# Plaster to drywall joint question.



## ERIK2173 (Oct 19, 2005)

I am in the middle of a bathroom remodel, and have finished puting up new drywall on a couple of the walls (cement board in the shower area). At the start of the project all the walls were plaster, and with the backing material it made the walls about an inch thick. I left one of the plaster walls up as it was in good shape and didn't need much work. When I tore down the other walls in the corner joints there was a metal mesh imbedded into the plaster which left the edges of the remaining plaster wall a little rough. Now where it meets the new drwall, it is impossimple to make a clean joint. The gap between the old plaster and the new drywall varries down to an 1/8 and up to about 5/8. Would it be O.K. to fill in this gap in the corner with some setting type joint compound and then after that sets tap the joint as normal?

Another question, when I was tearing down the wall I found something I had never seen before, not that I've seen alot. Behind the plaster walls I was expecting to see wooden lathe. But instead what was used was about 18 inch wide by about 1/4 inch thick dryall sheets. Anyone seen this before?


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## JMGP (Jan 19, 2006)

yes it would be ok to do what you asked....

I recomend using Durabond 20, 45 or 90 ( 20 meaning it takes 20 minutes to dry 90 meaning 90 minutes to dry) to fill in your gap. Its a 2/part mix durabond/water. Mix it to the consintensy of regular joint compound.

about your other question... ive had my share of renavation projects but dont recall seeing what you discribed..

Thanks,
Joe


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## JMGP (Jan 19, 2006)

I was just watching a program today that may have mentioned what you were discribing... instead if using wooding lathe they used some type of fiber board.

Joe


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## ron schenker (Jan 15, 2006)

About 40 yrs. ago they started to phase out the wooden lathe and use this "Rock Lathe" as a base for plaster or wood paneling. It was supposed to save time and money, but the industry soon learned that it didn't. Shortly after, drywall was invented and the world as we know it changed.


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## ERIK2173 (Oct 19, 2005)

Well I wish drywall had been invented before the walls of my house were put up. I know the plaster is durable, but it is a pain to repair and more of a pain to take down. The thickness of my bathroom walls made it quite a pain to get rid of all the plaster.


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## aquarijen (May 12, 2009)

I love plaster. I don't find repairing plaster all that difficult. I love that plaster will not mold (drywall can). I think it is much easier to repair than drywall - the only thing you have to cut out is the metal lath to affix to the old wood lath (or rock lath). I decided to just fix all the plaster in my home. My only issue has been where a previous owner decided to sheetrock over the plaster and it has been a mess and a pain removing the drywall and repairing the plaster due to the drywall screws cracking the plaster underneath. Lots of sheets of plaster fell due to that. I wish they had opted to repair the plaster the correct way.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Good read:

http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief21.htm

Be safe,


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

I have done a few demos where the type of backer you're referring to was used for plaster. It's like the "gyp" board sheathing used years ago (like my house) and it's usually 24"x8'. I haven't seen it in a long time, but I thought it was 1/2" thick, like the exterior sheathing. (And as I recall it had holes in it to let some of the plaster push through??) Might have been 3/8" or 1/4" though. And as stated above, setting compound is the answer to your transition question.....


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