Eldest finally bought her first house with her partner which means my retirement is probably coming to an abrupt end given it needs a lot of work..
He is a plumber so I have suggested he replace some of the surface mounted piping and bury it in the walls, given now is the time to lift all the boards etc (also a partial rewire but thats another thread)
The issue is that the walls are lath and plaster and I am concerned about chasing them out. I am planning to get my grinder out and try to chase out a section to find out but what would STW do??
I'm no expert but I don't see why it can't be done. Might just be even messier
Our 1979 built house has compressed straw behind the plaster. We have told numerous plumbers and electricians over the years, but they don't believe us until they start drilling and chasing. That makes a disproportionate amount of mess, like an explosion in a hayloft.
Plumbing will probably require the removal of sections of wall and re-boarding/skimming afterwards. Cable could be installed by theading but noggins will be needed for pattress boxes to be firmly installed. It's going to be messy and dusty in the house for a while.
You can’t cut a chase in a lath and plaster wall, the laths are fixed to each stud removing a bit in the middle will just make the plaster fall off the large.
you could remove a section between two studs but making it good won’t be easy.
very messy job removing lath and plaster if you go down the route of removing it all.
Its a lot of work. You will end up replacing sections of the lath and plaster completely - you cannot just chase a channel
If it's anything like my 1930s built house consider from the start whether to rip the lot out and plasterboard in the rooms that need work. Once you start disturbing old (is there any that isn't old?) lath and plaster the job is likely to escalate. Removal was one of the dirtiest jobs I have done, and I've done some dirty things!
As already said, you can't chase into L&P. You can chop sections out to the next joist, but it does leave you with a large section to repair.
What type of construction is the property? Presumably if it has L&P it's an older place, and therefore it may well be lime plastered. If it's solid walled it's definitely worth using lime, introducing modern materials can cause issues with damp, among other things. Carrington lime https://www.carringtonlime.co.uk/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12460389101&gbraid=0AAAAAD10DXZP_a7s7ptRuexpPx_jLG_Ex&gclid=CjwKCAjw6ZTCBhBOEiwAqfwJdxYKW_HjnfOHV5X1ySd9Lw34g2Q-VaSJLchLmCmATWOFHZT_iwua7hoCWnoQAvD_BwE (other providers are available) offer some great lime courses including lath work and if you're on a budget learning to work with lime yourself makes much more sense than paying someone else to do it. Heritage trades are very expensive.
one of the dirtiest jobs I have done, and I've done some dirty things!
*Rubs thighs enthusiatically* Hello Tiger!
Be prepared for a lot of patchwork. IRL it can be easier to book an Airbnb for the next few months, strip the house down, and put in ducting and plasterboard.
two Victorian houses and one 1930s semi behind me give me the mantra ‘it is never easy’ for any DIY task.
it's messy, but may not be horrendous, our 1930s place only has L&P on non load bearing walls, so turns out it's just 2 internal walls. the rest are solid. for the switch drops you may be able to use the old wire to pull the new one through as it's likely in a void in the wall rather than plastered over. I managed to replace a few drops IVe tried by just pulling it through, I found inline splicers and lots of tape strong enough to temporarily hold the old and new together
but my plaster is now so dry it's like sand so it's rare even a small drill hole doesn't need a bit of patching better long term fix is to rip all out or overboard
Thanks everyone. Had to remove the old bath yesterday and deal with the inevitable damp beneath and rotten floorboards which exposed a lath wall from behind and its obvious to me now that I cant slice a channel. As suggested I will try to cut down the centre of a joist on each side which will allow me to bring in the piping on one joist and the power on the other. Hopefully I can add noggins and board across and leave for the plasterer to make good. All of the walls are actually in good condition and none are blown. I know it will be messy as hell but the house is unfurnished and they wont be moving in for a little while so now is the time...
