Ok where to from here. It's fair to say that my relationship with the plasterer that did this is at an end. If he doesn't share my committment to longevity then I don't want him in the house.
What I've got is an L shaped section of wall with some sand and cement on it. It will be tiled, a bath fitted and an overbath shower fitted. There is no hidden plumbing for the shower, the hose comes from a deck mounted mixer. I wanted that covering to be absolutely solid and watertight, ideally. I'm going to tank it whatever happens, before tiling. OTT maybe, but that's the way I am. A truckload of belt and braces.
Here's what it looks like:
The worst is the lower section of the short wall (er, you have to look at it sideways):
As those are all horizontal cracks I'm assuming that's slumped, as well as suction taking the water out.
There are cracks coming away from joints with old plaster, and along the joint lines themselves:
Most of the rest of the wall has at least some cracks:
And there is the occasional area with no cracks:
There are at least 3 small areas which sound hollow, all of them next to large cracks.
I'm not frightened of hard work, I laboured for a plasterer for about 18 months, I've got a float and a hawk etc. But I'm also aware that handling s/c is a very different proposition, at least for an amateur, to handling browning.
It'll be hot dusty and horrible to take it all off. And I can't guarrantee that my job will be 100% perfect everywhere.
At the moment I'm thinking this is the way:
1. Take off that worst section in the first pic. How hard/easy it is to get off will give me a clue about how well the rest of it is stuck on.
2. Re- do that section
3. Add the rest I need to get the lower edge below the level of the bath (which was on it's feet right behind the plasterer doing the job, if he'd only looked!!)
4. Fill other large cracks (exterior filler? neat cement? suggestions).
5. Tank it anyway.
Your thoughts appreciated gentlemen.