On Jul 31, 1:33 pm, "Not@home" wrote:
Steve wrote:
Daughter just bought a 100 yr old home.
The bedroom walls, I'm told, are horsehair plaster.
I got a quick look at one of the walls today while they were Opening a wall
up to connect two bedrooms.
Looks like a 3x3 stud with horizontal lath.sp? About 3/8" of plaster over
the lath.

All the bedrooms were painted over wallpaper.
The paint peels right off of the paper in full sheets.
15 minutes to peel all the paint off the paper.

Now how to deal with the paper???
We've been told removing the paper can damage the plaster...
Son in law asked to borrow my sander to sand it smooth....

Anything special about horsehair plaster I should know ???

If your walls were done right, the horsehair plaster is a rough coat,
and there is a very smooth coat of finishing plaster on top of it.
Small cracks can be handled with spackling compound or finishing
plaster. Larger cracks will need to be opened in an inverted V shape,
so there is a lip of solid plaster remaining, then a rough coat applied,
followed by a finishing coat or two. It is true that matching any
pattern in the surface is a skill beyond any homeowner, but it is fairly
easy to match a very smooth surface.

You have to determine whether the wallpaper is paper or vinyl. Both are
held on with paste, and hot water or steam will soften the paste,
allowing easy removal of the paper. The vinyl papers will have to be
scored to allow the water or steam to get through them to the paste. I
don't think a sander would be at all useful in removing paper.

Once the paper is off, wash the walls to remove the old paste, fix any
defects in the plaster (hand sanding is best for smoothing your repairs,
or even a drywall screen) and either paint or repaper.

Plaster is a premium wall; if you want something cheaper, and cheaper
looking, you could hang sheetrock.



I've never seen paint peel off like this did...

What would be the best way to finish/repair these walls???

If having a century house is important to her, plaster is the only way
to go.

having lived in an apartment with real plaster walls once, it sure
absorbs sound better than drywall.