Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Apr 13, 2000 08:57pm | #1

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   I'm going from experience on horsehair plaster over wooden lath here, so take it for what it's worth. The skim coat at least, can be quite brittle. A VERY sharp (new) utility knife blade can score the line cleanly and reduce the resultant crumbling. Experiment and see. It can always be patched. Oh, make sure the saw you use is sharp.

   Mike

1. 
   Guest_ | Apr 13, 2000 09:02pm | #2

   *u have the same concern every one has ..but most of the time you can cut a nice hole with a drywall saw.. or wrap some tape around a metal cutting sawzall blade and use that .. or a dull hole sawalso...don't worry if you do chip it .. u can repair it with joint compound, patching plaster, Durabond... or anything similar....most holes thru a plaster wall are not a tight fit thought, they usually get covered with an escutcheon plate. or you oversize it to allow room for caulk, or even expanding foam ....Kermit

1. 
   Guest_ | Apr 13, 2000 09:05pm | #3

   *Patrick - You didn't say what the hole was for (receptacle or switch?) if so your edge will be slightly covered anyway.I agree with Michael that a very sharp utility knife (repeated cuts and not a lot of pressure)works. With full coat plaster you usually use blue tape on the cut line, but tape can pull off sections of skim coat.Do you have a rotozip tool? After cutting through the skim coat it can make cuts through the blue board (hopefully that's what is under the skim coat, not plain drywall) without disturbing the surrounding area very much. Proceed with as little impact as possible.Jeff Clarke

2. 
   Patrick_Broos | Apr 14, 2000 01:15am | #4

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   Thank you all for the tips.

   Patrick Broos

3. 
   Patrick_Broos | Apr 14, 2000 02:15am | #5

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   I hope I'm not asking a stupid question ... this is
   my first posting to Breaktime ...

   I want to cut a hole in a wall made with dry wall
   covered with a skim coat of plaster, and I'm afraid
   that a normal wallboard saw (very coarse teeth) will
   chip off big chunks of the skim coat. Am I worrying
   needlessly or is there some better way to cut a hole?

   Thanks very much for your help.

4. 
   Guest_ | Apr 14, 2000 02:15am | #6

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   See Patrick,

   Wasn't stupid was it.

   Enjoy yourself and the best of luck.