Securing Plaster

With all of the plaster pretty much scrubbed down, I’m turning my attention to starting to stablize and secure any loose and cracked plaster. I also have some holes from the previous HVAC that I want to plug up and while I’m doing that also move some outlets to see if I can secure the boxes to studs instead of hanging loosely in the lath.

I start with the smaller hole near the ceiling.

Smaller hole.

I start by cutting out a piece of a 2x3 to plug in the chopped out stud. The 2x3 doesn’t quite fit the modern lumber doesn’t match the dimensions of the old wood, but I’m able to get it in place, shimmed and secured using some construction adhesive and braces. The area is really tight so it’s hard to get the screws in place due to not being able to use a drill.

Adhesive.

After the stud is repaired, I attach the lath. Later I’ll do the repair with 3 coat lime plaster approach.

Lath attached.

I try to take a crack at the larger hole, but I’m unable to get the stud piece to fit perfectly so I leave that behind for now. Next I start making my way around the loose plaster areas and start attaching plaster washers. I start by drilling with a mason drill bit to see if I hit lath. After I pre-drill holes, I put on a 1” spade bit to scrape down some of the top layer of the plaster. Then I drill in the washer using a drywall screw.

Starting plaster washers.

Outside of plaster I make some progress on the doors. The closet door was stripped with CitriStrip and it caused a lot of dark blotches. After reading up on other complaints, people suggested using Bar Keeper’s Friend to try and lighten the blotches. I make a paste of Bar Keepers Friend and put that on the door for 15 minutes. After rinsing it off, it does lighten things a little bit, but it’s not a 100% effective.

Trying to remove blotches with Bar Keeper’s Friend.

Still have blotches.

The entry door I go with using the SpeedHeater to remove the paint instead of going for the CitriStrip. For this I’m able to make good progress but I’ll need to another pass with a different stripping product.

Starting with white paint.

Heating the paint off.

After a pass with the SpeedHeater.