Had a weird moment at a job in a 1920s house in Tacoma last month

I was trying to fish a line down from the attic and kept hitting what felt like solid rock. Turns out the old plaster walls had a full inch of horsehair and concrete behind them, not the normal lath. I had to switch from my usual 3/8-inch bit to a 1/2-inch masonry one and go way slower. Has anyone else run into walls that were basically solid? What did you do?

3 comments

3 Comments

chen.adam1mo ago

That old house construction is a special kind of stubborn. Reminds me of the time I found a wall packed with what looked like beach sand and crushed seashells, which explained the gritty dust all over everything. @the_nathan is right about the dignity part, you start talking to the wall like it's a person after the third bit snaps. Makes you wonder what they were thinking, or maybe just what was cheap and nearby back then.

wendy3911mo ago

My 1970s house didn't have horsehair but it had something just as bad - a full layer of 1/2 inch plywood nailed over the original plaster in the dining room. I thought I was hitting studs but it turned out to be solid plywood sheet behind the drywall. I had to switch to my screwgun with a self-tapping drywall screw to even get a pilot hole, and then use a paddle bit at low speed to get through. The key is to listen to your drill - if it starts bogging down in a way that sounds different from normal plaster or wood, stop and change your approach before you burn up a bit. I ended up drilling a series of small holes in a circle and then breaking out the center with a cold chisel. Old houses are full of surprises like that, you just have to work with what they give you.

the_nathan1mo ago

My last encounter with a wall like that cost me two drill bits and my dignity. I was convinced I'd hit a secret brick chimney for a solid ten minutes. Sometimes the old houses just laugh at modern tools.