Article on Lath & Plaster Wall Installation

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Pretty good article (and very informative bit at the end about terlets, too).

In my area there are many many old houses with plaster and lathe walls and they are nightmares unless holes for hangers are predrilled.
 
Hitting the lath and having the nail "bounce back" may mean the damage has already been done.

There is more wall surface of lath than key ways (gaps between the lath) behind the plaster so your chances of hitting the lath are so good that, in my installation class I teach to ALWAYS drill a pilot hole in plaster, no matter how small of a nail you are using.

Once the keys are broken, there is no simple way to fix them- and worse off, you will not see the damage until much, much later. Symptoms are cracking and eventual failure of entire sections of the wall which may pull away from the lath.

Much simpler to pre drill a pilot hole than risk the downstream effects.

I would also be concerned with any captive anchor that can exert too much pressure in squeezing the plaster to the lath. Excessive pressure will cause compression of voids where the lath has shrunk behind the scratch coat and will surely cause radiating cracks from the anchor.
 
I have heard that awful rattling sound of plaster bouncing its way downward behind the wall, out of your sight. No sound like it on earth and I never want to hear it again. Once was more than enough. :icon20:
 
I live in a city with lots of old, historic homes. Plaster and lath are a regular concern. Pilot holes are always a safer and more prudent way to go. Sometimes even with drilling there are chipping issues. A bit of removable tape over the drill spot can help to stabilize the surface a bit.
 
Using a hammer at any time is a recipe for disaster in a home with lath and plaster. As some of the others have mentioned, the damage may not be noticeable until later. Even the slightest hammering can dislodge or break the keys. When the keys are damaged, the wall will eventually need significant repair.

My house is over 110 years old. When I bought it 3 years ago, several rooms needed some repairs because of long cracks in the plaster. I have done the repairs and they seem to be holding.

I have about 100 frames in my house. The hole for every hanger was predrilled with no issues. I have not seen any wall damage around any of my frames. A hammer has never touched my walls and never will.

Lath and Plaster - Predrill - YES. Hammer - NEVER.

BTW, I use 3/64" drills and drill at a 45 degree angle using the hanger as a guide. Those drills break easily so I buy them online by the dozen.

Here is a thread on some of my pictures - I haven't updated it in a while and a few others have added some of their pictures - http://www.thegrumble.com/showthread.php?56771-The-bakers-children-has-no-shoes
 
In my 1874 house the plaster has a gravel aggregate like concrete. Even drilling can be dicey if you hit one of the larger stones.
 
mlmintz said:
Larry, have you tried titanium bits?
Click to expand...

Most of the time when my drills break in the plaster it's because I have flexed the bit by pressing too hard. Nice and easy and they work well - but because they are so small (1 step smaller than a 1/16" bit), they will break.

I bought several 10 packs of the drills. I see that a 10 pack of the HSS 3/64" are currently $2.21 on sale at http://www.toolstoday.com/p-5857-high-speed-steel-drill-bit-bulk-pack.aspx?variantids=9636,0&

They also have a 10 pack of cobalt drills for $6.27 at http://www.toolstoday.com/p-6054-cobalt-drill-bits.aspx?variantids=10825,0&. I haven't tried them.

The 3/64" size is right for the hangers I use. I sized it so that they will snugly fit in the drilled hole without hammering.
 
Pat Murphey said:
In my 1874 house the plaster has a gravel aggregate like concrete. Even drilling can be dicey if you hit one of the larger stones.
Click to expand...

Great feedback, Pat. One of the things about older homes in general, is that one never knows what one will find........

Consequently, if hanging for someone else, the use of a hanging system that allows for adjustability and whose hooks are not located at the very perimeter of the piece would be prudent. I would look to Beehive hangers since they use a very small nail and will allow for adjustability in 1/16" increments in all directions, or even wall buddies, though not for art hung adjacent or requiring fussy spacing. Even picture wire and a conventional hook with picture straighteners (from Hangman) are a good solution.

I would caution using a tempered nail like those in a Floreat type hook. My experience is that they are very brittle when hammered into dense materials and may stress fracture (and won't actually break until weeks later) or I have also seen them chemically react with the plaster and corrode badly.
 
Wow, this is a great illustration of the intricate complexities that can be involved with something as seemingly simple as hanging a picture.
I guess this explains the existence of picture rails.
:cool: Rick
 
I have lived and worked in 100+ year old buildings most of my adult life. We are near the river, so humidity may be a factor in our plaster walls. I have never, ever used a hammer and nail to hang something. And I certainly wouldn't in customer's home. A properly drilled hole is easy to patch later, so everything I hang, large or small is has a pilot hole. I prefer to use wall anchors. Too many times a customer redecorates, hangs something heavy on a small nail and breaks out the plaster around the hanger.

It is remarkable how many times I have been called in to move a frame and found large broken out areas behind it. This is clearly the result of the hammer and nail approach.

Pretty smart idea about the toilet mounting though. :cool:
 
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