I have recently purchased a century home in the Arnprior (ON) area. All the walls are lath and plaster and are visually in great shape. Here is my problem, any time I try to hang anything from these walls using anything larger then a finishing nail the plaster crumbles. Stud finders don't work and any anchor I've used pulls through leaving a large brittle hole. Is there a way around this or am I stuck with no shelves and pictures hung with tape?
Answer:
Before driving nails into plaster, heat the tip of the nail over a match or some such to keep the plaster from crumbling. You may have to use longer nails so the lath behind the plaster stabilizes it. The plaster is normally no more than an inch thick.
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