How to Tear Down a PLASTER Wall (leaving one side intact)
36For 5 years I've owned this house and for 5 years I've wanted this wall knocked out.
Today, I started! Removing plaster and lath board from one side, leaving the other untouched.
And boy, have I got some tips for you:
1.) DO NOT use a rotary tool on the plaster itself if at all possible. I knew it would kick up a lot of dust and I had sealed everything in the room up with plastic/paper and duck tape before starting. It worked out for me. But still, I can't see ever taking any motorized cutting tool - even a Sawzall - to plaster again. The dust it creates is like corn starch in fineness and I can now imagine a dozen better ways to leave a clean edge if you intend to leave some plaster behind. (I'm thinking trim-wood screwed through to the studs , then scored with solid-handled drywall knife.)
2.) Wear a MASK and GOGGLES. The minimum mask you should have for this is the type I'm wearing in the video. Disposable, but with a filter built-in. Don't know about yours, but my walls have been standing since 1929. That's the better part of a century in which the U.S. was a-okay with lead-based paints and asbestos in plaster as fire retardant. I can't tell you what is or isn't in/on these walls. But I KNOW I don't need to be breathing it.
3.) The easiest way to knock the plaster away is with just an everyday, ordinary hammer. Sledge not needed. Start a little hole by crushing through the plaster - anywhere - with a few swings of the hammer side. Then pepper the surface of the area you're working on with angled-hits to break some of the plaster-spill away from the lath board inside the wall. Then flip the hammer, get the claw end into the hole you made, and drag/jerk through it. DON'T try to make it "come down in big pieces." The effort will just take you 6x as long to finish the job, and you'll still have the same mess to drag away when you're done.
(See the first square of the wall I do, versus the rest. I'd guess the first sixth took as long as the other 5/6ths)
If you're wondering why I removed the plaster in three segments, check the comments. I'll explain down there. (But know that there's no GOOD reason I did it -- sigh.)
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