Plaster and lath
Rewiring walls that were built to stay
Plaster over wood lath does not open like drywall. We plan every run so the walls stay whole.
Most new cable goes in from the attic and the basement, down inside the wall cavities. Where it can't, we cut access at trim lines, closets and behind baseboards, and patch what we cut.
How we protect the walls
Floor protection and plastic over doorways
Small access holes, placed where trim or a closet hides them
Patches in plaster or drywall, left ready for paint
Daily vacuuming, not one cleanup at the end
The method
How wire gets through lath
- 01
Find the paths
We map each wall cavity from the attic and basement, and note where framing blocks a run.
- 02
Cut little
Access goes where trim, a closet or a shelf covers it, so there is less to patch.
- 03
Pull new cable
New cable goes in beside the old. The old wire is cut off at both ends and removed.
- 04
Close up
We patch, leave the surface ready for paint, and walk the house with you.
The surprise behind the wall
Every house has one
Old walls hold things: mixed wiring, buried splices, a run nobody drew. We tell you when we find one, and we say what it changes on the estimate before we go on.
Questions
About plaster walls
Will you open up every wall?
No. Most of the work goes through attics, basements and closets, and each cut is planned.
Who patches and paints?
We patch what we cut. Skim coats, painting and wallpaper are left to you or your painter, and the estimate says so.
What about dust?
We hang plastic, lay down floor protection and vacuum each day. Plaster work still makes some dust, and we tell you which rooms will have it.
What if you find something unexpected?
We stop, show you, and write down what it changes before the work goes on.
Have plaster walls you want to keep?
A survey shows where the wire can go before any wall is touched.