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I'm in an apartment building in New York from the 1930s, looking to hang shelves on an interior wall. It's possible the interior wall is newer than the rest of the building or was rebuilt at some point, though I don't have any specific reason to think it was.

I took some pictures of the area around the wall socket and slid my phone inside the wall to get some pictures there, too.

It seems like the near wall (with the socket, the one I'm focused on) isn't even making contact with the stud in the pictures—the other wall is, but on my side there's a gap. I'm not sure what's keeping it in place.

Photos

enter image description here

isherwood
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menatarp
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2 Answers2

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This looks like plaster from the transitional period between it and drywall, where traditional wood lath was replaced with various things, such as the Masonite KristoferA mentions or early gypsum panels (a.k.a. "rock lath").

See also Is this plaster over gypsum wallboard?

It appears that your wall finish is mounted on resilient channel, a sound-deadening device which explains the gap. I believe that's what you see reflecting light in the photo. You'll need to read up on mounting over that, as you can damage your wall if you simply tighten screws over the gap.

isherwood
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Looks like Masonite board to me.

KristoferA
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