What Every Investor Should Know about Plaster

Chicago building stock is incredible in so many ways, but many investors run into issues due to capital expense items that come up that they have no experience dealing with. Many of the issues are ones that investors often times think about like roofs, plumbing or foundations, but probably the single most challenging obstacle investors will face revolves around (drum roll)…. plaster walls.

I know what you are thinking right now. Plaster walls? Really? How can plaster walls be a big deal? I am hoping that in this article I can shed some light on the unique challenges investors will face when dealing with plaster walls. This is not meant to scare you away from “older” properties, but instead is meant to help you skip the painful learning process I went through the first time I dealt with plaster!

What is Plaster?

Plaster was the go to wall surface until after World War 2, and there are thousands of buildings that were built in this era all over Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Because a lot of the really great two flats, three flats and four flats are from the World War 1 era, newer investors often times face a steep learning curve with how to deal with plaster walls. This is something that is almost never brought up when a newer investor is looking at a property, and no one ever talks about how big of an issue plaster walls can truly be if they aren’t planned for.

If you are new to Chicago, or if you grew up in an area of Chicago further into the suburbs, you may not be familiar with the differences between drywall and plaster. Plaster was applied layer by layer by skilled craftsmen. Plaster was attached to strips of wood called lathe. The lathe allowed the plaster worker to push the first layer of plaster through while it was still wet, and when it dried it provided a sturdy rough layer that the worker could apply further layers too. Once the wall was complete there would be multiple layers which smoothed the wall out, and to the untrained eye, a plaster wall that is in good condition can be very hard to tell apart from drywall. The crazy thing is, it easily took two or three times as long to do when compared with modern drywall techniques! This holds even truer today as skilled plaster workers are almost impossible to find.

Budget Busters for your Plaster Walls

So now that I have scared you about plaster walls, you are probably wondering what issues really come from plaster walls? The answer is, it depends! Some investors buy a building with plaster and they never have to do much other than regular patching and painting. In this case, the plaster will perform the same (or even better) in comparison to drywall! The key here is to figure out whether or not you will have to open the plaster walls at any point to do repairs or to upgrade a unit.

Many newer investors are interested in following the BRRRR method where you buy a property, add value through construction, rent the property, refinance the property to get your cash and then keep buying more deals. Plaster walls could very well be your Achilles heal in this formula.

Electrical Code Violations

One of the main things that drives up rehab costs in older buildings is the rigorous electrical code here in Chicago. Chicago is one of the last places in the U.S. to still require rigid conduit piping throughout a property when new work is being done instead of allowing flexible wiring solutions like Romex. What this means in lay person terms, is that many home owners and investors may not realize the amount of wall damage that will be required to install new conduit! One general contractor who I work with told me that the electrical scope of work is one of the main things that can drive costs up when he creates budgets for properties, and this has become a focus point for me when I look at buying a property.

Below you will see some of the damage that can be caused by electrical work! Some of these pictures came from a building that I bought and rehabbed in the Chicago suburbs in 2019, and believe it or not the local municipality had me do this work around the renters who remained in the property! 

Plumbing Code Violations

It is no secret that old plumbing can be a bit of a pain to work with! Chicago is full of galvanized plumbing that is reaching the end of its useful life (make no mention of lead!), and this often causes investors to open walls that they would otherwise prefer not to open. Interestingly, plumbing tends to be less of a surprise for most investors in comparison to electric. Typically, plumbing doesn’t work well as it ages and so investors can spot plumbing issues more easily in a lot of cases. Still though, a major plumbing project also usually means a major wall repair project, so plumbing is #2 on our list.

Below are some photos from a recent bathroom remodel I did specifically to replace the galvanized plumbing with copper plumbing. 

Sagging Ceilings

Plaster has really held up well over the years, but nothing in building construction lasts forever. In many cases where code issues aren’t present, the plaster ceiling is the first thing to go as the forces of gravity (and many a leaky roof!) cause sagging to happen. A sagging ceiling can often times be partially repaired, but ceilings definitely can reach the point of no return. Your contractor will definitely help you know when a ceiling is beyond salvaging and when it can be salvaged.

Below you will see an example of a ceiling that we patched and painted. This ceiling is definitely not 100%, and eventually the waves will turn into bubbles that sag down as the plaster detaches from the lathe. 

