Following a suspicion that there was something interesting underneath some plasterboard, a different from of construction was uncovered. Yes…it was another dynamic duo! This time it was the turn of Lath and Plaster!
In this picture below you can see the spy hole that made us think that something interesting was happening underneath the plasterboard….
The lathe and plaster work was uncovered just around the corner from the Wattle and Daub in the snug underneath the stairs.
If you’re like me … you might like to know a little more about this dynamic duo. So I did a little investigating and this is what I found: Lath and plaster was used in Britain up until the 1930’s. It is a construction process used in dividing walls and ceilings. To give a modern alternative, nowadays we’d probably use plasterboard.
The laths are long narrow strips of wood that are placed across the wall horizontally. The pictures above show the lath and plaster work underneath the stairs in the snug. If you look closely you can see that the laths are nailed into position onto the wall frame. Once they are in position they are covered in plaster, which you can see coming through from the other side. Looking at all the separate pieces of wood…modern plasterboard sounds much easier!
This lath and plaster process evolved from the earlier Wattle and Daub process, an example of which can be seen in the middle photograph with the pink-ish plaster. It’s great to find this in such a contained space by the stairs and in the same room!
I wonder what other secrets these walls are hiding..?
