While in the process of putting in my new bathroom it was decided that
one of the walls was in too bad a shape to leave it as it were. Its a
lathe and plaster wall (the rest are plasterboard following a
conversion some 15 years ago).

After speaking to a few people I decided that i was going to attach the
plasterboard directly on top of the lathe's. Removing the plaster was
not as bad as some people have said it would be, however the problem i
have is that the lathe's are extremely uneven and of quite a few
different thicknesses. In some parts, where the laths 'meet' at the
joists, laths have been nailed onto laths!

does anyone have experience of doing this, what was the end result
like?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Miguel

Migue wrote:
While in the process of putting in my new bathroom it was decided that
one of the walls was in too bad a shape to leave it as it were. Its a
lathe and plaster wall (the rest are plasterboard following a
conversion some 15 years ago).

After speaking to a few people I decided that i was going to attach the
plasterboard directly on top of the lathe's. Removing the plaster was
not as bad as some people have said it would be, however the problem i
have is that the lathe's are extremely uneven and of quite a few
different thicknesses. In some parts, where the laths 'meet' at the
joists, laths have been nailed onto laths!

does anyone have experience of doing this, what was the end result
like?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Miguel


Why not just remove the lathes? What reasoning do you have for wanting
to keep them?

Styx

Migue wrote:
While in the process of putting in my new bathroom it was decided that
one of the walls was in too bad a shape to leave it as it were. Its a
lathe and plaster wall (the rest are plasterboard following a
conversion some 15 years ago).

After speaking to a few people I decided that i was going to attach the
plasterboard directly on top of the lathe's. Removing the plaster was
not as bad as some people have said it would be, however the problem i
have is that the lathe's are extremely uneven and of quite a few
different thicknesses. In some parts, where the laths 'meet' at the
joists, laths have been nailed onto laths!

does anyone have experience of doing this, what was the end result
like?

Pull the lath off too. It's not doing anything useful
without plaster on it.

Migue wrote:
While in the process of putting in my new bathroom it was decided that
one of the walls was in too bad a shape to leave it as it were. Its a
lathe and plaster wall (the rest are plasterboard following a
conversion some 15 years ago).

After speaking to a few people I decided that i was going to attach
the plasterboard directly on top of the lathe's. Removing the
plaster was not as bad as some people have said it would be, however
the problem i have is that the lathe's are extremely uneven and of
quite a few different thicknesses. In some parts, where the laths
'meet' at the joists, laths have been nailed onto laths!

does anyone have experience of doing this, what was the end result
like?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Miguel

So remove them then.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Migue wrote:

After speaking to a few people I decided that i was going to attach the
plasterboard directly on top of the lathe's. Removing the plaster was

If you were going to do that, you would have found it simpler if you had
left the plaster on them.

not as bad as some people have said it would be, however the problem i
have is that the lathe's are extremely uneven and of quite a few
different thicknesses. In some parts, where the laths 'meet' at the
joists, laths have been nailed onto laths!

Since the plaster is off the laths, either remove them as well and screw
the plasterboard to the studs, or re plaster the laths with a base coat
and skim.

does anyone have experience of doing this, what was the end result
like?

Morning refreshment for a canine?

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Thanks to everyone who replied. I really should have been a bit
clearer and given some more information which would have answered the
questions above but didn't want to bore everyone with too much
information..

1. The room is 1680 wide and the bath is 1700 long. I removed the
plaster because every mm counts!

2. I opted to keep the laths on (after some consultation) because a
bit along the wall, a new wall has been put in perpendicularly to hide
the cold/hot water tanks. Because of this, there is no joist at the
far left end and hence nothing to support the new plasterboard (except
the lathes). A guy I know who is not a joiner but is good with his
hands said it is the worst 'lath work' he has ever seen.

3. Because of the bad state of the laths, i think my origianl idea of
putting plasterboard onto the laths is a bad idea.

4. If i just have the wall plastered again, does that mean that I am
not going to be able to attach my towel rail onto the new plaster work?

I am thinking of two posssibilities once I have rmeoved the laths.
Either put in a new joist at the far left end and somehow secure it
onto beams on the roof and floor, or attach some sort of bracket with a
lip onto the joist of the perpendicular wall and secure the
plasterboard at the far end onto this lip (hope that last bit is clear
enough)

cheers, Miguel

John Rumm wrote:
Migue wrote:

After speaking to a few people I decided that i was going to attach the
plasterboard directly on top of the lathe's. Removing the plaster was

If you were going to do that, you would have found it simpler if you had
left the plaster on them.

not as bad as some people have said it would be, however the problem i
have is that the lathe's are extremely uneven and of quite a few
different thicknesses. In some parts, where the laths 'meet' at the
joists, laths have been nailed onto laths!

Since the plaster is off the laths, either remove them as well and screw
the plasterboard to the studs, or re plaster the laths with a base coat
and skim.

does anyone have experience of doing this, what was the end result
like?