Full gut

If you are planning on doing a full gut rehab of a property, or even just a substantial remodel like a bathroom or a kitchen, you should ask extra questions about how the contractor plans to deal with the plaster walls! This is especially true in certain municipalities that have more challenging permit processes in place. In some areas, doing a full rehab will result in you having to upgrade electrical and plumbing, which means cutting holes all over the entire property! This may not have been part of the original scope of work, and let me tell you from experience, this is not a cheap lesson to learn the hard way!

Tips and Tricks for Plaster Repair

Patching

It is possible to patch holes in plaster, and even larger holes created by electrical work, plumbing work, or roof leaks can be patched. Patching does take time though, and most contractors will struggle to guarantee that the results will be as perfect as newly installed drywall or even repaired drywall. When patching plaster in rental properties, most investors and contractors who are experienced with plaster will judge how large a percentage of the wall will need to be patched. If you are under 10% of the wall, then it probably makes sense to do a patch. If 30-40% of the wall needs to be repaired, it probably will end up making sense to demo the rest of the wall and start over with new drywall.

The benefits to patching plaster are pretty simple. If you can patch damaged areas, you can have the wall in service and ready for paint much more quickly than if you have to completely demolish the old plaster wall to start over. The downsides to patching plaster mainly relate to how much more challenging it can be to patch. The plaster will take a lot longer to patch correctly because the lathe may have been damaged by the sub who cut the hole. If the lathe was damaged, it may need to be reinforced so you don’t have further cracking later on.

Below you will see an example of an apartment where we chose to patch the walls instead of replace them. These walls had 12 inch channels cut out by the electrical contractor for new conduit, so they were a major patch job. 

Thin Drywall Covering

Another strategy that can often be used with plaster repair is to cover the plaster completely with a thin sheet of drywall such as ¼ inch drywall. This technique can work very well as long as the drywall can be securely fastened to the studs. This method is something I see used quite a bit in operating apartment complexes as the cost is much lower than removing the plaster, and the results can often times be pleasing enough to fool most people into thinking the wall is brand new.

There are not a lot of downsides to applying thin drywall over existing plaster other than the addition of an another ¼ inch of depth to the original wall.

Probably the biggest challenge investors face when installing new ¼ inch drywall over the top of existing plaster is how to handle existing trim. Contractors will often times have to be somewhat creative in adding this drywall as the original trim, door casings, window casings and crown molding may not allow for easy removal and re-installation. If your goal as the investor is to have a “perfect” product, then make sure your scope of work will include either removal or re installation of the old trim or installation of brand new trim through ought. Of course, there are often times good reasons not to mess with the original woodwork (character!), so I normally have left the woodwork alone and just dealt with the slight imperfections that come with this method.

Here is an example of a room where we went over the top of existing plaster with 1/4 inch drywall. 

New Drywall

The final way to deal with plaster walls is to completely and totally remove them so that new drywall can be installed. It is actually MORE EXPENSIVE to do this than to do new drywall in a new construction. The original plaster is heavy stuff to remove, and it takes time just to get rid of the plaster. In addition, the contractors will often times have to do some repairs to the framing so that the drywall can be installed more economically.

The other big problem with removing existing plaster is that typically contractors remove all the trim, door casings, window casings and crown molding. This results in a terrible loss of character in beautiful old buildings. While there is definitely a place for this 100% solution, I would typically advocate for patching or placing ¼ inch drywall over the top of plaster whenever possible so that the character of these beautiful older buildings isn’t lost.

Here are some photos of a unit where we were unable to save the existing plaster due to water damage. Most of the room is new drywall. One way you can tell this is that there is no crown molding and the baseboard is not "vintage". 

In this photo, you can see where we were forced to remove all the drywall in a kitchen due to extensive damage from a previous tenant. Again, there is no crown molding and the baseboard is new which are all indicators that someone has removed the plaster. 

Conclusion

Although plaster walls can create challenges for investors, there is no reason to inherently fear plaster! Plaster can be repaired, covered or replaced so there are plenty of options to deal with repairs. Check your scope of work, make sure that you understand how the existing violations you are taking on will affect the amount of plastering you need to do, and you will be fine! Happy investing!