Scavenger Chic

Plaster Lath Rustic American Flag

• By Joan
• April 29, 2021
• 4 Comments

Plaster Lath American Flag

Visiting my local architectural salvage store, Second Chance in Baltimore, I happened upon this bin of plaster lath. Once upon a time the narrow strips of wood lath would have been nailed horizontally across interior wood wall studs then coated with plaster.

You know they’re vintage, plaster lath stopped being used in the 1950’s.  I’ve been on the lookout for lath for years.  On the DIY shows they are always ripping these things out of old houses and throwing them in the dumpsters. 

Do these people not know how great plaster lath strips are?  They’re just like mini pallet wood strips.  They are chocked full of character (and more than a few splinters) and just waiting for a project.  At only 25 cents each I grabbed a bunch!

With very little effort I converted 13 of those lath strips into a  rustic plaster lath American flag in all neutral tones.

Start with 13 of the plaster lath strips.  Cut each to 35″. The light and dark are the natural pigmentation of the lath.  The whiter side would have been the side with the plaster and the darker side, the back side.

I had the star stencil from the last American flag I made from shutter slats.  Plaster lath is only slightly narrower than the  shutter slats.  If I left a slight gap between the strips I could use the  same star stencil.  This is the 18×12 inch 50 star stencil  from Stencil Revolution which will make a plaster lath flag about 35″ x 22″.

Make an acrylic paint mixture of  1/3  brown, 1/3 black. and 1/3 water.  Mix well.

Mark off the upper left corner of the flag  11×17″. Use this black brown mixture as a replacement for the field of blue on this neutral toned American flag.  The dry plaster lath will just soak up the paint.

Allow the black brown  background to dry.

Once dry, sand the black/ brown to reveal some of the natural wood.  The sanding will also smooth out the rough lath and soften the background color.

Turn your plaster lath strips over making sure to keep them in order.  Use pallet wood or other scrap wood as cross pieces to attach the plaster lath to.

I’m using my BOSTITCH Crown Stapler just because the staples (inset) were the perfect length to go thru the pallet wood but not all the way thru the lath, about 1″.  You could also consider using wood glue, builders adhesive, or small nails.

I also added additional pallet wood strips at the top and the bottom of the flag which do nothing more than finish off the edge.  The side pieces are the key to holding the lath together.

 Tape the star stencil in place and use a stencil brush and white paint to lightly stencil the stars onto the flag.

Attach hanging hardware and you are all ready for display.

I did find a flag very similar to mine from Home Depot.  Currently out of stock but it sells for $113.  Mine was probably around $5, since I already had the stencil.  Now I know you’ll be on the lookout for the very underappreciated plaster lath.

Stay inspired.

If you don’t have plaster lath, consider making a flag from pallet wood or maybe even shutter slats.

Pallet Maryland Flag

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Patriotic Pallet Wood Centerpiece