Patching and Plastering - Shower and Bathroom walls
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Fixitgal
09-18-03, 11:22 AM
Hello - thanks in advance for any advice or help I am remodeling a bathroom that has plaster walls. For the walls the previous owner had tiles half way up. Upon removing them, it took off about 2 coats of plaster. The upper wall still is in good condition. I have a friend who does drywall and he said he could probably fix the bottom wall if we got it cleaned up. Well, that other plaster is not coming off to well at all, so I figured one option is to install Wainscotting to the bottom half. Would this be Ok to do or will it crack the plaster up above? The plaster does not seem to crack easily at all.
Secondly, I am turning the tub into a shower tub by tiling up to the ceiling. Once again, tile around the tub (36 inches off the floor), was attached to some type of cardboard -- could have been old dry wall. (This bathroom was last done about 20 years ago, so I don't know what backerboard products they used back then. The rest of the wall going up is plaster. Can I nail and mortar the Hardibacker directly to the walls (of course to the studs) or do I need to remove the plaster and board from that section and start over?
Any thoughts or ideas would be most helpful. Thanks again.
Secondly, I am turning the tub into a shower tub by tiling up to the ceiling. Once again, tile around the tub (36 inches off the floor), was attached to some type of cardboard -- could have been old dry wall. (This bathroom was last done about 20 years ago, so I don't know what backerboard products they used back then. The rest of the wall going up is plaster. Can I nail and mortar the Hardibacker directly to the walls (of course to the studs) or do I need to remove the plaster and board from that section and start over?
Any thoughts or ideas would be most helpful. Thanks again.
coops28
09-21-03, 03:14 PM
I'd listen to your friend and repair the plaster. I'm not sure what your saying around your tub. Is the tile over plaster or drywall? You can attach durock or hardibacker to the studs. Make sure you shim flush with plaster upper. If there is plaster around your tub, just tile to the plaster.
brickeyee
09-21-03, 07:30 PM
The 'plaster' is probably keen's cement. this was used in bathrooms of houses with plaster walls since it is very moisture reistant. It is pretty tough stuff.
tightcoat
09-22-03, 12:11 PM
brickeyee is right about the Keenes cement being commonly used in bathrooms. Now if you can locate the stucd you can put new cement backerboard right over the existing plaster without tearing any of it off. I would put a moisture barrier behind it. The problem is that with the plaster in place you might not be able to hit the studs on at least one side of the corners.
If there are holes in the plaster deeper than a half inch you could put some filler like Gypsolite or Structolite in just to even it out. I would not bother with this unless it were over a stud and larger than about a foot so that it could leave a loose spot under the backer board.
If there are holes in the plaster deeper than a half inch you could put some filler like Gypsolite or Structolite in just to even it out. I would not bother with this unless it were over a stud and larger than about a foot so that it could leave a loose spot under the backer board.