It's hole patchin' time

[Mark Rios]

I need to patch a few holes in some old lathe and plaster walls. Usually, I would do the regular drywall mud routine but this time I waas wondering if anyone has found anything that DOESN'T require the use of drywall (mesh) tape to effect a patch in lathe and plaster. I'm hoping to find a compound that won't crack around the filler patch that fits inside the hole.

Anyone had any luck with this? Or should I just do the conventional sand, tape, mud thing and feather way out around the hole?

[Ben Grunow]

Mark- My wifes family is from Mo-town (name's Turner but none there anymore-used to be turkey farmers). Anyway, have you ever used Dura-bond? It's just like compound but it comes in a bag and is mixed with a drill mounted paddle (or by hand) to the same consistency as compound and it is available in various drying times. I think 20 min, 45 and 90 min. The shorter dry times can be applied thicker without cracking due to shrinkage that regular compound exhibits. You can also careully chip out some of the finish coats of plaster around the hole so the fiberglass tape has a small recess to fit into if you want to reduce the area you need to feather out. I think for big patches it is easier to commit to skimming the whole wall to avoid flashing in the paint job later. Sounds scary for lots of holes but use the durabond and you can do several coats with sanding in a day. Good luck.

[Jason Roehl]

Be advised that Durabond does NOT sand well. It's the stuff that comes in the brown bags. There is a setting-type drywall compound that comes in the white bags (5, 20, 45, 90 min set) that is sandable like regular joint compound. I would use a couple coats of the durabond, carefully feathered, then topcoat with either regular joint compound or the sandable setting type.

[Joe Pelonio]

For lathe and plaster walls I've always used a product called Fixall. It's a powder that you mix with water and it gets hot. You only have about 10-15 minutes before it starts to set up. It doesn't sand like drywall compound but works really well so there's not that much sanding to do anyway. You can mist it with water and smooth some more with your knife/trowel as is starts to set.

[Chris Padilla]

Mark,

Depending upon the hole size, I often like to use drywall as a patch. Cut out a piece of 1/2" or 5/8" drywall (doesn't matter unless there is a stud in the hole) bigger than the hole.

Next, take the drwall patch and cut away the drywall about an inch all around but leave the paper on the front. This "flap" will serve to cover up the joint and you won't have to use tape...only mud. This is actually easier than it sounds.

Now take the patch and use it to trace around the hole so that the patch will fit snugly into the hole. Once it fits nicely, I simply use mud (joint compound) as the "glue" and smear it around the hole and the patch and insert it...then smooth your mud over the patch and feather and trowel, etc.

[Jim Becker]

I'm very much interested in the wisdom that gets posted on this topic...there are two places in my current office that need plaster restoration. I think that the previous owners had someone "try" to get by with joint compound and that failed when they didn't fix the underlying moisture problem (downspout drainage) that was causing the plaster to fail to begin with. Example below:

[Kyle Kraft]

Awwwww come on! You can sand Durabond with a Milwaukee 9" angle grinder no problem.:)

[Jerry Olexa]

In the past, when helping my SIL patch large areas of old house plaster/lathe walls,in a few areas, we cut out the offending area in a rectangular shape down to the wooden lathe. Cleaned it up, vacuum, etc. Then cut a rectangular shape of dry wall of the right thickness and nailed it in carefully to roughly fill that opening. Then, several coats of joint compound w tape to "feather it in". On a few walls, we found it best to strip ALL the old plaster out and cover that total wall w new drywall. Not perfect but clean & workable. G'Luck. Its not a perfect science...

[tod evans]

Awwwww come on! You can sand Durabond with a Milwaukee 9" angle grinder no problem.:)

durabond works great! and like kyle says you can sand it, if you`re really determined....02 tod

[Jim Becker]

In the past, when helping my SIL patch large areas of old house plaster/lathe walls,in a few areas, we cut out the offending area in a rectangular shape down to the wooden lathe.

In my case, I can't do that...it's wire mesh lathe over 18" thick stone walls. It's going to have to be directly patched with plaster, I believe. This may be different from Mark's situation...

[tod evans]

In my case, I can't do that...it's wire mesh lathe over 18" thick stone walls. It's going to have to be directly patched with plaster, I believe. This may be different from Mark's situation...

jim, either durabond or real lime stucco is what i`d use on your walls. if you`re comfortable with a trowell-n-hawk the lime stucco would be my first choice. if you`re afraid of mistakes and think you`ll need to do "after drying" corrections then durabond sands much easier than lime stucco..02 tod

[Jerry Olexa]

In my case, I can't do that...it's wire mesh lathe over 18" thick stone walls. It's going to have to be directly patched with plaster, I believe. This may be different from Mark's situation...

Jim, That's authentic construction. I agree, you'll probably have to plaster to fill in and blend. Try to get a hi tech type plaster that permits expansion/contraction to prevent cracks. Not sure of that but its worth a few extra $ to prevent later having to re do..

[Chris Padilla]

I'm very much interested in the wisdom that gets posted on this topic...there are two places in my current office that need plaster restoration. I think that the previous owners had someone "try" to get by with joint compound and that failed when they didn't fix the underlying moisture problem (downspout drainage) that was causing the plaster to fail to begin with. Example below:

Jim,

Has the moisture problem been addressed? This could be one of those nasty "domino-affect" things depending on how deep you get into it....

[Jim Becker]

Has the moisture problem been addressed?
Absolutely. Several years ago.

[Ben Grunow]

Jim- I agree with the suggestion to use "real" plaster to repair your wall. Mostly because when you have a plaster surface applied directly over stone there is always the remote chance for condensation. The stone can be very cold and if the right humidity and temperature changes combine, you get wet spots and I think the real stuff is much more resistant to that than durabond (and certainly drywall). We have an old Irishman we call when plastering must be done. Maybe ther is one in your town who can help?