Metal lath is usually 27" wide, meant to lap and give about 24"
coverage. If your cracks are near 27, someone did not install the
lath correctly or did not tie the laps. Ribbed lath has been
installed wrong and will cause a stress crack system of lines -
the ribs should be against the framing to allow proper plaster
keying into the lath.



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DanG (remove the sevens)




"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
old expanded metal lath for plaster?

I ASSumed that my house had gypsum lath, but after (finally)
fixing the ceiling in my kitchen I now realize that most of the
house is metal lath and the gypsum that I saw previously was a
spot repair.

The reason that I ask is, in several rooms I have cracks in the
ceiling running the length of the room, quite evenly spaced, and
perpendicular to the direction of the joists above. My
suspicion is that it is the "joints" between sections of metal
lath. I also am inclined to "fix" said cracks by shooting
drywall screws into the joists on either side of said cracks,
then using mesh tape and drywall mud to conceal. Sound
reasonable? Should I use washers to help support screws? If
so, how to countersink? Buy a Forstner bit and treat it as
disposable?

nate

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