What kind of wall construction is this?

I've heard of sheetrock, and I've heard of lath-and-plaster, but I'm not familiar with what appears to be a thin sheetrock covered by a metal lathe and _then_ plaster, but it is in my 1937 house. It may be that this isn't what is used all over the house, but only in sections done later on. Still, it's odd to me. Can anyone tell me more about this? Pix:

It could be that they laid metal lathe and plaster over bad drywall and then laid new drywall over crumbling plaster.

That's how many homes were built then. The home I had on Mercer Island was like that. It's pretty good construction, and a bear to pull off the walls. There are outfits in Seattle that still do plastering.

The thin layer is "rock lath", but usually they would just plaster over it, rather than go to the expense of adding metal lath.

Does the layer closest to the stud look like it "drywall" except it's 2' wide instead?

dlarrivee said:

Does the layer closest to the stud look like it "drywall" except it's 2' wide instead?

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Are you asking if the drywall-looking stuff is in 2' wide panels?

Larry I'm guessing your home was built in the mid 60's to early 70's. You have some of the first "Dry Wall" products and like mentioned above where in 2' x 3' panels.

The older homes had lath (1 1/2" x 5/16" x random lengths of rough saw lumber) and plaster - you might find some lath still in your home.

Back when lath was installed it was soaked in water overnight and hammered up wet. The skim coated and the process of the plaster started. With these new backer units the smaller panel covered more ground more quickly and they went up as is and where "Dry" Hence the name Dry Wall for our current board.

Many of the men doing this work continued to use the same plaster and metal expanded corners for inside or outside sections. I've not seen a whole wall done with the expanded lath but the area you opened could show evidence that expanded lath was used in the corners of the dry wall panels.

Best way to drop that stuff fast is with a flat shovel. We wack the walls with the back side of the shovel and use the shovels edges to flip the metal of the wall.

Where a mask. Get some ventalation. Your in for a big mess!

Good Luck.




JW

Since he stated in the o.p. that the place was built in 1937, I'm doubtful that it was built in the mid-60s or later, eh? ;-)

I'm sort of curious as to what's on the exterior of the studs, between the studwall and cavity for the brick veneer though.

That's exactly what I have on my walls, and my house was built in 1948. In my case (bathroom reno), I removed most of that and it involved lots of dust / dirty work. I am thinking now, how am I going to connect the new drywall with the old wall. I have an area where the two products (new drywall with the old stuff) will meet, and will need to by connected. Any ideas you guys have? The trick part would be to match the thickness and somehow perfectly mask the connection.

Drewski123 said:

That's exactly what I have on my walls, and my house was built in 1948. In my case (bathroom reno), I removed most of that and it involved lots of dust / dirty work. I am thinking now, how am I going to connect the new drywall with the old wall. I have an area where the two products (new drywall with the old stuff) will meet, and will need to by connected. Any ideas you guys have? The trick part would be to match the thickness and somehow perfectly mask the connection.

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Fur out the wall so your new 1/2" drywall is just shy of flush, and skim coat the entire thing, old plaster and new drywall.