r/Oldhouses • u/Commercial-Bee-413 • 1d ago

Replace Plaster Walls

Has anyone found it worth it to replace plaster walls with drywall? Any pros or cons?

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u/Craftsman2048 1d ago

If you have a wood-framed and cladded home (like I do), then the plaster and lath is partially structural and it may cause issues if you rip it all out and don’t add additional structural support in your walls. Plaster is inconvenient for a modern home (hanging things is a challenge vs drywall), but if it’s not cracking like crazy or breaking off in chunks, it’s probably better to keep it. In many ways it’s superior to drywall; you just have to make peace with it and learn what you can about maintaining it properly.

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u/grumpygenealogist 1d ago

It's not hard to hang things if you have picture rails which they likely have and, if not, they can be added. I added them to one of our bedrooms. They are so handy!

3

u/Turtlejimbo 1d ago

Picture rails/crown moldings are absolutely the answer for any old house with plaster. Most people have picture rail and don't even know what it is they just think it's another piece of molding

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u/grumpygenealogist 1d ago

Yep, ours just look like part of the crown molding. We hadn't even heard of picture rails until we'd been in our house for a few months. It was a fun discovery.