Glue sheet rock

[frankievent]

I have plaster walls and ceiling through out my house that was built in 1921. Walls and ceiling are cracking. I want to glue sheet rock since the plaster is
thick and it would be hard to get screws into. What do I need to do?

 

[Alchymist]

My first thought would be either strip the lath and plaster, or or add furring strips to the walls before adding sheet rock. Stripping would be best, as furring the walls out requires additional trim work around doors and windows. I doubt sheet rock will glue to the plaster, and if it even did, it would be difficult to keep it even and smooth.

 

[Stuart in MN]

How badly are the walls cracked? It may be simpler and less expensive to patch them.

 

[TLCObsession]

They make a mesh that you apply to plaster and skim coat. It stops the cracks from transmitting through and when complete looks great. it comes in rolls about wallpaper width. my friends who work in the parts of the US that have plaster swear by it. much faster and cheaper than tearing out and much easier than dealing with the issues caused by applying 1/4 rock.

I have used Fibatape and plaster washers, but they use something else. Some contractors use 36" fiberglass screen material.

 

[tcianci]

You could probably adhere new board to your plaster with conventional construction adhesive but it would mean lots of bracing to hold it there until the adhesive sets. That's just the first issue. If you do manage to get this far, your new materials aren't attached to the building Any better than the failing stuff you covered up.
1/4 inch board is tempting because it handles well but to make the job a success. You need to be able to pull the old plaster into place with the new board and screws through the board and into the framing. It takes a skilled guy to pull that off with thin board. Go with 1/2 inch board and 2" screws. The plaster won't put up as much of a fight as you think.

1/4

 

[TLCObsession]

A good plasterer can do the work and it may cost you less. If you add drywall, you have to pull and likely replace all of the trim, do extension rings for the electrical. It can get complicated in a hurry. It just depends what kind of shape it is in and what you really want on the other side.

 

[joe_padavano]

I have used Fibatape and plaster washers, but they use something else. Some contractors use 36" fiberglass screen material.

Fiba-Tape is the most common product. It comes in 3ft xt 150ft rolls. Nu-Wal is another.

https://spec-chem.com/how-to-repair-plaster-walls-interior-wall-restoration/

 

[evildky]

My house was built in 1911 and I have removed all the plaster and lath, to be fair most of it had been done long before i owned it after a fire a dozen years before I bought it. I own some older rental property with the same affliction. I've quit patching plaster, when it starts to crack out I just tear it back to the studs, which give me a chance to insulate a wall that wasn't insulated, then I can cover it in standard 1/2" drywall making the room 1/4" to 1/2" larger than when I started.

The problem with patching the plaster is that unless you got the skills it's very tough to make a patch look decent and if it's started cracking in one spot the next spot will be along shortly after.

The problem with your plan to glue it. It's going to continue to crack the plaster away from the lath and eventually your drywall will be lumpy and cracking and you made the tear otu more difficult.

Lots of people tear off the plaster and lay drywall over the lath, this usually isn't very level and you'll spend more time trying to get all the bits of plaster off and trying to finish the uneven drywall than if you had just taken the lath down and again you can insulate if it's an outside wall.

The nu wall type treatments are ok, but expensive. They cover the cracks but you can still see the uneven and puckers and eventually the plaster is going to crack out and the covering will just be the lumpy covering keeping it form falling off completely.

 

[engineer2]

PL100 construction adhesive will work if you still plan to glue up drywall. I would also screw it. I think 1/4" is not advised for ceilings since it can sag.
Plenty of info online for this. I helped replaster a room in an old house once. It sucked.

 

[djjsr]

Keep in mind that if you put drywall over plaster, all of your window and door frames will no longer fit. You will also have to move or extend all electrical boxes. My house is over 100 years old and it's drywall over plaster. It presents some unique challenges.

 

[Milton Shaw]

Take it out to studs and then insulate and install new wiring. That house probably has no insulation value or vapor barrier at all. Plus all the wiring is old with dried out insulation and probably a fire hazard already. It's more work but the job would be a lot better and the house would be a lot tighter and easier to heat. Also plan to upgrade the windows from the rope and sash single pane windows that it probably has. These additions would probably cut your heat and cool bill in half.

 

[JerryB]

As Milton Shaw and others have recommended, take it down to the studs (or whatever framing was used in 1921), redo (probably all) the wiring, and any plumbing or framing issues, then put in insulation and new drywall. This house is ~95 years old. Really good life, but the underlying structure and utilities are overdue for inspection and upgrade. Use the opportunity to put modern wiring with outlets in the places a modern house would have them.

About the last thing I would consider doing is to try to glue wallboard over the existing plaster. As others have mentioned, it will mean redoing virtually all the trim and electrical boxes to have any kind of matchup. That alone is a big job.

You will spend lots of time and money putting new makeup on, but are still left with a 95 year old face with all the wrinkles!

