Replacing old plaster (but not the lath)

[hedgehog]

Sometimes with an old house, the plaster just gives up the ghost and starts crumbling. We had a friend who knocked down all the plaster, then tore out the lath as well. Our laths were in good shape, so we just applied the sheet rock right over them. The result was sheet rock with a nice solid backing which withstood the test of time and a pack of growing children.