New medicine cabinet--old plaster and sheetrock help!

garyofnyc · 10-31-2008, 08:42 PM

Hi all;
I have a small repair job on a bathroom wall in my old apartment in NYC. I removed the original medicine cabinet from the late 40's, and will put in a wall-mounted unit I already took delivery on. The walls are lath and plaster. The hole the cabinet was in had been framed framed by 2 X 4's, so I just screwed in two more 2X4s vertically/in the center of the hole to give the sheetrock something to bite into. I screwed the sheetrock in and now I have two issues--there is about a 1/4-1/8" difference between the sheetrock and the depth of the actual original wall, the other being the really ragged gap between the old plaster/lath wall and the new sheetrock. What is the best material to use to fill the gap, and what material should I use over the sheetrock to build it up and ultimately meet the depth of the wall? I don't need to do an incredible job, as the new cabinet will cover about 85% of the hole to be patched. Thank you in advance!

bjbatlanta · 10-31-2008, 09:44 PM

Drywall comes in different thicknesses from 1/4" to 5/8". You could use a couple of layers of whichever works out to the thickness you need......that would require buying a couple of sheets though. You can build up with what you have a setting type compound (powder) available at the big box stores. Use mesh tape over the joints between the old and new. A couple of coats of 20 (or 45) min. compound, skim with regular ready mix, and sand.

garyofnyc · 10-31-2008, 10:03 PM

Thx BJB--I already have the sheetrock in. Im not sure if I should use the powdered plaster I have or something like Durock to help with the deeper gaps..

bjbatlanta · 10-31-2008, 10:55 PM

USG (for one) makes a quick setting compound called Stay Smooth. Available at Home Depot and Lowes. There are other brands, don't know what's available in your area. Regular plaster (if that's what you have) should certainly work.

garyofnyc · 10-31-2008, 11:15 PM

Roger that. Thanks again!