Stucco interior wall

[miamicuse]

This house was built in 1964. The interior walls are all wood panels. They told me behind the panels are stucco walls with lathe, I am familiar with wood studs and drywall sheets, but back in 1964 they did not have that.

So what is really behind those stucco wall? If I need to route cat5, or RG6 or electrical wirings I know what I can do with drywall and studs, what does one do with this type of walls? If I need to hang shelves is there any firm solid backing in the back to attach things to? There is no studs at all?

Thanks,

MC

[DanG]

Drywall and studs had been invented and were quite common in 1964. I seriously doubt that you have stucco walls on the interior. You may well have plaster walls. Plaster walls are usually considered an upgrade to drywall, even today.

Plaster walls have the same studs. The wet plaster had to have something to hang onto while it was drying. The something used to be wood lath, 1/4" thick x 1 1/2" wide slats nailed horizontally across the studs with a gap to squeeze the plaster through. It may be wire mesh, usually 28 oz., probably blued not galvanized. It might be red gypsum panels with holes in them. It might be blue drywall with no holes and a skim coat of plaster veneer, the usual installation today.

Plaster is much harder than drywall. Plaster is usually thicker than drywall. Plaster can loose its "keys" with age, moisture, vibration, etc.

______________________________ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) [e-mail]

[Cue]

Gypsum wallboard was invented in 1917. By 1964 it was used in most houses. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that your house is made of gypsum wallboard nailed to wood studs with a stucco-like coating over it, which is actually joint cement laid over the wallboard with a thick-nap roller. Later, someone covered the walls with wood panels.

[Oren]

This is most likely what your wall looks like inside. Many older in Florida had plaster walls.

Oren

"My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[gfretwell]

I had a condo in Treasure Is Fla built in 1967 and it had stucco walls. They used metal lath, over steel studs and slopped on the mud. You can see what you have by taking off a couple electrical box covers (turn the power off) In a place between the edge of the cover and the box, scrape into it a little. If it is grey cement and sand looking stuff it is stucco. White, fine power would indicate plaster, pretty much the same stuff for your purposes Look around on the sides of the box at the top and bottom and you should be able to see the stud and what that is made of. There should be the regular hollow cavities between the walls. If you have the wood studs it is just like drywall for hganging shelves but you will need a masonry drill to get to the wood. You can hang light stuff on the stucco but if it fails it will be ugly. This is a surface that takes those little plastic sleeve anchors pretty well for the small stuff.