Jeff Doubet shares before, during and after photos showing how quality plaster registers are built into a Spanish home interior in Santa Barbara, California. Today I share how custom plaster register grilles were incorporated into a Spanish-style bedroom design to enhance the room with additional layers of detail.

Thick cement grills and plaster registers have been incorporated into Santa Barbara Spanish homes and businesses for well over 100 years. My first introduction to the genre was back in the early 1980’s. I lived in a 1920’s Montecito home that had beautiful window grilles.

I was so impressed with the artistic nature of these functional items, that I began to incorporate them into my own design projects in 2003. Scroll to learn more about decorative window grille and plaster vent grille upgrades you can make.
Plaster Registers Before and After
In a collection of articles I have written on the subject, I wanted to focus on the before, during and after process of incorporating plaster registers and vents into any project.

BEFORE PHOTOS: For this particular Santa Barbara home, we were redesigning and remodeling interior spaces. This article focuses on the plaster registers we incorporated into the primary suite. The interior walls were stripped to the studs making way for a large walk-in closet and new luxurious bath.

You can see the heating and air conditioning flexible duct work In the upper right corner of the photo ABOVE. An extra thick wall was framed for the aesthetic upgrade of the opening, as well as housing a sliding pocket door.
For new construction projects, the methods and steps are similar. *Be sure to consult with your architect, local building dept and general contractor for the technical details of your specific project. These photos are shown for general reference only.

AFTER PHOTO: The completed Spanish bedroom entrance remodel. Please scroll the dozens of photos below, to learn more about how you can accomplish a similar, stunning result.
What Are Plaster Registers, and Where Can They Be Installed?
Plaster registers are custom fabricated, decorative HVAC vent covers. They are an upscale alternative to standard duct air vent covers you can purchase on Amazon. They are fabricated by first casting a special formulated plaster as a “block”. The perforated design that creates the vent is cut into the block panel using a CNC waterjet.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Almost any design can be cut into a panel of plaster, provided they are first approved by the manufacturer, who will analyze the structural viability of your design.

ABOVE: Three custom plaster register vents were well packed in foam when I opened the shipping crate. Plaster vents can be installed throughout the interior of a home. I have even specified them in areas of a house just for their aesthetic value on a wall (not associated with a heating or other functional use).

For this project, I wanted to create a vent with extra depth in it’s perforated detail. To accomplish this, I specified the plaster registers in a non-standard 2″ inch thickness.
Jeff Doubet recommended product(s) for designing and building a quality Spanish-style home and landscape.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Preliminary Construction Steps for Incorporating Plaster Registers
There are some basic preliminary steps you will need to take to build custom plaster registers into your own project. As I wrote in a previous article, it is important to work closely with the manufacturer to understand the technical aspects you will need to know and incorporate, before you get too far into your project.

The design you choose for your plaster registers will need to coordinate with the custom design of your galvanized ductwork. This is standard type ductwork, but the geometry will need to be compatible with the specific air flow supplied through the decorative grille design.

ABOVE CONSTRUCTION PHOTO: Our heat and AC ductwork were sized and engineered to our specific register design. The HVAC system installed in the house is an important calculation. ABOVE: The rough-in of the duct work is complete, and 5/8″ drywall has been installed.

Here is a close up photo of the galvanized box and duct. Notice how deep this box is? Again, it is designed for the volume of air flow, and function of our specific plaster register cover design.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you paint the interior of your duct work with a satin flat black paint. That way, when you look up into the plaster register, you will not see bright metal. The black paint creates the dark “shadow” when looking inside the perforations.
How To Install Plaster Registers With Custom Clips
A lot of my clients are intrigued with incorporating custom plaster register vent grilles into their projects. But they don’t understand how they are installed, and there is often trepidation. I took these photos on the job site to help you visualize how they are installed.

Here, one of our custom 2″ inch thick plaster registers has been secured in place with the manufacturer supplied metal clips.

ABOVE: This photo shows how the plaster register manufacturer fabricates the 2″ thick panel with a routed and stepped edge of 5/8″ thick.

ABOVE: Another close up photo of the front edge of the panel. See how it has a thin frame routed all around? This allows you to install the metal “Z” clips along the edge. It gives you many options for how best to secure the panel to the adjacent wood framing.
Installation Details for Plaster Registers
This photo below shows how you will need to cut back the 5/8″ drywall by approximately 3/4″ – 1″ (from the opening of the ductwork box).

The process exposes the wood framing, allowing a flush mount of the thick panel (to be even with the surface of the wall). You can also see here how the panel is secured with manufacturer supplied “Z” clips.

This 2″ thick grille was supplied with a “ledge” edge detail. It allows the panel to rest on the wood framing it is being installed onto. Further, the front edge groove is needed for the installation of the “Z” clips. Scroll to see more images of this procedure in action.

ABOVE: A zoomed in view of the metal clips holding the plaster register in place. Our General Contractor also ran a bead of construction adhesive along the backside of the panel “ledge edge” for extra strength in holding the panel in place within the wood framing.
A direct link to Spanish-style products on Amazon and project overviews where installed.
More Installation Tips and Tricks for Decorative Grilles
Your General Contractor should be detail oriented in their plaster register installations. The ones I have worked with build in “tolerance” in their framing. This allows them to move the panel around a bit to level the design on the wall.

Shims can be used to adjust the grille panels vertically and horizontally, as well as to be “plumb” with the wall itself.

Now that the panels are secured with construction adhesive and metal clips, the drywall gaps will need to be patched.

The way we fill the bulk of these gaps is with 20 min. joint compound mixed with general all purpose drywall mud. The 20 min. sets up fast. Once dry, fiberglass mesh tape can be applied over the patched areas to help prevent cracks.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Refining The Installation Of Decorative Plaster Vents
Once the plaster register has been completely integrated into the wall, the drywall team will follow up with the final details.

They will match and blend the vent grille panel into the surrounding wall. To see a photo of me personally doing this, CLICK HERE.

ABOVE: A close up photo of the plaster register after a final topping coat of joint compound has been sanded. This is what a completed installation of a plaster register looks like. It is now ready for wall paint.

MORE COMPLETED PROJECT PHOTOS



Would you like access to a plethora of other Jeff Doubet photos, designs and pro tips for cement and plaster grilles? Click direct link above.
Future Episodes for Building Spanish Style Interiors
I invite you to continue visiting my Creating Spanish Style Homes Photo Blog, as I add more intriguing projects, site visits and teaching moments of how high-end Spanish style interiors are designed and built.

For example: Beyond the door (on the left) is a gorgeous Spanish style master bath. At some point I will be sharing that portion of this remodel in a future episode.

Well friend, this wraps another site visit episode in beautiful Santa Barbara, California. I hope you enjoyed learning how to infuse more Santa Barbara Style into your own Spanish interior design project. Scroll to explore more helpful links and resources for designing and building your own Spanish-style home and landscape.