http://renovatedsm.com/node/85 Comments for "Drywall Installation and Taping" en http://renovatedsm.com/node/85 <p>Many of the Des Moines’ historic homes were built with plastered interior walls. Because it is so labor-intensive (and therefore expensive), plaster is not considered a standard building practice in today’s construction industry. A plaster wall is constructed in several stages. First, small strips of wood called lath are nailed across the studs (walls) and the bottoms of floor joists and rafters (ceilings). Plaster is typically applied onto the lath in three layers. The first layer is the thickest and applied directly to the lath. As it is applied to the wall or ceiling, some of the plaster gets pressed through the horizontal spaces between the lath strips. These “keys” harden and became the supports that hold the plaster to the wall or ceiling. The second layer of plaster is much thinner and helps level the surface. The final layer consists of a mixture of lime and plaster, or plain lime putty, and is applied to a thickness of approximately 1/8” before being floated to a near-flat surface.</p> <p>You will find it is very difficult to remove small areas of plaster without damaging the surrounding area – if the “keys” that hold the plaster to the lath fall off, the plaster itself becomes very weak. It is likely that during your renovation, you will either completely remove the plaster or significantly damage areas of plaster in order to update the electric, plumbing, and HAVC systems.</p> <p><a href="http://renovatedsm.com/node/85">read more</a></p> http://renovatedsm.com/node/85#comments Finishes Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:15:43 -0700 RenovateDSM 85 at http://renovatedsm.com