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Home Repair Remodeling Design Dilemma

Plastering over Glass bricks

4 years ago

Hello All - this is my design dilemma.. our entrance has a large curved wall, not load bearing, this is done in glass blocks (or bricks). We dont need them for the light, and I hate the look of them, so 1980s. so my question is this: is it possible to plaster (drywall) directly over the glass blocks, and if so, do I need a special product, or would standard plaster adhere ok?

MT for your help.

Featured Answer

toxcrusadr

4 years ago

Glass block is 80s? Darn, I was thinking about putting some in. Well, I'm usually a generation behind on everything. Probably several, because glass block was big in the 40s-50s I think.

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Comments (7)

calidesign
4 years ago
You certainly can't drywall over a curved glass block wall. I have no idea if you can plaster over it, but the main question is why keep it at all? Just remove it, and either leave the area open, or put up a regular wall the size you actually want. Having a random plaster wall would be odd even if you could do it.
tatts
4 years ago
Plaster cannot stick to glass. Period.

And drywall is a non-starter. You might be able to anchor 2x2s to the mortar by drilling lots of holes, but then you'd have a 9 or 10 inch thick wall. A real hillbilly solution.

It would be much easier to just rip it out and frame it properly.
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"aren't you an example of an 'incredibly fast' pro?" Not at fixing lots of large cracks. Every crack more than about 1/16 inch wide needs to be brushed clean, then vacuumed clean (crevice tool along the crack), then bonding painted into the crack, then your choice of material used to fill the crack while the bonding material is tacky but not dry. I use Durabond many times. If the crack sides are still in plane you can use a narrow drywall knife to force the Durabond into the crack and then strike it level. Durabond does NOT sand easily, so make sure any excess is removed. Easysand is better for the inexperienced. At least you can come back and scrape it dry or sand it lightly. Plaster is not all that useful without a LOT of retarder added. It sets WAY to fast. Even narrower cracks can have Durabond forced into them, but running a vacuum is still a good idea. If a narrow crack is in an area that shows badly, widen it with a Rotozip (buy a lot of bits, plaster eats the edges off in a very few inches) through the finish layer(about 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep) and then treat as a wider crack. Larger areas that are solid can be patched using bonding agent, but if the lathe is exposed you should try to clean it enough to allow new keys to form to hold the patch in place.
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Hardness in this case does not matter much. Durabond is un-sandable (if you try you will damage the wall around the bulge you are trying to sand away) for all intents and purposes. Just like plaster. Real plaster was NOT sanded for flatness. It was tooled before it finished setting. When partially set water is splashed n the surface (often using an 8 inch paint brush to splatter it on) and then a steel trowel used to put the final surface polish on the plaster. Easysand should be fine for a small patch not subject to damage.
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As with everything like this there are many ways to get to the final result. Many ways to do the brick....I personally would make out a good sized stencil of the horizontal mortar with staggered short verticle lines on top & bottom equal to the height of a standard brick. Make another just the horizontal mortar line. Over a brick red base coat (a satin or eggshell) pencil in the distances in a corner for each horizontal mortar line. Get a 15$-25$ laser level & stencil in the white mortar line . Stipple technique will be the easiest for you. You can add sand texture to your paint if you want the brick to feel rough. Then go over the brick with some darker glaze to add depth & variation to them. Remember that you are trying to give it highlights. You can go farther & airbrush in some dark lines in the mortar or use small artist brush. Airbrushes are cool & not hard to use. If you own a compressor get one. They start around $60. You can also tape the mortar pattern over a white base & paint the red on over that. for the plaster part just get some tape & do an irregular "V" type shape off of the ceiling. Skim a couple coats of joint compound or Dura-bond for faster dry time. Then yank off the tape for an irregular line. Sand, Prime & base coat that area with the wall color you like. Then make a very pale glaze of a darker color & add some highlights to the new wall section. A simple color wash effect will do fine but with a very transparent glaze. Maybe rub off some glaze on your edge. Get some feathers at the craft shop & make a few cracks in the wall section following an angular look. Highlight with artist brush & you are done.
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Ripped Jeans Construction, thank you! One fear I have is finish quality. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like if I just plaster the wall, I might not be able to make the outer surface neat due to inexperience. Again, I may be wrong, but it feels like putting drywall on top of the plaster will make the finished surface neater since the drywall is already an even, smooth surface. Is this correct, or is doing a smooth finish to the plaster easier than I think?
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mike_kaiser_gw
4 years ago
While I think it would be much better to simply rip out the glass block and either leave the area open or frame a proper wall, you could in theory put drywall over it.

Attach furring strips to the glass using some combination of screws/anchors into the grout lines and construction adhesive (scarify the glass). Then use 1/4” flexible drywall. Certainteed makes it, maybe others but you probably won’t find it at your local home center. You’ll need a drywall distributor who may or may not be interested in selling a few sheets to a homeowner. Read up on the material, paying attention to the bend radius and stud/furring strip spacing before starting.
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PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years ago
IMO ripping it out is the solution and without seeing it not sure if replacing it is needed IMO the above is not for a DIYer
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Norwood Architects
4 years ago
Not sure about plastering over the glass block. Removing sounds like the best solution. You should be able to apply gypsum board over furring strips. Curved gypsum board are common. One other solution is to paint the glass block perhaps with a textured paint. The grout lines will probably still show through but it might be a solution.
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Mary Anne McAdams
2 years ago
Wondering what was done. Unfortunately, I am searching out how to remove plaster from the front of glass blocks. If you do this, anything you cover the wall with, will eventually get moldy. Glass blocks are windows. Moisture does get in.
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