• September 30, 2011

Saving the Plaster Walls

Bungalow Bedroom Renovation

Bedrooms, Restoration Diary

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Comments { 5 }
  1. Reuben

    Why did you decide to repair the existing plaster, rather than remove and replace?


    • Heather

      It comes down to preference. We prefer the look and feel of the old plaster walls. Also, our house has zero insulation. The wood lath beneath the plaster helps a little with insulation and a lot with sound proofing.


  2. Mia

    Just curious why you decided to paint the wood moldings/ doors after you stripped some. We are dealing with this issue now and can’t seem to make a decision.


    • James

      It depends much on the wood used to make the moldings. Some moldings are made of pine or poplar and are meant to be painted. There are rooms appointed entirely with moldings and trim made from mahogany, maple, birds-eye maple, English or quarter-sawn (“rip”) oak meant to display the beautiful and unique colors, textures and grains of these woods, much as different types of marble (you wouldn’t paint over marble, would you?). Learn to identify and appreciate these. In some cases, people expose pine because they want that rustic camp look, while others paint over rare wood treasures either because they can’t be bothered with the difficult stripping process or prefer painted moldings regardless of the original goals of the home designers. Watch out when replacing windows: the installer would just as soon rip-out the original trim (less work) and replace with whatever he has on hand; to him, “wood is wood.”


  3. Brandon

    Nice choice on keeping the plaster. Not a lot of people realize it’s virtues over drywall, which is pretty much everything, except speed.



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