The bathroom in our 1914 foursquare had plaster that was scored (not stamped) like this. Sadly, whoever did it got a little off-level in one corner!

Yes! We have found the same thing although safely not well preserved with other remodels in a bathroom as well as in the kitchen. House is a craftsman built in 1920

interesting! thanks for the insight, Chibimimi and katy-lou.

It will take me forever and a day to uncover it all. The tile adhesive overtop the plaster is very, very time consuming to remove.

Hope it's not the same adhesive they used under linoleum... the kind that contained asbestos? If it is, work wet. If it isn't, a heat gun might be useful.

Karin L

i'm tempted to just glue the beadboard on top of it. or cut it out and put up sheetrock ughhhh. this glue is impossible

Our 1908 Craftsman four-square also had plaster scored to look like tile in the bathroom. Unfortunately, the original builders put all the bathroom pipes on the outside of the wall, so when we renovated this summer, we had to gut the lower half of the wall and replaced it with tongue-and-groove beadboard.

Just found this thread and I have the exact same situation at this very moment! Took off plastic pink tiles and found scored tile design in plaster. Although most all of it is disguised by the ugly remaining glue. It is so hard to remove! Did you have luck getting it all off? We are also planning to cover with beadboard or some kind of painted paneling and wondering if we can just put it up over the glue. Although I can't imagine that glue is a good thing to leave on the walls...

Scored and then painted ... poor-man's tile.

To remove glue, try one of those shark steamers and a scraper. Heat and water vapor can remove all kinds of old adhesives.

We are dealing with the same. Plastic tiles attached with gobs of mastic, and underneath scored plaster!

Dh has been getting the mastic off with a metal shaver, wearing extrication gloves to protect his knuckles and a lot of patience.

http://www.thepaintstore.com/Hyde_Tools_Metal_Shaver_W_Cushioned_Grip_p/33100.htm?1=1&CartID=0

We are tiling with subway tiles so we need a sound substrate. If we were putting up paneling like you are, I would probably seal it with kilz and put up the paneling!

Our home was built in 1940-41, in Virginia. The lower half of the kitchen walls are scored as 4x4 inch tile. The first time we saw it, the real estate lady said it was pink tile that had been painted over with a more neutral color. It took us a while to realize that no, it's not tile, it's plaster. Kinda cool!

My 1939 colonial has the scoring in the plaster in the full bath.

We have a colonial built in 1858. I thought someone painted tiles in our bathroom. When we went to fix a toilet paper holder we found out it's plaster! Any idea what time frame this dates back to?

Annie - probably as far back as the popularity of wall tile in bathrooms, as a faux tile for those who couldn't afford the real thing.

I've seen it mostly in houses from the 1900-1930 era, which is when the sanitary kitchen took hold as an ideal.

I bought a 1939 Cape Cod, 1 owner (he passed away at 102) and this is what is in the bathrooms and kitchen. I painted the kitchen and now getting ready to start on bathrooms. It is in the bathtub- shower and the paint is peeling. I really don't want to replace the whole bathtub shower and walls because it has the arch over the tub and that would have to be removed to put shower walls in. What kind of paint would I use? I have thought of just tiling the whole bathroom. Any suggestions?

brichie - Why is the paint peeling? Before you do anything else, improve the ventilation in there.

Thank you. The paint is 20 yrs old and there is a issue with ventilation.

We just found this under a skim coat of later plaster in our 1919 Craftsman bungalow. It is on the lower half of the bathroom walls. The excavation has commenced!

I fixed all the ones that were damaged in my kitchen and bathrooms. Took some patience and sanding but the end result was well worth it.

brichie98, That's great--have any photos to share? What type of plaster/patching material did you use? Some of ours were damaged removing the vanity, before we knew they were there.

I am loving this thread!!!

Great thread. I have the same thing in my 1927 Storybook Tudor in Stockton, CA. I removed a 1950s wall mounted cabinet and discovered the hand scored plaster, 6x6 mud cap base tiles and the original green and grey granite basketweave mosaic. I found out later that the base tile is nearly 1 inch thick. It looks like it's a plaster tile that was glazed. Very unexpected and puzzling find. I'm going to install a marble mosaic and real subway tiles. Will cover up the wall with Hardiebacker board to preserve the plaster. This wall is next to the bathroom entrance and doesn't get direct contact with water, so my plan should work very well. I'm assuming it will be an interesting discovery for the next owner in 50 years or so. Sad to say that I need to remove the remaining original mosaic. It's out of production - plus, it's granite. Not very appealing for a small bathroom floor.

PS: I did not make those cuts in the floor. That was the 1950's owner's work.

beth61norm I think if your scored plaster is in good shape, it would be really neat to feature it. I think it is a really rare find and worth preserving a historical detail.

We discovered scored plaster in our reno but it had been covered up by plastic tiles (eek!) and the mastic used completely ruined them, so we couldn't use it as a wall surface. We did save some behind a cabinet in case anyone tears it out, they'll see what they looked like at least.

before you rip out tile because it’s not in production any more

https://restorationtile.com

enlar, that is a helpful site for when you need individual tiles that can be applied to a wall. However, this discussion is for walls that are made out of plaster which happens to be scored when wet so that it resembles tile. It's a really unique concept!

https://preservationinpink.wordpress.com/tag/scored-plaster/

this was in reference to villa piazza who said that his floor was out of production .

Also, just to clarify. I don’t know whether Restoration Tile sells individual tiles but I do know that they replicate historic tile sizes and patterns, and provide them in sheets.

Our 1931 house has scored plaster in the bathroom. After multiple coats of paint over the years the lines are filling up and not so prominent. Is there a way to get the paint out of the cracks so the design will come through?

HU-648751372, I never tried to restore my scored plaster, but I have had luck using CitriStrip to get many layers of paint off of plaster walls. It's a good first attempt before trying to be more aggressive.

My sister said her kitchen wainscoating has this. Do you have a photo?

I can't believe I was able to find the photo. Here is what ours looked like. I made the photo public, let me know if it doesn't work.

Detail of the plaster stamped tile

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7TaVMTvOs_1Qm5nYUpGMFBFS1E/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-SFo9cRl93-HHUi-iDbICgg

How it looked in the bathroom. When the bathroom was remodeled in the 60s, most of the tile was covered with mastic and yellow plastic tiles (see behind the toilet). However part of the plaster scoring was preserved behind a vanity at that time.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7TaVMTvOs_1R0w3MDZlS21QaVE/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-uEzilpmw4U8DHczlmnW3KA