Timber larthes

[Guy]

Does any one in melbourne want a truck load of 2nd hand timber larthes, been doing a bit of demolition in East Malvern and it is a shame to use it as land fill.
PM me if you are interested
Guy

[Baz]

OK I'll bite, what the hell is a larthe, not in my dictionary.
Cheers
Barry

[Barry_White]

Larthe or lath is the strips of timber they used on walls to spread wet plaster on before the invention of Gyprock.

[Ian007]

lath
is very small bits of timber strips approx 10mm*25mm
let me know what they would be good for other than kindling :confused:

[RETIRED]

Stringers in a canadian canoe?

[jackiew]

depending on their length you could probably use them as battens in roman blinds? For the guys who are unaquainted with different window dressings ... this looks a bit like a roller blind when its down ( i.e. no gaps that you can see through ) but concertinas up like a venetian blind ).

How long are the lathes? ( I'm making curtains at the moment but have been thinking about having a go at a roman blind but hadn't managed to scrounge any suitable battens ). I probably wouldn't want a truck load though :)

[dzcook]

and if u could send a few to qld i could use them as possum barriers to close off the gaps under my eaves to stop the b***ly things from getting into the roof but still let some air thru

unless they are to thin for that

just a idea lol

david

[wombat47]

Back in the old, old days, before manufactured lattice became available, fern/summer houses and such were made from laths. Interesting effects were achieved by using them on the diagonal, etc. Would be great for a Federation setting, but you have to use more "studs" to support them (than you would need for lattice).

In previous life (with younger kids) we made a bike shed in summer house style but used roofing battens - because that was basically all that was available.

Definitely don't take them to the tip.

To Jackiew - you can take the strips out of old Holland blinds (sometimes available in charity shops or a recycling centre). Ready made timber venetians come with instructions on shortening them to fit window. If anyone you know is planning on buying them, you might be able to scrounge some unwanted slats. Otherwise, contact a made-to-measure business - you should be able to buy them.

[Guy]

the laths are about 1500 long, but there are a lot of shorter ones now aswell

[Sir Stinkalot]

If run through the thicknesser they would be great to make those spinning wind mobile thingies. Where abouts in Melbourne are you Guy?

[Guy]

East Malvern, there is alrady one pile from just one room. Have another 4 to do so there will be plenty.

[IanA]

How much plaster is still adhering to the wood, and is it gypsum plaster or a sand/cement base coat with gypsum plaster as a float coat?

If it is a sand/cement job it may give Stinky's thicknesser something to really munch on!!

[wombat47]

Since it's from the plaster & lathe days, it would probably be lime plaster, wouldn't it? That is, no gypsum or cement. And that was fairly soft, especially on the scratch coats. The top float was a bit harder.

By the way, are you pulling them out? If you are, can I ask why?

Back in the days when the world was young and home renovation was fresh and green, we decided to gyprock a ceiling which was in pretty bad condition. Spent an entire weekend chipping the plaster off the lathes, brushing clean, and cleaning up mountains of mess.

Must have been the joke of the year for the guy who put the ceiling in. He said we could have just gyprocked over it - better insulation, etc. But at least he was happy.

[Sir Stinkalot]

If it is a sand/cement job it may give Stinky's thicknesser something to really munch on!!


I dont have a thicknesser ..... any takers for doing the job for me? :D

[Guy]

There is very little plaster adhering to them. Dont ask me why the owner wants them removed but they are paying me to do so. They have a plsterer coming in soon to line the house in plasterboard sheet. I have explained to the owners that they should have left the laths as now all the door frames and windows need to be looked at.
Ohh well more work for me I guess.

If you guys realy want them then give me a PM

[ozwinner]

I dont have a thicknesser ..... any takers for doing the job for me? :DHey Stink
If you get them, bring them up here and Ill wack them through the,

Whirring Machine Of death. http://smilies.jeeptalk.org/contrib/sarge/q3aHappyBones.gif
( drum sander in case you missed the thread. )

Al :)

[glenn k]

Why would you leave them on the walls? If you go over the top with plasterboard the door jams are 20mm too narrow. Window frams need extending 10mm.
Most important remember they don't build houses like they used to!
People now like straight walls and ceillings and how can you straighten walls with bits of wood nailed all over them? I have used the lathes on the low spots on the studs to make them line up before putting the plaster on but this doesn't use up very many.
They make good kindling if you don't mind a few sparks jumping out of the fire.

