Removed a wall, now how should we repair the area?

[gtzpower]

Hi all, I removed a wall in my house that was at the bottom of our stairs (people keep hitting their heads on it). here's what I now have :





Normally I just throw some drywall over the lath and tape/mud it up, but I worry that with this situation (lath not attached to the nearest joist), there will be some excessive cracking. Should I not worry about it and proceed as planned, or does my concern seem valid? Are there any suggestions for moving forward.

Thanks!

Jade

[pushkins]

Yes you are correct the joint will crack if you just fill it with mud, the good news is you can fix it , the bad news is it's not a 30 minute fix.
You need to cut off the exposed lathe back as far as you can towards that OK wall section on the left side of your picture, then insert a stud into the wall cavity on the left side, then simply screw on a piece of drywall to this new piece and the existing exposed stud on the right side, then you will be able to finish as per normal with mud and tape.

MAYBE you can

If you can without creating too much existing wall damage, cut back the lathe in a straight line (vertical) so when you insert the stud you can screw each piece of lathe into the stud, then simply fill the gap between lathe and right hand stud with a piece of drywall and finish.

[gtzpower]

Great, thanks for the advice! One more quick question for you. For the inserted stud, should i go with something like a 2x3 to provide clearance for the existing plaster on the opposite wall or should i be able to chip off the amount protruding through the lathe without damaging the wall on the other side?

That make any sense?

Thanks again!

Jade

[pushkins]

No don't try to remove the spill plaster on the inside of the other wall, definitely a recipe for disaster with risking cracking of that plaster wall, that spill is what really holds the plaster to the wall kinda like fingers. If it were me I'd rip down a piece of 2x4 to fit, but if you don't have access to a table saw use the 2x3.

[gtzpower]

Okay then. Thank you very much for the advice! I really appreciate it.