ok new to this site need some advice please

[sparky1985]

ok first of all so you no i am a novice at diy but willing to try anything ok i have been on a mad revamp started off with shower leaking destroying landing wall and kitchen celling so i ripped all the bathroom out replacing 2 bad walls using moisture board tiling them moving all the bathroom around to accommodate a bath instead as other half prefers them then i had to redo kitchen celling done this with fire board due to be plastered next fortnight then came the best room lol the hall way more live plaster than i thought had to replace one complete wall and half a wall using normal plaster board then i took up learning to plaster for the first time ever with no guidance to patch bad spots will show pics not bad i think but now i am stuck and need help there used to be a under stairs cupboard access from the kitchen its been blocked off and cooker put in way so i have a section of wall on the side of the stairs that is complete live plaster now i would like to put door there to reuse cupboard thats were i need advice i have made some rough sketch to try to help if cant be done i will just plaster board it please see below any help will be great thank you steven

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• sparky1985
• 27 May 2010
• 1

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• sparky1985
• 27 May 2010
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• sparky1985
• 27 May 2010
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this is my plastering need to sand it down a little

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• sparky1985
• 27 May 2010
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[Richard C]

The area under the stairs is normally just boarded out over a stud frame & skimmed. To fit a door, you first need to fit a door liner over which you can build up the frame. It’s usually far easier to remove the lot, re-stud (possibly using some of the original timber) forming the door opening using a cut down door liner kit, plaster board out & re-skim; then make up the door frame & hang your door.

Your sketch shows “wall with live plaster bricks showing”; what do you mean by this, is it brick or plasterboard? What do you mean by “live plaster”, is it blown?

Not being unkind about the plastering but don’t give up the day job just yet ; looks like you’ve used finishing plaster but as a complete novice you would be better off using Easyfill. Plaster is not supposed to be sanded, it's quiet hard & it destroys the grain; did you reinforce the repair with anything?

 

[sparky1985]

ok the wall beneath the stairs seems to be the old style plaster well this is falling away exposing brickwork behind will add pic make it easier to understand as for the plastering i dont plan to give up day job lol it was done useing multi finish what my sister had left over from work at her flat i did not mean sand it with a sander im not sure what its called when you scrape it at a 45% angle useing trowl then spayed with water to get better finish cheers steven

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• sparky1985
• 27 May 2010
• 1

 

[Richard C]

Oh so it is brick; that’s unusual & complicates things a bit. It may be supporting the staircase stringer, be part of a much larger wall supporting 1st floor joists or even walls above on the 2nd floor. You will have to check & confirm & if you don’t know, seek advice from someone who does & can check it out for you; my gut feel is it’s not supporting anything but it’s always dangerous to assume. If I’m right, you could remove the wall completely or at least the bit to the left of the new door opening down to the point where it meets the floor, then stud out & form a full height opening with a modified door liner kit as I said before, plasterboard & skim to finish to form a new wall in line with the old. But I must stress, the wall could be supporting the stair case stringer; no real way of telling over a forum. Maybe have a re-think if the small amount of under stairs storage provided is worth all the hassle of doing it.

Plaster has a use by date printed on the bag & will deteriorate very quickly once the bag is opened to the point where it will “go off” very quickly, in some cases while you’re mixing it in the bucket. My guess is your getting confused with troweling off or polishing but that can only be done at the point where the plaster is just setting, not once it’s dried out. Scraping is not really a recognised method of finishing & makes no difference, it will still destroy the finish; if you’ve any more repairs to do, buy a bag of Easyfill, you’ll find it much easier to use & work with.

 

[sparky1985]

hi thanks again richard will see about getting someone in to check it out for me if it aint supporting could i take the section completely out and leave it open as for plaster thanks for the advice i will keep that in mind as no doubt will find more areas in my house that will need repairing cheers steven

 

[Richard C]

if it aint supporting could i take the section completely out and leave it open

Yes you could do, probably an easier option than rebuilding a new stud wall.

 

[sparky1985]

ok decided today to take better look at wall by stripping it and to my surprise the whole lot came off in one piece see pic lol

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• sparky1985
• 27 May 2010
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ok now i have bare brick wall more pics attached is there any way to tell if it is supporting cheers steven

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• sparky1985
• 27 May 2010
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• sparky1985
• 27 May 2010
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[Richard C]

Christ that really was blown; maybe it wasn't prepped correctly in the first place.
I can’t really work out what’s with the bricks though! That also looks suspiciously like a damp course right down at the bottom, what’s all that about the wall wasn’t part of an external wall at some time was it, now enclosed within an extension

 

[sparky1985]

the house is mid terrace so aint no damp course if so im just as confussed lol the wall goes below floor boards except for the first to floor boards at the begin of the steps they go through the wal took a look behind the wall so far in the floor drops about 4" cheers steven