Fitting a picture rail

[charles]

+1; our house is 104 years old.

[Brian-Gaff]

It is unlikely to be very flat, so I'd suggest you will probably want to screw it up. Brian

[News]

In message , charles writes

1880s here. I forgot to mention life's little amusement this morning. Upstairs, filling holes, when wifey called me start the mower, so off I went. On the way back, I noticed a white splodge on the carpet from the kitchen to the hall, then another, then up two flights of stairs to the landing. Yes, I had trodden on some dropped, fresh, filler. Wasted far too long clearing that before wifey finished cutting the lawn :-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

But do it right now and it will be easy next time. If you intend staying for a while.

Pros tend to do it cheaply, rather than correctly.

[News]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

That is exactly what we're trying to do. We keep telling ourselves that each room is a major operation this time, but will just need a quick rub down and a lick of paint in the future.

Tell me about it. I think we've had three rooms done by pros, and yes, they're painted, with a superficial repair where necessary, but nothing like the jobs we do. We'll have to do a proper job next time.

[Tim+]

Because they're not there and they would suit the age of the house. It clearly has had them in the past but a previous owner has removed them. As I said, the plaster is surprisingly good and I don't really have any qualms about it pulling off.

Is there a "typical" studding spacing in houses of this era? I guess it's just a case of poking something through at regular intervals behind where the rail is going to go to work out the spacing. Actually, thinking about it, unless it's been re-skimmed since the old rails came down I should be able to spot the patching over the original screw holes.

Tim

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If they were clearly there in the past, can't you see where they were nailed?

Quite but they'll be nail holes, not screws.

14" is a fairly common spacing. A decent stud finder should help.

Of course any outside walls are likely plaster on brick.

If it's going to be purely decorative, gluing might well be OK. But screwing is the way I'd do it.

[charles]

One of the3 sligtly more sophiticated "pipe detectors" should indicate the nails which will be used to hold the laths to the uprights (studding). You could try gentle tapping.

[Roger Mills]

Yes, that might work. I doubt whether a pure stud finder will work on lath & plaster 'cos it won't be able to see the wood for the trees - if you see what I mean.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Mine works ok here. Some walls still original plaster, some plasterboard over the laths. On a plasterboard direct to stud wall, you can find the studs by tapping the wall with a knuckle.

[harry]

My last house was 400 years old. You think you had problems?

[News]

This is my third Victorian house, and I have enjoyed them all. All have required work, but I still prefer them to modern houses.

[charles]

A young man I know recently bought a listed cottage. BC were strct - all plasterwork had to be with lime, all timber had to be cut to correct sizes,; mind you he was allowed to install electricity to modern standards.

[Chris French]

In message , charles writes

That's pretty standard - and there are good reasons for it. Ditto things like repointing.

Not sure what you mean by that though.

[stuart noble]

Probably imperial dimensions

[charles]

or even older. It had to be an exact replacement for the original. None of this "near enough" workmanship.