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Interior Residential Cement Walls Circa 1940

jimmiem | Posted in Construction Techniques on November 13, 2014 03:01am

A friend has a house and said the interior walls were cement with metal behind the cement.  Would this be cement stucco over wire lath?

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  1. calvin | Nov 13, 2014 05:38pm | #1

    Jim the mesh was

    many moons ago I worked in a turn of the previous century bldg that was "updated" mid century perhaps, dividing the larger space into smaller shops.  It was the first time I ran into metal lath fastened to steel stud stiffener metal (u-shaped 12 ga. .....maybe inch by 3/4).  Not really a "stud wall", but with the same u-shaped metal as spreaders and the tops and bottoms fastened, provided a sturdy demising wall.  Had a coarse scratch coat and finished sand plaster surface.

    if you slammed the heel of your hand against it, solid but had some give leading you to believe it was hollow, and probably a wood framed wall.  Not so.  The mesh ran floor to ceiling and at all inside corners ( floor and wall), it wrapped around the corners.

    sucked to work on, but provided a sturdy partition.  Could hang shelving off it  or attach another partition wall if you got a Molly anchor behind the wire.

    slatwall was another story

    Best bet, bang on it or find an outlet you can remove the cover plate off of and take a peak.

    1. jimmiem | Nov 24, 2014 06:48am | #5

      Stucco Interior Wall

      There is a small piece ( 2"  X 3") missing.  Fix with stucco patch or drywall compound patch?  Is there such thing as a bonding agent or should a small piece of metal lath be screwed in the hole? 

      1. User avater
        deadnuts | Nov 24, 2014 07:22am | #6

        plaster weld

        This is the product we usually use to prime existing adjacent areas of patch areas before applying base coat of Strucctolite. http://www.larsenproducts.com/plaster-weld-2.

        If no backing in the patch area, then back the missing area up with a piece of fitted extruded lath.

      2. calvin | Nov 24, 2014 07:44am | #7

        Jim

        the job I worked on that had the wire lath / plaster walls was in the early 80's............

        But here's my thoughts for patching in general.   Scratch coat in any lath situation is very coarse, almost a coarse mortar.  I've never done the chemistry make up of plastering but have done countless cosmetic wall repairs.  So with those disclaimers, I'd search plastering repairs or talk with a professional.

        in liew of that, figure the most time conscious backing material (or what I had on hand) that would provide a sturdy surface to support and provide the best chance for an invisible repair.  While a pc of drywall might work just fine if secured well to the existing lath I might get some scrap wire lath from the shop and wire that to the existing lath (tie wire twisted).  Might need to wire a rod to stiffen the back of a larger hole, wire that first to the existing lath midway across the hole.  Lay your lath patch in the space, wire the perimeter and tie to the rod.

        scratch coat:  I have bags on hand of original Durabond, so I'd probably use that.  For more body, I might add clean dry coarse sand and mix prior to adding water.  The agragate bonds well to the Durabond and expands it's spread/volume.  Prior to applying I'd slather Platerweld around the perimeter plaster edge and where I'll skim the plaster surface (or thinned PVA glue).

        another coat of no sand Durabond to bring the patch surface close to thickness.

        skim to disappear the joint.

        final skim with whatever mimics the original wall surface.

        or call an old plasterer.

        Edit:  60 mph gusts, rain and limbs down caused delay in the response.  So, in your specific case:

        cut a pc of drywall 2 " bigger than your hole.  Flip over and score the paper a bit smaller than your hole all around. Snap and peel away that outer layer of board.  The oversize paper left around the drywall becomes your paper tape.  Mud around the hole and the inside edges of the hole.  Insert your patch and trowel it on/in.  Recoat .

        View Image

        1. jimmiem | Nov 24, 2014 07:00pm | #8

          Calvin

          Storm damage?

          Lots of ideas for thought.  Thank You.

          The lath job that I kind of worked on was in the 60's...I had to attach it and mix the cement.  Had to hand nail the attachment devices (metal disks with a nail through the middle....I just saw metal lath screws that get attached with a power drill/driver.

          1. calvin | Nov 24, 2014 08:46pm | #9

            Damage?

            Well, not really.  More kindling.......and the weighted metal roof panel flipped off the wood pile.  Pretty protected in the woods on the hill above the river.

            out on the highway some trailers tipped over, some trees down, occasional power damage.  Tell you what, 60mph gusting is pretty swift in these flatlands of NW Ohio.  Heard there was 10-15 ft waves out on Lake Erie!

            lookout Buffalo.

        2. jimmiem | Jan 21, 2015 07:14pm | #12

          Calvin

          I got some wire lath.  First coat over the lath was stucco patch.  Second coat was drywall compound.  Third coat was drywall compound.  Wet sponged.  Looks good. Thank You for the advice.  Wet sponging/sanding is great for smoothing and keeping the dust down....I had used this technique years ago but kind of forgot about it. 

          1. calvin | Jan 21, 2015 07:27pm | #13

            Jim

            good to hear of the success.  And like most everything else you use various methods at different times to make it happen.

            as long a as you can remember, you stand a decent chance.

            Experience is a good thing.

      3. mark122 | Nov 24, 2014 10:30pm | #10

        i have used big wally's plaster repair kits in the past and they worked well, i have always used them to deal with detatched plaster, cracks and things like that. if im not mistaken they do have different kits you can get which include plaster mixes for small sqft repairs.

  2. mark122 | Nov 13, 2014 06:54pm | #2

    if the metal everywhere? or just corners? 

  3. gfretwell | Nov 13, 2014 11:42pm | #3

    My beach condo, originally built as rental apartments was built that way. Wire lath and stucco over steel studs. It was on a barrier Island near St Pete and the thinking was if it got wet, the stucco would survive better than drywall. It is also pretty termite proof.

    The first wood they would find was in the roof trusses on the 2d floor.

    The addition I put on my house was stucco over block on both sides of the wall.

  4. DanH | Nov 14, 2014 07:38am | #4

    Keep in mind that in 1940 there was no such thing as drywall.  The default construction would have been plaster over wood lath, though folks were experimenting with some of that new-fangled steel lath. ("Rock lath" wasn't going to turn up until maybe 1950.)  No such thing as steel studs either -- framing,if not wood, would have been steel rods.

    It's not a big jump from plaster on lath to stucco on lath.  Pretty much the same til you're done with the scratch coat.

    1. Geoffrey | Jan 13, 2015 10:05pm | #11

      Not quite true Dan, plaster board actually 1st appeared in the mid-late 1880's in England. Sheetrock

      appeared around 1917 in the US. It went through various stages of sheet size, i.e. rock lathe, before it got to

      be what we know today, but it really got it's growth during WW II, and then exploded as a cost effective wall

      covering/finishing system post-war, thanks in great part to all the returning vets needing new housing built

      quickly.

      Geoff

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