The blueprints to my 1953 house say that the walls are "rock lath
plaster". Whether this is the same thing as plasterboard I don't know,
but it seems that a 4x8 sheet of this stuff would be nicer than drywall
(albeit a lot heavier).

If I have to do any patching or redoing walls I'd prefer to have the
heaver plasterboard than flimsy drywall.

So is plasterboard still manufactured?

Mike

wrote:
The blueprints to my 1953 house say that the walls are "rock lath
plaster". Whether this is the same thing as plasterboard I don't know,
but it seems that a 4x8 sheet of this stuff would be nicer than drywall
(albeit a lot heavier).

If I have to do any patching or redoing walls I'd prefer to have the
heaver plasterboard than flimsy drywall.

So is plasterboard still manufactured?

Mike

"Rock lath plaster" probably means that "rock lath" was used as
oppposed to wood lath in older homes, with a coat or two of plaster on
top of that. Rock lath is basically drywall with a special treatment
done to the paper surface that makes plaster stick to it. It is
commonly called blueboard these days, comes in 1/2" and 5/8"
thicknesses, and you put a thin coat of veneer plaster on top of it, as
opposed to the old days when your house was built, it may have been
3/8" rock lath with another 3/8" of plaster on top of it.

It is certainly possible to do what you want, however, you will
probably find that it is a bit more work than you think. Blueboard and
veneer plaster may not be readily available in your area (as opposed to
just going to Home Depot and buying drywall and drywall mud off the
shelf), you may need to special order it. And doing the veneer plaster
is different that standard drywall finishing techniques. You'll need
to practice that. Look up the USG or National Gypsum websites, those
are two companies that make veneer plaster materials.

It will be more work, but in my opinion, the result is worth it.

Ken

Thanks.

Mike

As a substitute for blueboard, I've heard of using the back side of drywall.
The idea is that the skim coat sticks well to the coarse gray paper.
I would clear that idea with a plaster contractor first, though.
bill

"Ken" wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:
The blueprints to my 1953 house say that the walls are "rock lath
plaster". Whether this is the same thing as plasterboard I don't know,
but it seems that a 4x8 sheet of this stuff would be nicer than drywall
(albeit a lot heavier).

If I have to do any patching or redoing walls I'd prefer to have the
heaver plasterboard than flimsy drywall.

So is plasterboard still manufactured?

Mike

"Rock lath plaster" probably means that "rock lath" was used as
oppposed to wood lath in older homes, with a coat or two of plaster on
top of that. Rock lath is basically drywall with a special treatment
done to the paper surface that makes plaster stick to it. It is
commonly called blueboard these days, comes in 1/2" and 5/8"
thicknesses, and you put a thin coat of veneer plaster on top of it, as
opposed to the old days when your house was built, it may have been
3/8" rock lath with another 3/8" of plaster on top of it.

It is certainly possible to do what you want, however, you will
probably find that it is a bit more work than you think. Blueboard and
veneer plaster may not be readily available in your area (as opposed to
just going to Home Depot and buying drywall and drywall mud off the
shelf), you may need to special order it. And doing the veneer plaster
is different that standard drywall finishing techniques. You'll need
to practice that. Look up the USG or National Gypsum websites, those
are two companies that make veneer plaster materials.

It will be more work, but in my opinion, the result is worth it.

Ken

Also rock lath, besides being only 3/8" thick, it also only came in sheets
16" x 48" and was nailed up brick style with one base coat of rough brown
plaster, and finished with one coat of white hard plaster over it all.

"Ken" wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:
The blueprints to my 1953 house say that the walls are "rock lath
plaster". Whether this is the same thing as plasterboard I don't know,
but it seems that a 4x8 sheet of this stuff would be nicer than drywall
(albeit a lot heavier).

If I have to do any patching or redoing walls I'd prefer to have the
heaver plasterboard than flimsy drywall.

So is plasterboard still manufactured?

Mike

"Rock lath plaster" probably means that "rock lath" was used as
oppposed to wood lath in older homes, with a coat or two of plaster on
top of that. Rock lath is basically drywall with a special treatment
done to the paper surface that makes plaster stick to it. It is
commonly called blueboard these days, comes in 1/2" and 5/8"
thicknesses, and you put a thin coat of veneer plaster on top of it, as
opposed to the old days when your house was built, it may have been
3/8" rock lath with another 3/8" of plaster on top of it.

It is certainly possible to do what you want, however, you will
probably find that it is a bit more work than you think. Blueboard and
veneer plaster may not be readily available in your area (as opposed to
just going to Home Depot and buying drywall and drywall mud off the
shelf), you may need to special order it. And doing the veneer plaster
is different that standard drywall finishing techniques. You'll need
to practice that. Look up the USG or National Gypsum websites, those
are two companies that make veneer plaster materials.

