One challenge facing rehabbers of older houses is whether or not to keep the old plaster and lathe or replace it all with drywall.

It really depends on what kind of feel your shooting for, and whether or not you want to keep some of the charm of the old house in place.

In the case of my first rehab project, the entire house had plaster walls, most of which was overlaid with wallpaper and painted several times. Older techniques used to wallpaper over plaster leaves two sheets of wallpaper overlapping each other, producing a visible seam.

Since this house was destined to be a rental I chose to keep things simple and replace plaster where needed, cleanup the trim and give the walls a fresh coat of paint.

If your goal is to flip a house, you may want to spend the extra time to strip off the wallpaper and plaster any loose spots you may uncover.  In many cases this is easier said than done, and multiple coats of paint on top of the wallpaper compound the problem.  In the spots where I had to remove the wallpaper to get at some crumbling plaster I used a common wallpaper remover from the local hardware store.  Other products, like DIF work really well, and come in gel or liquid form (check out this forum for a discussion on the difference).

I found that hand-held steamers (like this one) work well too, and for really tough spots, use both the steamer and the chemical stripper.

Stripping out all the plaster and lathe will be very time consuming, and replacing it with gypsum board (drywall) may not be as cost effective as it sounds.  Personally, I like the appeal of the plaster in older homes, but if you’re stuck upgrading the rest of the house, the plaster walls may not fit with the modern upgrades.

Plaster is much more robust than drywall, and I found it very easy (yet messy) to use.  In addition, the lathe slats behind the plaster make it very convenient when hanging pictures, as you’re not hunting all over for studs.

Plaster ceilings are another story.  Remember, the plaster has to support its own weight, and depending on what’s above the ceiling (kids jumping on the bed in the upstairs bedroom) it may work it’s way loose because of vibration.  In my case, I had some places that were sagging, but decided that if they hadn’t fallen, I’d leave it until it got worse.  Working with plaster over your head makes for a long day, and an even longer shower.

When deciding which route to go, take into consideration the following things:

• The value added by replacing with drywall
• The time it will take to strip out the plaster
• The character of your house

Plaster is not hard to work with, if you can decorate a cake, you can plaster walls.  By the way, sanding plaster is never pleasant, so make sure you smooth out the ridges with a damp sponge once the plaster has set up for about 15 minutes.

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