Morning refreshment for a canine?

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Migue wrote:
2. I opted to keep the laths on (after some consultation) because a
bit along the wall, a new wall has been put in perpendicularly to hide
the cold/hot water tanks. Because of this, there is no joist at the
far left end and hence nothing to support the new plasterboard (except
the lathes). A guy I know who is not a joiner but is good with his
hands said it is the worst 'lath work' he has ever seen.

Make it up with studwork. The look of the laths was irrelevant
when they were nailed up, they were supposed to be covered up
by an inch or so of lime plaster.

You shouldn't rely on lath to support stuff, do it properly,
it's not expensive, or hard, and will give far better results.

Hmmm. Wish I thought of that before. It would be reasonably easy to
put in some studs once i have removed the laths. Will just have to be
careful not to disrupt the laths on the other side when I try and
attach the studs onto the joist 'inside' the wall.

A lot easier than my two ideas i mentioned in my previous post thats
for sure

Miguel

Chris Bacon wrote:
Migue wrote:
2. I opted to keep the laths on (after some consultation) because a
bit along the wall, a new wall has been put in perpendicularly to hide
the cold/hot water tanks. Because of this, there is no joist at the
far left end and hence nothing to support the new plasterboard (except
the lathes). A guy I know who is not a joiner but is good with his
hands said it is the worst 'lath work' he has ever seen.

Make it up with studwork. The look of the laths was irrelevant
when they were nailed up, they were supposed to be covered up
by an inch or so of lime plaster.

You shouldn't rely on lath to support stuff, do it properly,
it's not expensive, or hard, and will give far better results.

Migue wrote:

2. I opted to keep the laths on (after some consultation) because a
bit along the wall, a new wall has been put in perpendicularly to hide
the cold/hot water tanks. Because of this, there is no joist at the
far left end and hence nothing to support the new plasterboard (except
the lathes). A guy I know who is not a joiner but is good with his
hands said it is the worst 'lath work' he has ever seen.

Simple solution would be to add a stud once the laths are removed. You
can skew nail or screw it into place.

4. If i just have the wall plastered again, does that mean that I am
not going to be able to attach my towel rail onto the new plaster work?

No more so than it did before. For the best fixing try and screw into
the studs.

I am thinking of two posssibilities once I have rmeoved the laths.
Either put in a new joist at the far left end and somehow secure it
onto beams on the roof and floor, or attach some sort of bracket with a
lip onto the joist of the perpendicular wall and secure the
plasterboard at the far end onto this lip (hope that last bit is clear
enough)

Cut the new stud so that it is a snug fit between top and bottom rail.
Then nail or screw in place, by driving then into the side of the stud
at 45 degrees a couple of inches away from the ends so that the fixinig
ends up embedded in the rail as well as the stud (assuming 4x2 studs and
4" fixings here).


| |
| |
| | / nail
| |/
| |
---------------------------
---------------------------


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

think i was getting studs and joists confused. Ok, so going to put in
a new stud vertically, then screw it top and bottom with screws at 45
deg. Sounds quite straight forward.

Thanks for your help

Miguel


John Rumm wrote:
Migue wrote:

2. I opted to keep the laths on (after some consultation) because a
bit along the wall, a new wall has been put in perpendicularly to hide
the cold/hot water tanks. Because of this, there is no joist at the
far left end and hence nothing to support the new plasterboard (except
the lathes). A guy I know who is not a joiner but is good with his
hands said it is the worst 'lath work' he has ever seen.

Simple solution would be to add a stud once the laths are removed. You
can skew nail or screw it into place.

4. If i just have the wall plastered again, does that mean that I am
not going to be able to attach my towel rail onto the new plaster work?

No more so than it did before. For the best fixing try and screw into
the studs.

I am thinking of two posssibilities once I have rmeoved the laths.
Either put in a new joist at the far left end and somehow secure it
onto beams on the roof and floor, or attach some sort of bracket with a
lip onto the joist of the perpendicular wall and secure the
plasterboard at the far end onto this lip (hope that last bit is clear
enough)

Cut the new stud so that it is a snug fit between top and bottom rail.
Then nail or screw in place, by driving then into the side of the stud
at 45 degrees a couple of inches away from the ends so that the fixinig
ends up embedded in the rail as well as the stud (assuming 4x2 studs and
4" fixings here).


| |
| |
| | / nail
| |/
| |
---------------------------
---------------------------


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Migue wrote:

think i was getting studs and joists confused. Ok, so going to put in

Studs are the wood bits in walls, joists are under floors (and in case
you ever wondered raftters run up the slope of a roof).

a new stud vertically, then screw it top and bottom with screws at 45
deg. Sounds quite straight forward.

Yup, if you are screwing it then it is better to pre-drill the angled
hole in the new stud so that you don't split the end (and it is easier
that getting a screw started at an angle!)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

use plasterbord adhesive directly onto the board and press against the
lathes,that will even out any difference