On 2/10/2014 10:31 AM, Mike Marlow wrote:
dadiOH wrote:
"Jeff Thies" wrote in message


And, how many old homes have trashed the plaster and
replaced with ****rock? Plaster has a feel, texture and
density that can't be replicated. And nobody has mold
problems with it as it has no cellulose.


But it (probably) has wood lath and wood rots. For that matter,
never seen mold on a block wall? I have,many times, no cellulose
there either.

To be fair - I've torn out a lot of plaster and lathe walls in upstate NY
and never once have I encountered rot. I know - now that I've said that
someone will point to a case in some abscure set of circumstances, that they
found it. My point is - it next to don't happen.

That said - I see nothing particularily endearing about plaster and lathe.
Why would someone want those almost close to kinda sort flat and smooth
walls when "****rock" does it much better? I personally don't care about
the density of plaster.

Density matters for a lot of reasons, not the least is sound
transmission. It also adds to thermal mass. I have floating counter top
(no underneath support) hanging off a plaster lath wall, would of been
much harder to do with sheetrock.

And if you want perfectly smooth, so be it.

Now, I'm a bit of an unusual guy, and while many of you just want a
perfect modern house, I think that is OK. But I like my old house and
have fixed the plaster and updated the insulation. The old cast iron tub
has it's charms and so does the sink. The house has good bones.

All in all it's a pretty solid house with wood lap siding (who does
that now?). I probably have the only (mostly) solar heated house in the
neighborhood and I've added a few other unusual items, some of which I
can control from a tablet. I'm not trying to set an example, I just like
to try out new and original things. Certainly *not* a path for most.

We have a tendency in this country to just throw out the old, and with
that, it is gone for good. I have a better appreciation than most for
diversity, and saving some of the old is part of that.



But I do understand that some people just simply
like the older stuff. To me - that's preference thing and there is no real
argument in favor of plaster.