[IanA]

Wombat47,

Your'e right. I should have said sand/lime. I was focussing on the sand and got a bit slack with the mix. Still horribly abrasive stuff.

[seriph1]

I wouldnt be putting them anywhere near my thicknesser (if I had one, that is)

and - I would far rather place plaster over timber laths than remove them as the final thickness is either the same as what was there before or slightly less, making it a very do-able job.

The laths take glue beautifully.

Even if they ended up thicker than the door jambs and window frames, I feel it would be a very straightforward job to fix that.

[nt900]

I see a case for removing them, and leaving them. May not be straight or plumb.

Can re-use them.

May have to remove them to insulate the walls.

Keep. If you remove them, you have to add noggins between the studs.

Need to pack out the plaster to fit the windows and door frames.

For my house, I removed them primarily because I wanted to add insulation in the walls, both internal and external walls. Had to add nogs. I did not pack out the plaster/studs to fit the doorways and windows, instead, I used two 10mm sheets of plaster, one over the other to further thermally and acoustically insulate the place.

I still have the laths in the garage, ready for some future projects. So far, I have only used them as similar age and grain density for window frame repair.

I don't have a problem putting them through the thicknesser.

[seriph1]

Very good point abt adding noggins ....... but - and this is just my two cents worth ..... I feel that removal of one side allows for the addition insulation and halves the amount of dust and debris created (not to mention the further reduction of fairly good insulation material ie: 30+mm of plaster, inc. lathes) ....... though I dont know what benefit one would receive from insulating internal walls - the heat is needed for the inside of the home - wouldnt doing that lower the thermal transfer between rooms, thereby reducing efficiency? I guess in a zoned heating situation, where some rooms may not normally be used at all it might be a help.

[nt900]

I don't disagree seriph1. You don't have to remove the lathes on both sides of internal walls. I had to in order to straighten up studs. So I double plastered both sides. I prefer to insulate the internal walls to reduce noise travel about the house. As for heating, I will be installing hydronic heating throughout the whole house, little zoning, so thermal transfer between rooms in not a great concert. But I see your point about efficiency.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

This may sound over the top, but I even insulated inside the hallway arch. I was surprised that the plasterer did not laugh at this. The end result with my place, is that any wall you rap your knuckles against does not sound hollow, nor resonate sound. To me, and I know others appreciate things differently, gives the place a more solid feel and sound.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

I was fortunate enough (or not) that my place was only 'renovated' 15 years ago. That owner or a previous one removed all the hard plaster from the walls and put gyprock up over the lathes. Saved me having to dump many bins of plaster. I had to remove it from the ceiling though. That was enough of a mess. Having mentioned that, I did not remove the lathes from the ceiling, but I did need to batten the ceiling to level it.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>

[nt900]

I don't disagree seriph1. You don't have to remove the lathes on both sides of internal walls. I had to in order to straighten up studs. So I double plastered both sides. I prefer to insulate the internal walls to reduce noise travel about the house. As for heating, I will be installing hydronic heating throughout the whole house, little zoning, so thermal transfer between rooms in not a great concert. But I see your point about efficiency.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

This may sound over the top, but I even insulated inside the hallway arch. I was surprised that the plasterer did not laugh at this. The end result with my place, is that any wall you rap your knuckles against does not sound hollow, nor resonate sound. To me, and I know others appreciate things differently, gives the place a more solid feel and sound.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>


Oh yes, I also have brace ply on nearly every wall in the place. 7mm and 12mm. So the layers in some of my walls are: external cladding (boards), studs, rockwool insulation (high density blast fernace lagging stuff), 12mm plyboard, 2 x 10mm plasterboard.

