Plaster and trim...

[Kashka-Kat]

How many rooms are we talking about - my lazy way of dealing with this is to leave the trim on (which is generally holding the plaster behind it pretty securely) and to remove the loose plaster to about 4-6 inches of the trim, then cut a drywall patch of drywall that's about the same thickness (or slightly less) of the plaster - for me its generally about 1/2 inch. Screw on the patch right over the lath - driving the screws at the studs. Then using bonding agent on all edges of the gap and then apply plaster into the gaps and then after that, a skim coat over patch and filled in gaps to get everything level and smooth.

Ive never found a reason to remove the trim. If you don't remove it, the plaster stays snug behind and near the trim. I suppose if your plaster is literally crumbling behind the trim you might want to just re do it all. Ive used this method for a few repairs that were quite large - 1 portion of a wall about 7 ft by 7 ft., and a couple of slopey ceilings that were about 2 feet by 7. I suppose if I had entire rooms to do I might do it differently

I'm SOOOO glad no one here has recommended drywalling over the plaster and butting drywall up against the trim instead of behind it, which is what I see on other forums a lot. Appreciate y'all not raising my blood pressure and endangering my health

[ashevillian]

Thanks for all the info! I also appreciate everyone not telling my to replaster the whole thing the real way with lath and plaster all again which I've been told to do a few times already! My budget is very tight so new plaster is not an option right now.

[kelt65]

How many rooms are we talking about - my lazy way of dealing with this is to leave the trim on (which is generally holding the plaster behind it pretty securely) and to remove the loose plaster to about 4-6 inches of the trim, then cut a drywall patch of drywall that's about the same thickness (or slightly less) of the plaster - for me its generally about 1/2 inch. Screw on the patch right over the lath - driving the screws at the studs. Then using bonding agent on all edges of the gap and then apply plaster into the gaps and then after that, a skim coat over patch and filled in gaps to get everything level and smooth.

Ive never found a reason to remove the trim. If you don't remove it, the plaster stays snug behind and near the trim. I suppose if your plaster is literally crumbling behind the trim you might want to just re do it all. Ive used this method for a few repairs that were quite large - 1 portion of a wall about 7 ft by 7 ft., and a couple of slopey ceilings that were about 2 feet by 7. I suppose if I had entire rooms to do I might do it differently

I'm SOOOO glad no one here has recommended drywalling over the plaster and butting drywall up against the trim instead of behind it, which is what I see on other forums a lot. Appreciate y'all not raising my blood pressure and endangering my health

That's interesting. I'm having a plasterer come to skim and level the walls in parts of the house, and was strongly considering pulling the door and window face trim (not the window sills) off, although he says it is not needed. I kind of want to, though, as I'd be able to do some rehab on them while he is working (they do need it), and will be able to get them all painted before I put them back, and then can just touch them up as needed. There's also lots of gunky paint, caulk and crap around them that I want to remove; I'd like them to have a very neat appearance when it's done.

He says he tapers his work to 1/8" on the trim, but I'd kind of like him to be free to put as much material on the wall as he wants.

[Jeepnstein]

Shim out because..? the plaster is thicker than sheetrock? Either sheetrock over the lath, or if you need to remove the lath, for wiring or insulating, use some of it to shim the studs. Most of my place has no plaster left (was gone long before we were here), but whenever I remove sheetrock I find the lath in place.

This works nicely. If you feel compelled to remove the lath then keep a pile of it so you can use it to shim back out to approximately the same place. If you don't do this you will find that none of your trim will be even remotely right.

[Mick_VT]

That's interesting. I'm having a plasterer come to skim and level the walls in parts of the house, and was strongly considering pulling the door and window face trim (not the window sills) off, although he says it is not needed. I kind of want to, though, as I'd be able to do some rehab on them while he is working (they do need it), and will be able to get them all painted before I put them back, and then can just touch them up as needed. There's also lots of gunky paint, caulk and crap around them that I want to remove; I'd like them to have a very neat appearance when it's done.

He says he tapers his work to 1/8" on the trim, but I'd kind of like him to be free to put as much material on the wall as he wants.

If he redoes the plaster under the trim, you will likely find issues when you come to put the trim back (as it wont be where it was), if it were me I'd leave it in place

[kelt65]

That's interesting. I'm having a plasterer come to skim and level the walls in parts of the house, and was strongly considering pulling the door and window face trim (not the window sills) off, although he says it is not needed. I kind of want to, though, as I'd be able to do some rehab on them while he is working (they do need it), and will be able to get them all painted before I put them back, and then can just touch them up as needed. There's also lots of gunky paint, caulk and crap around them that I want to remove; I'd like them to have a very neat appearance when it's done.

He says he tapers his work to 1/8" on the trim, but I'd kind of like him to be free to put as much material on the wall as he wants.

If he redoes the plaster under the trim, you will likely find issues when you come to put the trim back (as it wont be where it was), if it were me I'd leave it in place

It's just that there's so much crap there where it meets the wall ... the alternative is to grind/scrape it all out while it's on the wall. I supposed I could use this soy gel stripper I just bought, it is pretty amazing. I tested it on a piece of the wall for kicks and after letting it sit a day or so, I could just gently scrape 100 years of paint and crap right down to the original top coat. I was impressed. No smell or caustic mess at all.

[Mick_VT]

I'd probably go the stripper route - though another option could be pull the trim, clean it up and put it back, then plaster. Again I'm leery of pulling things unless I really need to, stuff breaks and old nails can do a lot of damage when they rip through

[phil]

I would not hesitate to pull any wood trim myself, Usually if you just get a flat bar behind and gently coax it way it will come. If it cracks don't worry just remove any splintery bits and glue them back while you have the pieces, you will never be able to detect where it has been broken so long as you line it up right and make it fit exactly which is usually very easy to do.
any remaining casing nails , just pull them right through, if you drive them back you get chips.
once the wood is stripped You can easily fill any nail holes and refinish them while off the wall, it is just so much easier to work that way. You can use a small drill to prevent cracking and usually you can use the same holes.or you can use modern thin nails with a nail gun.
with the trim out of the way you can finish right into the corners and it is so much easier to get a good clean job. If you write numbers on them and go around the room in the same direction puling them off it avoids any mystery about where they came from.
gluing those fresh breaks or cracks back together is really easy and they fit perfectly, and if you just use a couple of suitable flat pry bars and not screwdrivers and stuff and pry where the nails are usually you won't break them anyway, if you do its only a couple of minutes just fit them then put glue on then tape them together securely. so long as they are fresh breaks and you get rid of any splinters that prevent them from fitting perfectly the glue lines will be so thin they will be invisible. if the pieces are cracked and not broken even better just put a bead of glue along the crack and wiggle the two pieces on either side of the crack ,capillary action will pull the glue in and then you can just wipe the excess off. clamp them for an hour or two if you can.