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| In
This Article:
An existing stud is removed
from a plaster-and-lath wall, a rectangular hole is laid out,
the wood lath is cut away and the final hole is cut in the
wallboard. |
Related
Articles:
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| Skill Level:
2-3 (Basic to Intermediate) |
Time Taken:
About An Hour |
By
Bruce W. Maki,
Editor
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I cut this 8-inch-square hole about two
years earlier.
While remodeling the first-floor rooms below, we ran
a 6-3G cable from the basement up to this second-floor
hallway. By cutting a large hole I was able to reach
into the wall cavity and grab the cable while the
homeowner pushed the cable from below.
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| After removing the plaster and lath from
the old apartment kitchen, the access hole (red arrow)
could be seen from behind.
The 6-3G sub-feed cable can be seen coiled up just
below the hole. |
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A problem:
The spacing between the old studs was only about 14
inches, and the new panel requires almost 14½ inches. |
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| We removed the stud near the door opening. |
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To compensate for the reduced structure,
we added another stud to the double-studs at the door
opening. |
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| Also, since the old studs were wider than
new studs (almost 3-7/8" wide) we added a layer of
3/8" plywood to the new triple-stud, and all the
other new 2x4 framing that had to align with the old
framing.
The location of the old stud is visible as a whitish
streak on the wood lath. |
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Cutting short lath boards can be tricky.
The boards will wiggle and vibrate and cause the plaster
to crack.
To keep the lath from moving, We clamped a piece of
1x3 lumber to the back side of the wall. This board was
rather curved, and we placed the "crown"
toward the wall. This held better than a straight board.
We started cutting like it was a plunge cut.
Our goal was to only cut through the lath.
We used a short wood-cutting blade. A long blade is
sometimes better for starting plunge cuts because it can
be held at a lower angle against the wall. But
long blades also flop around a lot while starting
the cut. |
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Other Plaster Cutting Methods:
Typically I'll use a carbide-coated plaster-cutting
blade to cut both plaster and wood lath at the
same time. However, a plaster-cutting blade cuts really
slow through wood.
Normally, once the blade breaks through the wall
surface I will rest the foot of the reciprocating saw
against the lath, to minimize the amount of flexing of
the lath.
The wall in these photos had a layer of paneling over
the plaster, and then a layer of ½" drywall. (The
previous remodeler was too cheap or too lazy to simply
yank the paneling from the walls before adding drywall.)
Consequently, cutting with a plaster blade was painfully
slow. |
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| The other side of the opening needed to be
flush with the stud.
For this cut we used a long wood-cutting blade... one
that was kinda old and getting dull.
We started with this tricky plunge cut that was
against the stud. |
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The key to cutting an opening that is
flush with a stud is to flex the blade like this.
The blade needs to be pushed firmly against the stud,
so the front part of the blade rides against the stud
while the reciprocating saw moves the blade back and
forth.
Of course the blade needs to be mounted upside down
in the reciprocating saw, and the saw needs to be held
as close to the wall as possible. |
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| We only cut part way through the wall...
just enough to cut the wood but not deep enough to
engage the plaster.
Old plaster contains sand, which dulls the blade
immediately. |
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|
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We put a carbide plaster-cutting blade in
the reciprocating saw and cut out the plaster/drywall
from the front side. |
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| The completed hole.
We still needed to grind down some high spots along
the edges of the hole. |
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|
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To create the 14½" wide opening in
the framing, we fastened some blocks of wood to the
nearby studs. |
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| We mounted the new sub-panel to the
framing with 1¼" Simpson Strong-Drive screws.
But... we couldn't use the normal mounting holes. The
plaster/lath and drywall multi-layer surface was so
thick, the mounting screws would've just bit into
plaster.
So we drilled four new holes farther back, so the
screws would hit the wood framing. |
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Tools
Used:
- Cordless Drill/Driver
- Basic Carpentry Tools
- Reciprocating Saw
- Carbide-Coated
Plaster-Cutting Blade
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Materials Used:
- 2x4 scraps
- 1x4 scraps
- Deck Screws
- Simpson Strong-Drive 1¼"
screws
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Copyright © 2006
HammerZone.com
Written February 20, 2006
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