2nd Scratch Coats

I return to the doors to start off this batch of work. First up is sanding the epoxy repairs and one more final sanding before applying some wood dye to the doors. I hit the blotches one final time, this time with a random orbital sander, but still no luck removing the blotches. Definitely will give up on CitriStrip since this blotching and their advice on how to fix it. I never fully like the results with the random orbital sander because it leaves noticeable swirl patterns in the wood so I need to go back through with another hand sanding to remove those swirl scuffs. After that, I apply some dye to the wood to try and even out the color. Overall I probably don’t need the dye since the wood is already shaded due to age, but I do it to match the pattern I’ve been following over the last few months.

Dying the wood.

I let the dye dry and move back to the plaster work. First up is a 2nd coat on the 2 large holes. I previously did the first scratch coat so next up is a brown coat. It will be using the same basecoat lime plaster. For this coat, I use a slicker for the first time. The patch is very uneven due to the mix of metal and wood lath so I want to try a slicker to even out the plaster. The slicker is basically just a large piece of metal that you use to even out a large portion of the wall/ceiling.

Applying the 2nd coat.

The second coat all done with the slicker leaning against the wall.

2nd coat on the smaller hole.

After the second coats are done, I scratch them up a little for some grip to the next plaster coat which will be a finer white plaster. I move over to plugging up the hole from moving the outlet under the window. Unlike the large hole, there’s not much to work with on the smaller hole and I don’t want to open up too much plaster to reattach wood lath. I’d need to cut things away to the nearest stud and that would make the hole about three times as large. I don’t feel to confident in jamming metal lath in there either so I go with a repair I saw on This Old House. I open up the plaster hole just enough to expose some wood lath. I then cut a piece of sheetrock and then screw that into the wood lath behind the sheetrock. Generally I’m trying to do old school repairs, but cheating a little with sheetrock is the quickest solution here and probably the strongest.

Original hole cut by the electrician and then the hole I cut to attach the box securely to the stud.

Roughly sizing up the sheetrock repair.

Cutting back some of the plaster to expose the wood lath.

The patch inserted over the lath.

The patch screwed in. I also added some plaster washers to help secure the lath because they were loose due to being cut from the stud on one side.

After I get the patch in, I use Durabond 90 to cover up the nail holes and some of the gaps between the plaster and the patch. I also added some plaster washers to firm up the wood lath and cover those with Durabond. I’ll let this set and then next week I’ll finish the patch with a coat of Takcoat plaster which is designed to stick to sheetrock.

Durabond over the cracks and screws.

Before wrapping up, I apply one coat of stain to the closet door to see how that looks. It comes out OK and I’ll let that dry for the week and hit the other side and other door next visit.

Applying the stain.

Staining the door.