Closing Up The Walls

The electricians made as few holes in the walls as possible, and the holes were made as small as possible. I started closing up a few of them this weekend. Who knew it'd take so much work! All the previous plaster work I did was to close up small holes that still had lathe behind them. These holes were cut all the way through! If I was lucky, a stud or something else solid was there so I could secure the new lathe to it. I haven't been unlucky yet, but that's because I haven't started working on any other holes yet!

There were a few different methods and suggestions posed about approaching this.

1. I could cut some lathe, secure it, then start laying the plaster over it.
   
2. I could cut some dry wall, secure it, then use plaster and tape to seal it.
3. I could cut some plywood bigger than the hole, secure it to the plaster, then fill the space with plaster.
   

Given that none of the holes were really all that big, and the drywall was already 1/4 inch thick (the same thickness as the plaster already on the walls), I decided to cut lathe and plaster the walls.

I started by cutting the holes larger, so the edges were even. I didn't have a chisel, so I had to use the end of the hammer. I cut the lathe for the openings next then attached them. It was pretty difficult because I wanted to make sure the switch box was level. In the end, I used the lathe for the box to rest on. It's still not completely level, though. It's a little upsetting. I did one layer on Saturday, making sure I pushed the plaster through the holes in the lathe to create the keys to hold everything in place. Today, I added a second layer to it, which really evened it out. I think one more layer should complete it. Each layer has the fiberglass tape over it. I hope this adds some security and strength to the opening.

Here's the living room light switch opening.


This is after two layers of plaster with the lathe replaced on the bottom part. It's got some fiberglass on it so the next layer can grip.



I lathed and plastered the light switch opening and the hole in the ceiling above it. Neither one is completely finished. They'll both probably require three layers of plaster. I attached the lathe to the other two openings in the ceiling. I needed a smaller putty knife to finish the job, or a chisel to widen the opening. I'm going to opt for the smaller putty knife.



These two have the lathe so far. No plaster has been applied due to lack of time.



This is actually a lot more work than I thought it would be!