I was wondering if anyone had any idea how they would patch a wall like this? Basically, it's plaster with a metal mesh underneath. The plumber had to break the wall down, cut through the mesh and horizontal studs to replace my sewage pipe. Is this something that can be a DIY'er?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59052671@N00/2612488254/

I'm assuming that what we're looking at is a bump-out in the corner of a room? If that's the case, then I'd cut it back to the edges and put a piece of drywall in there. Be careful with that metal lath, as it's nasty stuff.

The other option would be to have a plasterer come in, put in new lath and build up new layers of plaster to patch it, but that'll take time and money.

I've done quite a bit of do it yourself stuff but plaster is not of that world, you have to be a plasterer. If I were looking at that job it would be, hire a plaster person or remove the mesh and install sheetrock. Or put a cabinet in front of it.