The house was built in 1880; we removed a portion of the plaster & lath only to find that the baseboards are inset into the floor about an inch or so. The hardwood floors are also butting up against the baseboards so we are unable to remove them without damaging them. The old plaster wall only went about an inch down behind the baseboards and the gap is not thick enough to get the new half-inch dry wall behind. Any suggestions on what to do? And also would there be any danger of asbestos in the plaster if it is a 120 years old, if so what precautions should we take while removing the old plaster?
Answer:
First of all, yes, asbestos fibre was used in plaster to hold it together and you don't want to be ingesting that. There are masks available to help you. I'm not for of removing plaster as it is a good temperature retaining medium due to its bulk. I'd rather cover it and leave it right where it is both for the sake of energy efficiency and to get away from ingesting the asbestos. As a filler where you want to cover behind the baseboards, you can use a variety of products that are available at all lumber yards in 4X8' sheets.
