My wife is away this weekend to Florida, I'm shooting saturday but need a Sunday activity... we live in a 100+ year old row house, and I'd like to expose the brick on one of the walls. I know it's brick after drilling into the same wall in a different room, but I have to deal with this plaster that's up (not drywall unfortunately).

Any tips to get this done? Is it a huge mess? Better left to someone I pay?

This is the wall in question. I'm not sure if I want to do the entire thing, I was thinking maybe just a portion of it.

Is there insulation behind the plaster. My guess is not if it's an old row house.

What's on the other side of that wall. Outside or neighbor. Outside and it will be colder in the winter. Neighbor and you may hear them since that plaster provides some sound baffling and insulation(although not a lot).

If it just furring strips or 2x4. Old brick row house my guess(still a guess though) is during strips. Remove the plaster and what happens where the ceiling meets the current wall. There will be a gap between it and the brick. Need a plan to deal with that.

Any electrical behind that wall? What will you do with the wires/outlets/switches.

I'm not saying don't do it but make sure you understand what you're in for. I don't see it being a quick one day job.

Combine fun with work and shoot the walls...

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Combine fun with work and shoot the walls...

Use a Tommy gun to give it that 1920's speak-easy look.

Ken

Its not sheetrock but actual plaster... wouldnt touch it.

Id go with a faux brick wall if its an exterior wall.

Wear a cartridge-style respirator. The straight claw of a hammer will work but it will be long going. You'll nick the crap out of the brick. Does it sound rock-tight or is there a little but of a hollowness to the sound? If it has come unadhered in places it will sound different.

A hand-held pneumatic chipper will make faster work of it.

Be prepared for one God-unholy mess. The super-fine plaster dust will get everywhere.

It'd be easier to apply some brick veneer here and there and stucco up to the brick. Make it look like a patched wall.

quote:

Originally posted by comet24:
Is there insulation behind the plaster. My guess is not if it's an old row house.

What's on the other side of that wall. Outside or neighbor. Outside and it will be colder in the winter. Neighbor and you may hear them since that plaster provides some sound baffling and insulation(although not a lot).

If it just furring strips or 2x4. Old brick row house my guess(still a guess though) is during strips. Remove the plaster and what happens where the ceiling meets the current wall. There will be a gap between it and the brick. Need a plan to deal with that.

Any electrical behind that wall? What will you do with the wires/outlets/switches.

I'm not saying don't do it but make sure you understand what you're in for. I don't see it being a quick one day job.

It's a wall between us and a neighbor. I don't think there's any insulation, none came out when hanging something on the same wall in a different room, but plenty of red dust did. It's on the first floor, so I'm not too worried about noise. I don't know about electrical, was it common for them to run it between plaster and brick back then? There's no outlets on the floorboards on that wall in any room

quote:

Originally posted by Woodman:
Wear a cartridge-style respirator. The straight claw of a hammer will work but it will be long going. You'll nick the crap out of the brick. Does it sound rock-tight or is there a little but of a hollowness to the sound? If it has come unadhered in places it will sound different.

A hand-held pneumatic chipper will make faster work of it.

Be prepared for one God-unholy mess. The super-fine plaster dust will get everywhere.

It'd be easier to apply some brick veneer here and there and stucco up to the brick. Make it look like a patched wall.

I have the power tools (I think, pneumatic hammer?). But if the mess is that extreme I may forego it or pay someone. I don't mind the demo, I hate the cleanup. If you ask my mechanics, they'll tell you I'm the best at taking shit apart... putting it back together is another story.

quote:

Originally posted by Deqlyn:
Its not sheetrock but actual plaster... wouldnt touch it.

Id go with a faux brick wall if its an exterior wall.

This is the way I'd go.

quote:

Originally posted by KenS:

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Combine fun with work and shoot the walls...

Use a Tommy gun to give it that 1920's speak-easy look.

Ken

I'm not sure the neighbors (or wife) would approve, I like where you guys are headed though.

quote:

Originally posted by Krazeehorse:

quote:

Originally posted by Deqlyn:
Its not sheetrock but actual plaster... wouldnt touch it.

Id go with a faux brick wall if its an exterior wall.

This is the way I'd go.

It's definitely plaster. If those are my best options I'll likely just leave it alone.

Do you know how many layers of brick are in the wall? 2 or 3 and you might be alright. Certainly going to lose some R value. But if that becomes an issue you can always drywall back over it. If there's any electric outlets on that wall I assume you are going to leave exposed conduit? I took down an old chimney that wasn't being used. It had already been removed in the second story and through the roof. We taped off the room and put an exhaust fan to the outside and slowly chipped the plaster off the chimney and then the bricks. Dusty but worth the space I gained and is now more cosmetically appealing.

Electrical prospective....

Extremely strange there is no outlets or switches on the wall. Any wall should have something, at least one outlet if no switches.

Health prospective....

Hire an expert on this, there is very specific ways to deal with lead paint. If you feel like doing it yourself. Use plastic to separate the area from the rest of house and tape off all edges of plastic, essentially making a sealed space. Run a fan blowing the room air out of the house. Tape and plastic all vents return and supply, do not run HVAC while doing. Wear dust masks of the highest rating available at home depot. Immediately wash all clothing worn before any kids or pets have contact. Wash down walls, floors, ceiling with water and collect and dispose of any cleaning materials immediately after doing work.

Even if you have testing done that proves no lead present, do the same anyways cause that shit is nasty anyhow.

You can remove the wall covering with hammer, cat's paw, and 5 in 1.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Electrical prospective....

Extremely strange there is no outlets or switches on the wall. Any wall should have something, at least one outlet if no switches.

That wall was built before they put electricity in homes, that's why.

If there are any receptacles at all on the wall they most likely are in the baseboard like my house.



Don't do it.

I've read several articles about people doing this and being sorry. You lose some sound deadening with taking the plaster off and the brick will need to be sealed or it will keep crumbling off and making dust everywhere.

It's there for a reason.

Is the plaster applied directly to the original brick? If so, you will never get the original brick finish (the lined texture of the original brick) back.

In other words, it won't look like a brick wall ought to look. The best you can hope for is to make the brick finish smooth.

If what you want is the brick look/texture on the wall, then the faux brick suggestion above is the best way to go. It might also give you the opportunity to install some electrical wiring behind the faux brick wall and finally get an outlet/some outlets on that wall.

https://www.menards.com/main/b.../p-1444448134395.htm

using my companies site as it is a quicker search for me. This is an example of an option for you to get the look of the brick but while leaving the plaster.

Z-brick, indeed. I did that on a house I once owned. We were able to match the faux to the exterior, weathering and all. Much, much easier, cheaper, and less chance of damage.

you could just buy brick flats and tile the wall. real look without the mess.



http://www.homedepot.com/p/Old...iPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

The sense of the thread is 'don't do it', and I concur.

I'm not sure what the purpose is/was, but the process will be nasty (plaster plus ancient paint-lead risk) and at the end of the day you will end up having spent money and effort removing a perfectly fine wall to expose brick of unknown appearance, in the process reducing the insulation (sound and heat) of the room, and messing up the sound characteristics of the wall right behind your TV and piano.

If you need a Sunday project, maybe head out to the range again? That would be cheaper.

ok, you guys talked me out of it haha

I always liked this look, and one of the neighbors did it in their kitchen. I dont know the answers to a lot of the questions like how many layers of brick, etc.