Editing Lath and plaster (section)

{{Short description|Finish mainly for interior dividing walls and ceilings}}
[[Image:Lath.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Lath]] seen from the back with white [[plaster]] coat oozing through]]

'''Lath and plaster''' is a building process used to finish mainly interior dividing [[wall]]s and ceilings. It consists of narrow strips of [[wood]] ([[lath]]s) which are nailed horizontally across the [[wall stud]]s or ceiling [[joists]] and then coated in [[plaster]]. The technique derives from an earlier, more primitive process called [[wattle and daub]].<ref>Oliver, Paul (2006). Built to meet needs : cultural issues in vernacular architecture (First ed). Architectural, Amsterdam; London</ref>

Lath and plaster largely fell out of favour in the [[U.K.]] after the introduction of [[plasterboard]] in the 1930s.<ref name="On the level">Jeff Howell, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130328110047/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/jeffhowell/3349760/On-the-level-is-the-old-plaster-best.html ''On the level: is the old plaster best?''], The Telegraph (London), May 10, 2006. Retrieved 2012-03-30.</ref> In [[Canada]] and the [[United States]], wood lath and plaster remained in use until the process was replaced by transitional methods followed by [[drywall]] (the North American term for plasterboard) in the mid-twentieth century.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}