Blown plaster - can you just skim over?

[handyhelen]

Hi all, I have old plaster on the walls of my upstairs landing (3 walls in total) and it is blown in several sections.

I had a plasterer in to look at it and he has advised to skim over it rather than remove back to the brick as the new skim will hold everything in place for at least 15 years. He said he would remove some of the worst blown sections although I doubt you can do that with this type of old plaster as it would probably cause the rest to come off around it as well (I have had the rest of the house plaster removed, rerendered / slurry tanked so saw what happened when they started to remove the old stuff).

Also one wall has a couple of drops of lining paper which is painted over. The plasterer noticed this and at first said it would need to come off but then changed his mind and said he would just PVA over it before plastering.

He has quoted only £270 for this job and said it can all be done in one day.

It all sounds a bit suspect to me so can anyone advise? Can you just skim over this plaster and it will be strong and hold everything in place? The price sounds way too cheap and all in one day? Really?

Appreciate any advice as have had the misfortune of getting a cowboy tradesman before and I don't want another just because I can get a 'cheap' price.

Thank you!

 

[TheVictorian]

He sounds like a cowboy to me.

I'm currently going through a similar process but am removing all lathe and plaster where it is in less than perfect conditon, plasterboarding and then having a plasterer in to skim it up.

On solid walls where the plaster has blown I'm hacking everything that is loose back to the brick then the plasterer will come in and make it all good.

 

[JohnD]

it will be far better to chip the plaster away from the laths (if it is on lath thern it will not be on brick) and inspect them, if the lathes are not rotten and their nails have not rusted away, they can be replastered.

 

[handyhelen]

Many thanks for your quick replies! Sorry as I thought the type of plaster I had was called 'lathe' but perhaps that isn't correct after reading your response. I just edited my original message to avoid confusing anyone!

The plaster that has blown is very old (in Victorian house 1905) and the walls it is on are all internal. I think they are all brick behind (after seeing walls in rest of house when plaster was removed for previous big plaster job) except one which is a stud wall.

 

[TheVictorian]

OK, in that case I would still remove any old plaster that has blown.

Lathe and plaster is where wooden lathes are nailed onto a stud wall, the plaster is then pushed on and grips where it squeezes between the lathes.

You will just have normal base coat plus a layer of skim on top. In my opinion (and I'm no plasterer or DIY expert really) it would be best to remove anything that has blown otherwise you risk it cracking.

 

[WabbitPoo]

LATHS:

LATHES:

 

[dadsdiy]

Skimming over wallpaper seems a VERY dodgy to me lol Id remove it first no matter what your "plasterer" says, sounds like a proper cowboy..if he turns up on a mountain bike with his tools in a carrier bag alarm bells should ring!