I was fortunate enough (or not) that my place was only 'renovated' 15 years ago. That owner or a previous one removed all the hard plaster from the walls and put gyprock up over the lathes. Saved me having to dump many bins of plaster. I had to remove it from the ceiling though. That was enough of a mess. Having mentioned that, I did not remove the lathes from the ceiling, but I did need to batten the ceiling to level it.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>

[seriph1]

man I HOPE youre never moving

:D

Would be keen to see a pic or two of the place - also, if it is a VICTORIAN/EDWARDIAN or CALIF. BUNGALOW and you need any input regarding detail trims, int. design etc. I am happy to have a chat.

[Guy]

Well i finished remnoving them, most of them dissapeared over a few week ends. the rest i guess are now in Clayton landfill. A total of 23m3 of laths and plaster were removed from this little 4 room victorian cottage.
Never again will i take on a job like this.

[nt900]

Getting off topic now....

Steve - what is you line, interior designer, builder?

I don't plan on moving for at least 10 years. Double fronted Victorian timber home. We are largely finished the work. I can put some pics up shortly. I have chosen to 'restore' the place rather than renovate. Put wall back in between rooms, replace the hallway arch with one closer to the original, raise the ceilings, install cornice the same as the original, replace the arcs and skirting same as the original. The later 2 required getting cutters made up to exactly match the original skirts and arcs, plus get all the skirtings and arcs made from thicker timber (to match the original) than what is commonly available these days. The trouble you go to get that extra 3mm of width....

[seriph1]

G’day again

You really have gone the "whole-hog" and good on you! As you would know, many people don’t bother with a lot of the period details and when someone with a keen eye looks the place over, they may not pick up “what’s wrong” but they go away feeling that things aren’t quite right …… I am not saying well thought out renovations aren’t good …. Many of them are brilliant – but many aren’t



To answer your question, I have worked in the field of architectural restoration consulting for 10 or so years, though these days derive my income from a range of activities from graphic design through Business Coaching, to Restoration Consulting .....I use my knowledge to help return a property to the original "feel" without sacrificing modern requirements..... I mean - who wants a cess pit instead of an internal dunny? :) My offer of a chat is sincere though non-commercial. Wifey and I live in a Victorian home and we enjoy sharing ideas and contacts etc. in order to build up the knowledge-base and be generally useful.

[nt900]

I would like to talk - PM for you.

Not finished yet. In fact taking a break from our place and working on the neighbouring house for a while. Unfortunately that house will not be brought back to 'original'. Not enough $ for that. But we did make a lovely discovery; behind the fifties masonite kitchen wall covering we found the original lining boards. Covering 3/4 of the walls and ceiling. Very happy about that. It will end up an non period and eclectic kitchen but with some more character than just plasterboard, and much better than the masonite.

Unfortunately we needed to remove the chimney from that kitchen. Structurally unsound. And yet again, budget constraints meant we could not deal with the situation.

Biggest problem I face with that place is a noticeable lean on one side. Not sure how to correct this. *** I should post this problem as another Forum Topic. *** I corrected a lean on our home by stripping door frames, windows, separating the frame from the chimneys, removing plasterboard, removing the lathes (original topic of this thread), archway, etc; then pushed the top of the building over to where it should be with an excavator. Then used ply board to brace it in place. Hence all the ply board on all the lateral walls. It was a lot of fun.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

[limbsintact]

I kicked down 150m2 of lath ceiling in a brick edwardian, once you have access to the joists, add metal battens and straighten using hangers, it's quick if you have laser, and then add gyprock. Yes, does make one hell of a mess, and fills a couple of skips. People told me to just put gyprock over the old ceiling BUT the joists usually aren't made to take the weight per m2 and they can sag, and it's hard to get it straight as you follow flaws in the olod ceiling levels. Also later if you want to add downlights, etc, it's a pain to try and cut a clean hole through laths and then gyprock. Also old houses have a large part of their value in ceiling height and cornice size, false ceilings can limit cornice size as it looks weird as they encroach the air vents, and so cornices can look too small, etc.
Do the pain and you will gain, kick down the lath ceiling, put up metal battens, and add gyprock, problem can be a too perfect ceiling in an old house.