It will be more work, but in my opinion, the result is worth it.

Ken

On 2005-12-21, Ken wrote:

"Rock lath plaster" probably means that "rock lath" was used as
oppposed to wood lath in older homes, with a coat or two of plaster on
top of that. Rock lath is basically drywall with a special treatment
done to the paper surface that makes plaster stick to it.

Just to clarify, I think that "rock lath" usually has a pattern of
holes in it, so the plaster will also mechanically bond to it, like
regular lath.

Chheers, Wayne

wrote:
The blueprints to my 1953 house say that the walls are "rock lath
plaster". Whether this is the same thing as plasterboard I don't know,
but it seems that a 4x8 sheet of this stuff would be nicer than drywall
(albeit a lot heavier).

If I have to do any patching or redoing walls I'd prefer to have the
heaver plasterboard than flimsy drywall.

Drywall comes in two thicknesses, right? You could use the heavier
thickness. Or use two sheets thick on the walls.


So is plasterboard still manufactured?

Mike

rider89 wrote:
As a substitute for blueboard, I've heard of using the back side of drywall.
The idea is that the skim coat sticks well to the coarse gray paper.
I would clear that idea with a plaster contractor first, though.
bill


The substitute for blueboard is to use the front side of drywall, but
roll on a coat of bonding agent first.

Ken

Glad to see so many clueless dolts reply to something they collectively know
nothing about.
'Rock Lath' was made by CGC and came in 2 thicknesses, 3/8"&1/2. The panels
were 16 & 24" by 4'
The panels were nailed up in place of wooden lath and scratch coated before
plastering. Blue board is no relation to rock lath or plasterboard (which is
still made BTW). The same effect can be had by use of 5/8" drywall board
skim coated with guaging plaster....
"z" wrote in message
oups.com...
wrote:
The blueprints to my 1953 house say that the walls are "rock lath
plaster". Whether this is the same thing as plasterboard I don't know,
but it seems that a 4x8 sheet of this stuff would be nicer than drywall
(albeit a lot heavier).

If I have to do any patching or redoing walls I'd prefer to have the
heaver plasterboard than flimsy drywall.

Drywall comes in two thicknesses, right? You could use the heavier
thickness. Or use two sheets thick on the walls.


So is plasterboard still manufactured?

Mike

Rock lath is also made by USG, the American parent company to CGC. You
can find information regarding this product on www.usg.com although the
site is terribly slow. It isn't available in all parts of the country
so you would want to call a specialty drywall supplier to get this
information. Drywall can be used instead of veneer plaster board if a
proper bonding agent is used. USG makes Imperial board that is very
similar to regular drywall except that it has a different type of paper
on it (paper is blue, hence some people call it blueboard). This paper
allows for plaster products to stick to the board without the use of a
bonding agent.

Be careful when you use blue board. Guys often get blue balls when
they install it....

On 21 Dec 2005 09:50:15 -0800, "Ken" wrote:


wrote:
The blueprints to my 1953 house say that the walls are "rock lath
plaster". Whether this is the same thing as plasterboard I don't know,
but it seems that a 4x8 sheet of this stuff would be nicer than drywall
(albeit a lot heavier).

If I have to do any patching or redoing walls I'd prefer to have the
heaver plasterboard than flimsy drywall.

So is plasterboard still manufactured?

Mike

"Rock lath plaster" probably means that "rock lath" was used as
oppposed to wood lath in older homes, with a coat or two of plaster on
top of that. Rock lath is basically drywall with a special treatment
done to the paper surface that makes plaster stick to it. It is
commonly called blueboard these days, comes in 1/2" and 5/8"
thicknesses, and you put a thin coat of veneer plaster on top of it, as
opposed to the old days when your house was built, it may have been
3/8" rock lath with another 3/8" of plaster on top of it.

It is certainly possible to do what you want, however, you will
probably find that it is a bit more work than you think. Blueboard and
veneer plaster may not be readily available in your area (as opposed to
just going to Home Depot and buying drywall and drywall mud off the
shelf), you may need to special order it. And doing the veneer plaster
is different that standard drywall finishing techniques. You'll need
to practice that. Look up the USG or National Gypsum websites, those
are two companies that make veneer plaster materials.

It will be more work, but in my opinion, the result is worth it.

Ken

Plaster is heavier and stronger. You can easily dent drywall.

Paint will look different over the areas of drywall with joint
compound. Paint will be uniform over plaster.

Wallpapering over plaster is much easier if you ever had to remove it;
with drywall the paper backing would probably come off.

Mike