How to Gut Plaster Walls

Put on your safety glasses, gloves and dust mask.

Open any windows in the room to improve ventilation. Gutting plaster walls will stir up a large amount of airborne dust. If you have an old fan, place it in the window and aim it outside to expel the dirty air from inside the room.

Remove any trim around the baseboard, doors or windows by wedging the pry bar betwen the trim and the plaster wall, then pulling back on the pry bar. If you intend to reuse the trim, remove it carefully so you don't snap it into pieces.

Hit the middle of the plaster wall with the back of the shovel. Use as much force as you are comfortable with. This will crack the back of the plaster keys that are securing it to the wood lathe behind it. Keep hitting the wall until an area slightly wider than the width of the shovel has been removed.

Run the shovel horizontally along the lathe and wedge the blade of the shovel between the back of the plaster and the lathe, then pull back on the shovel. This will separate the plaster from the lathe. Only move the shovel horizontally across the wall to prevent it from getting stuck in the gaps between the lathe.

Work your way across the entire wall until one row of plaster is removed, then start another row until all of the plaster is removed.

Shovel up the pieces of plaster into a wheelbarrow and dispose of it.

Remove the lathe by inserting the pry bar in between the gaps in the lathe and pulling back. There will be nails sticking out of the lathe as you pull it off, so remove the removed lathe from the floor periodically to keep a clear work space. This will also prevent you from accidentally stepping on a nail that's sticking up out of the lathe.

Use the claw end of the hammer to remove any stray nails that are still stuck in the studs. An easy way to verify all of the nails have been removed is by running the side of the hammer head up and down the stud.