 

[pcmeiners]

I have patched plaster, and glued sheetrock but most of the time Milton's post is the right way. Old electric cable needs replacing, and insulation was basically unknown when the plaster was done. When I replace the cable in my folks house it was due to the wires breaking within the conduit without any cause, had three breaks in 20 years; wire was #14 and copper wire was brittle.
As far as insulation, the house was uninsulated, cost 3x the amount then once it was insulated. The fun part , if you have old style studs, they can vary in depth, walls can be a royal pain to even out, if so 5/8" sheetrock is your best bet, 1/2" shows m uneven wall much more. If balloon frame, create fire blocks between floors on each stud.

 

[DCarr2]

As a plastering contractor, it depends on the cracks, and stability of the plaster walls and ceilings.

Pictures would be nice...

There are two problems here...

1) cost

2) stability...

Problem one has been addressed... to a point... first let me explain the difference between Real Plaster repairs, and wannabe plaster repairs...

With real plaster, there is not sanding. period. I dont care who you are or what you claim, your a fake, and you hired a fake if a sanding sponge comes anywhere near a real plaster repair.

Second, real plaster is mixed on site. It doesnt come in a bucket. the lime is often mixed offsite, in a bucket... unless you run out (I have never run out of lime on a job) and then the lime and Plaster of Paris is mixed on site. The reason for this, is even if you split your gauge, your still only talking 30 minutes before everything goes rock hard. You cant slow this down. you mix lime with plaster of paris to get Plaster.

You use a trowel, and a hawk, to apply, and finish plaster. if their using a drywall knife and pan, its not plaster.

You work plaster till it goes rock hard, and then some... to get the glass finish.

The only way to sand plaster is with 40 grit, and a hatchet.

Now that we have removed the wannabe (there are ALOT of wannabes - infact most painters claim to be plasterers yet wouldnt even amount to a pimple on a plasterers ***)

next up is stability...

this takes a trained eye. What am I talking about? I am talking about if the keys are broke... what are keys? Keys are the base coat plaster that is pushed in between the wood lath when the base coat is applied. if those keys are broken, you will get deflection.

heres the problem: Drywall, does NOT have the structural integrity to hold up a plaster ceiling that has most/all of its keys broken... Read: Dangerous Read: if the cieling is not structurally sound, said ceiling could end up in your basement...

Since you have not provided pictures...

assume the worst.

with that said, using an impact gun, and 2" drywall screws, every 6-8" 16 oc will stabilize most ceilings.

however...

If you have spider cracks (most likely) these are cracks that affect the finish coat of plaster, these can be solved by skim coating the walls with drywall compound which is alot cheaper, and easier....

Also, Plaster has many benefits over drywall: It doesnt burn, at all... adds insulation value above and beyond drywall, and is an excellent sound barrier...

Again, pictures would help...

if you cant get pictures, you need to look for a NON PAINTER plastering contractor... as 99% of your painters, claim to be plasterers, but are not... they use drywall compound...and call it plaster.

 

[mustangfan]

I had this happen in my old farm house. Fortunately my house had blown in insulation that was still in very good shape, so what I did was pull the plaster off and leave the lath. Then I just put up new sheet rock. It turned out great. And having all the lathe on the wall you could put a screw almost anywhere and hit a lathe. It is a DIRTY job tearing out old plaster!!

 

[Falcon67]

The first house I owned was a 1926 model and it has ship lap (Hey, Jo-Jo!) under 1/2" sheetrock. Total PITA to run wiring, add switch or outlet boxes, etc. However, you could have probably picked the whole house up with a Sikorsky and flew it across Texas without cracking the sheetrock LOL.

 

[PugetDude]

Banish all thoughts of using 1/4" drywall from your mind.

 

[CoogarXR]

Either fix it or tear it out. Don't just pile it on. It's a pet peeve of mine that I run into in almost every old house I buy.

My current house, built in the 1860s, has some rooms with plaster, with paneling over it, then drywall on top of the paneling! Then, a drop ceiling to add further disgustingness. I wanna kick the previous owners' lazy asses.

I recently tore out my stairwell, and believe me, smashing plaster makes a MESS. That dust hangs in the air and gets EVERYWHERE. If you do decide to tear it out, seal the room off tight from the rest of the house, and wear a respirator.

 

[Whitworth]

Entire house, whether you Sheetrock over it or tear down to the studs, it's gonna be slot of work, and take a long time.
Do one room at a time, down to the studs and seal off to keep dust down to a minimum.

 

[Rrumbler]

Patching, or covering it up, either way, you are just buying headaches somewhere down the road; tear it to the studs and re-hang.

 

[Professur]

Just a thought while you're in the area .... what wiring is behind that plaster? If there's knob and tube .... you've got your answer. Pull it down and put up new and safe.