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andrea10163

Its me again ... holiday is over and back to DIY. Struggling to fix anything onto my lath and plaster walls. When I drill through for fixing, laths fall down and fixings bounce back out ruining plaster. Crying or Very sad

Now the newly decorated room needs holes patched up and painted. I have read that really the only thing to do is to cut out a patch of plaster and the laths under it and fix in a batten and replaster over the top of it. Seems a tad extreme. Can you help please? Question

PS Hope you all had a great Xmas Wink

vince knight · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:48 pm Post subject:

What are you trying to fix to the walls?
Vince

andrea10163 · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:57 pm Post subject:

At the moment a childs (traffic light) lamp that has 4 screw fixings. Will be wanting to put up shelves thought at some point. And in the very distant future, I would like a new kitchen, so hanging wall units will be tricky....at the moment they are suspended on battens and sit out about 2 inches from the wall which doesn't look very good.

JonB · Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Posts: 56 Location: Cleveland UK

Dear Andrea,
Behind the lath & plaster or plaster board will be vertical timbers about 2" wide approximately every 15"--16" if you can borrow or buy a stud checker. Look on the Machine Mart site item No. 010917255, cost £19.99
(lots of others in the shops) If you can locate these uprights you will have no problems. Hope this helps.

JonB

vince knight · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 7:31 pm Post subject:

If you have not fixed the skirting board yet, find and mark the uprights that make up the wall that the laths are fixed to. If skirting is fixed then go along the bottom with a braddle to find them(small pin holes are easy to make good and not so noticable at the bottom of a wall Smile

).
Stud finders are good on plasterboard but the laths tend to set it off all the time Crying or Very sad

Have a great new year.

Vince

dj-paul-c · Joined: 17 Oct 2004 Posts: 23 Location: edinburgh

if fixing to lath wall its possible to use dry wall screws and screw through the plaster carefully and catch the lath spars,if your lamp is not too heavy and has 4 screw fixings you might be able to do that,you will get dry wall/ gyproc screws at local diy store

for your shelfs you will have to put the brackets on the uprights

as for your kitchen wall units,find the uprights in the kitchen,then sheet the wall with some 12mm ply wood and screw to the uprights,then you can screw the units to the ply wood

paul

andrea10163 · Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 12:00 pm Post subject: Lath and plaster walls

Many thanks for all your answers. Lamp is still hanging by one screw at the moment, and kitchen renovation has been put on hold....too busy trying to finish tiling the new bathroom Laughing

but I will definitely remember all your helpful advice for when I return to finish off all the little jobs that I have started Wink

Cheers Andrea