Summary: To remove the plaster covering on a wall you need to determine how deeply the plaster is damaged. Before attempting to remove any plaster, make sure you have the following safety items available for your protection: safety glasses, gloves, ear plugs and a proper dust mask.

Reasons For Removal

There are many reasons for wanting to remove plaster covering a wall. The most common reasons are that it is either damaged in a few places that you would like to repair, or you are just tired of looking at plaster every day and want a different wall treatment. Be sure to take standard precautionary safety steps during the removal.

If your reason for removal is due to needing to repair damaged, stained or deteriorated areas, then the first step would be to scratch through the surface of the damaged plaster into the base coat with a sharp tool. If it takes considerable pressure to make a mark on the base coat, then the underlying plaster is can be left as it is and only the finish coat where the damage is needs to be patched.

Safety First

Always be sure to take standard precautionary safety steps when working with plaster. Before attempting to remove any plaster, make sure you have the following safety items available for your protection: safety glasses, gloves, ear plugs and a proper dust mask or respirator.

Pollen masks or surgical masks are not designed for the fine gypsum dust particles that you will need to protect yourself from. If you suspect that lead paint may have been used, particularly if this is an older building, or if it had been remodeled before 1970, then you should use a respirator mask. Because plaster tends to fly everywhere, safety glasses are imperative to protect your eyes.

Removing The Plaster

If the base coat is going to be left intact underneath, then simply scrape off the deteriorating plaster, removing anything that feels spongy or loose with a metal trowel or putty knife.

If you want to remove a large area of undamaged plaster for particular remodeling purpose, you can carefully tap the handle of large putty knife held at 45 degree angle, or less, to loosen the surface plaster and then scrape it off. Be very careful not to gouge the base coat. You only need to tap lightly in most cases to loosen the plaster.

Removing The Wall

If the damage is extensive, or if you are just tired of looking at plaster walls, then it may be less time consuming to just remove the whole plaster wall and begin again with fresh wallboard. While it is more of an extensive project, it can be quicker than scraping.

First, remove the plaster using a flat bar. Then remove the old lath with a hammer-. Haul out the plaster and bundle up the lath for efficient disposal.

Prepare For Cleanup Before You Start

If you need to protect your flooring, such as hardwood, tile or slate floors, then cover the floor with plywood before you begin. If protecting the floor doesn’t matter to you, or if you are going to be replacing it during your remodeling job, then a disposable plastic drop cloth is all that is necessary. This will make cleanup easier because you can just roll up the plastic and dump the mess.

Having a garbage can nearby to put the large chunks into as you go along is easier on your back than allowing them to accumulate on the floor and then picking them up later. Not only that, but large chunks can tear the plastic or make it too heavy to roll up and toss out.

Know What Is Behind Your Wall

Electrical wires, gas and water pipes and sewage waste lines need to be located before you begin. You don’t want to accidentally damage any of these with your saw, hammer or crowbar. It's best to just turn off the electrical power at the main fuse box if you're not sure where the wires are. Have professionals take out any old electrical connections and gas pipelines

Decide On Your Approach

Decide whether you will be cutting through the wall first, from ceiling to floor, with a reciprocating saw, or if you will be using a hammer and your own strength. Yes, you are actually ripping the wall down. Another approach, though not recommended at all, is using martial arts moves to kick or punch the wall down for practice (or stress relief) like our Tae Kwan Do instructor had us do in class when he was remodeling his dojo.

Start The Removal

Cut the walls or smash them down. If you are using a reciprocating saw, the pieces that you cut off can be whatever size you want them to be, even huge, but always start cutting between the studs. When you are using a hammer and just smashing, you take what you get in terms of size. Just continue to remove the pieces of plaster until the desired wall area is completely removed.

Removing plaster not a difficult job, it’s just messy.

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