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 12:29 pm: | |
Please, keep your plaster walls! Obviously in some cases there is so much damage it makes sense to use sheetrock. However, pulling out the casings, baseboard and crown moldings is not without risk. The wood is old and even if great care is used, some pieces will be damaged or even destroyed. In addition, everything has to be recut to fit and in the case of the door openings an extension jam installed because of the thickness of the drywall.
You may find that the old wallpaper may have protected the plaster and it may be in better condition than you think. This has been the case for us on several occasions.
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jfburch
Citizen
Username: Jfburch
Post Number: 1202
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 1:02 pm: | |
What bobk said. If/when your ceilings are really falling down, you may have no choice, but walls can be easier to work with. The drywall covering thing seems like a contractor quick fix to me that really isn't always necessary and that does mess with the 20's and 30's charm and feel of these houses.
We had a guy suggest it to us, and he told us the same thing--that removing the wallpaper would reveal crumbling walls--but that hasn't been the case.
We're going room by room and the plaster under the wallpaper is in excellent shape. Most of the visible cracks have been tears in the wallpaper where it's been peeling off. The newly painted walls are lovely and holding up fine (after 2 years).
Finally, if you do have any cracks, make sure they are repaired properly and the repairs will likely last. Virtually all the plaster repairs in the rooms we've done were done before the wallpaper went on (decades ago at least) and they are rock solid. |
jrbell
Citizen
Username: Jrbell
Post Number: 28
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 1:45 pm: | |
Gotta agree with bobk and jfburch. We bought our house (built in 1939) in September and one of our first projects was removing wallpaper from EVERY ROOM in the house, which was all plaster. We did have to patch a couple places in the ceiling, but over all, the walls look fantastic.
We really like the charm and warmth of the plaster walls. |
sportsnut
Citizen
Username: Sportsnut
Post Number: 828
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 3:00 pm: | |
One more opinion. We were faced with the exact same problem and chose a slightly different route. We saw cracks and assumed it was in the plaster - it turned out to be in the paint. The walls were still structurally sound. We consulted a plaster contractor and decided to go with a new skim coat that was laid over a thin fiberglass mesh (to prevent future cracks). It was not cheap - cost us approx 3,500 to do the living room (all four walls plus ceiling approx 12 x 24 and three walls in a dining room). It adds about a 1/4 inch to the walls and ceiling.
Now everything looks smooth and we won't have to worry about cracks.
The other three rooms that were gutted were all sheetrocked. It gave us the opportunity to re-do electric and insulate. It has made a huge difference. The insulated rooms are much warmer now leading to a disparity between the upstairs (sheetrock and insulation) and downstairs new skim coat.
If I had it to do all over I probably would have sheetrocked the downstairs and insulated and upgraded the electric.
The moulding in our home is simple 1 x 4 with a back band. I was able to purchase a router and re-create it.
Hope this helps. |
Tom Reingold the prissy-pants
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 1628
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 5:34 pm: | |
We pulled off some gawdawful wood panelling off our bedroom wall when we moved in, in June. Underneath was some horrible looking plaster. We haven't done anything yet. My wife practiced working on plaster in the back of my daughter's closet. She got pretty good at it, and she was thinking of redoing our whole bedroom. But she has reconsidered. Now we're going to have the room sheetrocked instead, because it will be quicker, easier and cheaper. I'm confident it will look good enough.
Tom Reingold
There is nothing
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Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 67
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 6, 2004 - 10:48 am: | |
If you can possibly have the plaster saved that is the much better way to go.
When I got rebuilt they redid the 'new' walls in sheetrock as opposed to plastering and although they are obviously flat and nice, they don't have the 'charm' of the walls that remain plaster on lath.
I don't hate them, but had it not been a forced cost reduction I would have gotten plaster.
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
bandw
Citizen
Username: Bandw
Post Number: 56
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 6, 2004 - 5:44 pm: | |
Thanks everyone for the information and advice. Much appreciated. |
Tracy
Citizen
Username: Maguire0423
Post Number: 6
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - 2:58 pm: | |
Well - if you opt to rock -and are throwing out your old molding - please let me know. I'm missing the old molding in two of my upstairs rooms and would love to take it off your hands - as opposed to throwing it in the garbage...They say one man's garbage is anothers treasure... Even the "simple" molding is hard to come by - they just don't make molding the same anymore. |
Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 81
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 8:38 am: | |
Tracy -- Take a look at your other mouldings ... I discovered that mine are made up of 3 separate peices of stock ... all of which were readily available at the home depot (in only marginally different (fractional) dimensions).
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
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