![]() The density of the walls can help to cut your energy bills by keeping your home warmer in winter and cooler in the summer. ![]() Lath and plaster walls have excellent insulation properties.Older homes are often quieter than new homes with interior walls constructed of drywall. Considering that the typical drywall is 1/2” thick, lath offers better sound control. When combined with the lath, it's closer to an inch and a quarter thick. A typical lath and plaster wall consists of a minimum of three coats of plaster creating a dense wall, rock hard, and nearly one inch thick. Lath and plaster, when properly mixed and applied is a stronger and more durable wall finish than drywall.Here are some of the distinct benefits you can enjoy: If you’re remodeling an older home with plaster walls, it may make sense to repair them rather than replacing them with drywall. Lath and plaster walls offer plenty of unexpected benefits for homeowners. The truth is sometimes the old ways are the best ways. The Advantages of Using Lath and Plaster in Your Home Renovation Let's take a look at the pros and cons of lath and plaster for your next home renovation project. So, should you keep, cover, or remove your plaster walls during your next home renovation? Of course, there are also some drawbacks. Lath and plaster is an old school technique that, when compared to drywall, offers some surprising benefits. It was an easier and faster way to finish the interior of homes. It wasn't until the 1950s that pressed gypsum or drywall came on the scene. If you live in an older home (built pre-1950s), you probably have at least some lath and plaster walls unless your house was renovated sometime after 1950. The method consisted of builders nailing thin, closely spaces strips of wood called “lath” to the wall studs, and the methodically smoothing multiple coatings of plaster over the substructure to create finished walls. I’ve no idea to what extent the paper pulp was doing the insulating, but the house is snug.The Pros & Cons Of Plaster Walls In A Home Renovationįrom around 1700 until the 1940s interior construction of homes lath and plaster was the material of choice used for finishing interior walls and ceilings. His climate is very wet, with cool but not freezing winters. He specified that he added two layers of plaster: the first is perlite-heavy, the second is a weather protecting layer with sand. Craig Ray's cob house in New Zealand (below) boasts a mix of perlite and paper pulp in the plaster with splendid results. It hasn’t been tested much in earth plaster, and the R value would certainly reduce depending on the ratio of perlite to plaster. Perlite is a volcanic glass with an R value of 2.7 when used pure and compacted. Perlite? I was a bit dubious about perlite, because I wasn’t sure you could compact it enough in the plaster for it to work sufficiently as an insulator.Finally, when it’s a sticky pulp, mix it into your adobe. Let it soak in water overnight, then mash it with some kind of blender/mixer. To make it, shred lots and lots of newspaper finely. 3-4 inches of this is going to help keep you toasty. Paper adobe has a high R value, so it’s worth experimenting with. Paper adobe (R2.5-3 per inch): Paper adobe, as suggested by the name, is where you mix re-pulped paper with clay and earth to create a paper-rich adobe.You can buy cork granules and mix them into your plaster instead of the sand. The cork tree’s bark can be harvested every 9 years. It has a very high insulating value, is also superb for sound-proofing, and, counter-intuitively, it’s relatively fire-resistant as well. Please note: That plaster needs to be pretty straw/sawdust heavy to have a decent effect. ![]()
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