A hammer, crow bar and hard-working friends will all come in handy.
Walk into an older home and you might notice that the walls aren't covered with drywall like today's homes. You will likely see them covered in plaster. Plaster walls were very common in homes built before World War II. Plaster is applied over the top of wood laths which span the wall studs horizontally. Less common, metal mesh takes the place of wood lath. Removing plaster and laths from walls is a time-consuming and dirty process that involves much more than just ripping it all off with a claw hammer.
Instructions
1. Open all windows and doors in the room you are working in. If possible, place fans at the windows blowing outwards. This will remove plaster dust particles much more rapidly than just open windows alone. Adequate ventilation is essential to keep plaster dust levels at a minimum.
2. Strike the plaster with the back of flat shovel. Try to hit the plaster between the wall studs. This process flexes the lath, which in turn loosens the plaster.
3. Scrape the plaster off the laths with the shovel blade. Work in a direction parallel with the laths, if possible, to prevent the shovel from getting caught on the edges of the laths.
4. Clean up all the plaster on the floor with a shovel and wheelbarrow before proceeding to the lath. Lath mixed with plaster is harder to cleanup.
5. Start at the end of a piece of lath and hook a hammer or pry bar between the lath and the wall stud. Pry the end of the lath and nail out of the stud.
6. Work your way down the entire length of lath. Pry the lath away from each stud with your claw hammer or pry bar.
7. Repeat the lath removal process for each piece of lath until the wall is down to the bare studs.
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