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Nailing Trim to Plaster Over Brick
Finally, after years of stripping, patching, sanding, and reshellacking, it looks like I'm finally going to get the interior trim back up in my circa 1915 foursquare. I took most of it down to work on it, and now I'm beginning to realize it might not be that simple.
I have one condition on the interior partitions where I'll be nailing into plaster on lath on studs. I know somebody who will lend me a nail gun, which shouldn't shock the plaster as much as my weak-armed repetitious hammering would. But should I use any special kind of nails, or will the ordinary finish nails, like the ones used originally, do the job?
(Incidentally, I'm making sure to resecure any unkeyed plaster on the interior partitions before I rehang the trim. And for the most part the rooms will be wallpapered, which should hide any hairline cracks. But I'd rather cause no new cracks at all.)
More interesting is the condition on the exterior walls. They're two wythes of brick with 3/4" to 1" of plaster applied over. The trim around the windows and the baseboards here were attached with honking big 3-1/4" nails-- all driven in by hand, of course.
Will a nail gun work here, too, given the right length nail? Do they have to be that long? Should I use special brick nails? Would it be wise to try to match up the existing holes in the woodwork with the holes the masonry, maybe filling the latter with some kind of plaster dope to secure them in?
Thanks for any suggestions. The less plaster patching I have to do, the better.
Tags: brick, nailing, over, plaster, trim, wood
Views: 176
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bill Hendrickson on -
You can always pre-drill the holes for the finishing nails. This should prevent having to use a lot of force. Also don't try to sink the nail down flush, but leave it up about 3/16 of an inch and use a counter sink punch to finish. I would certainly do this if the nail gun is not available.
Also the drilling will tell you whether the nail is in solid.
Look into using the plastic washers for securing the plaster with the broken keys. We just used a bunch of these throughout our rennovation. The plaster guy loved them.
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Permalink Reply by Kathy Horstman on -
I should stock up on masonry bits, eh?
For repairing the plaster I like to use Rory Brennan's product, Big Wally's PlasterMagic. No need to leave the washers in and mud over them. Not the cheapest, but it works well.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Hendrickson on
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I looked into that. I had a concern that, yes, you could possibly cement the area of concern, but at 110 years, there could be a lot of cracked keys that you do not yet see. Using and leaving the washers in place was more of a guarentee that the plaster would not continue to sag and cause more cracks.
Probably on walls this process would work as there is less sagging going on, but ceilings? We used them mostly on the ceilings as the walls were OK.
You could use regular bits I would think. The masonry may not go through the wood very well. And you do not want a big hole anyway, just a guide hole.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Hendrickson on
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I too have the double brick with plaster overlay on the outside walls. However, I have no idea how the trim is attached. We have wainscotting on the walls in the dining room as well. If I had to guess is the framing around the windows extends out to allow attachment of any window trim. That would be a whole lot easier than driving nails into brick.
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Permalink Reply by Kathy Horstman on
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The jamb casings look like they might have enough wood surround to nail in to. The wood backing for the lintels typically only extends a third of the way up the height of the lintel. It's apparent that the builders decided that wasn't enough and drove into the plaster and brick, too.
Lining up with the existing holes might be a possibility, if I have enough hands on deck to keep the pieces in position.
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Permalink Reply by Lair Tienter on -
I have attached trim on exterior walls over brick before. The ideal is to use the square nails that I found online at renovators supply company. They have to be pounded in by hand and it is a slow process. With a nail gun I have had some luck too. I used the longest finish nails and tilted the nail gun at about a 10 degree angle. If the angle is too great the nail will bend when it hits the brick but if it goes almost straight it will hold real well. Not every nail will hold but most will work out, at least that was my experience. Good luck, Lair
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Permalink Reply by Franz on -
Couple tricks that work really well particularly if you're using old dry wood.
The first is to flatten the point on the nail so it pushes through rather than splitting wood.
Second is to drill a hole through the wood the same diameter as the shank of the nail or slightly smaller.
Third is lubricating the nail before driving, Ivory soap works well.
Fourth and perhaps most helpful is to use a brad driver that will prevent the nail from bending as it encounters the brick. It works the same way a cork does when you drive a sewing needle through a penny.
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Permalink Reply by Kathy Horstman on
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You mean like this?
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/3B32ECB8-84FE-4E82-B89F-864...
I'm borrowing the nail gun/brad driver. What's the best way for me to find out if it will prevent bending?
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Permalink Reply by Franz on
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That explains the mechanics of how it works.
The driver I refer to is similar to a telescoping antenna with a tube that the nail is carried by and a rod that actually contacts the nail and moves it.
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Permalink Reply by Franz on
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Fortunately somebody already saved me typing and picture taking.
http://www.woodsmithtips.com/2010/11/11/brad-driver/
There is no need for a brass barrel, and you just want the bore & driving rod to be size appropriate to your nail. If you need long nails and they wobble in the tube a bit of putty at the point end solves the problem.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Hendrickson on
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In order to some repair on the stairwell wall a piece of trim that followed the steps was removed. This was an outside wall plaster over brick. Lo and behold, the 110 year old trim was held down by adhesive over the brick area, and finishing nails on the edge closest to the stair frame. The rest of the trim that is OK, you cannot tell its held down by adhesive.
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