plastering advice needed

[lkh]

Hi - I need some unbiased opinions from the experts on this forum!
We're first time buyers, and have to carefully balance budget against a good finish that will help us to sell the house in the future.

We live in a small 1930s semi which needs a rewire. So we've stripped all the wallpaper off (mainly woodchip) and the plasterer affiliated with our electrician has been round to assess the state of the walls to quote us for making good after the rewire.

Unfortunately, he says all the plaster (or 80% of it) is blown, and I can see all the hairline cracks and hear the hollow sound myself. He says if he just goes around after the electrician, filling the chasing holes, then reskimming the whole place, the new plaster could cause the old plaster to blow further, and we it'll just get worse and worse.

He suggested the best thing, but the most costly, was to remove all the old plaster ourselves, back to brick, and then he'll replaster from scratch. That's going to cost us about £5000 (including ceilings).

I'm really confused - as I don't want to skimp on something that will be worth it in the long run, or spend a small fortune on something we don't really need to do.

any advice or alternatives much appreciated! thanks in advance.

 

[joe-90]

I'd tell him where to go. In a falling market you'll never get your money back. If I were you I'd tell the sparkie to fill his chases but leave them just below the surface, then you go round with Polyfiller and finish off. Sand back with a sanding block until the surface is nice and smooth and then put several coats of cheap emulsion over the whole house - and it'll look fine.

Have you any idea how much work and mess there is in taking the entire house back to brick? I've never seen it done - ever. It's just plain crazy. He might be a rubbish plasterer too.

 

[roy c]

Get a few quotes off other plasterers/builders for the work that has got to be undertaken. This will give you an idea of costs. Also ask the plasterer for a quote for Dot and Dabbing, if you look thru this forum you will get an idea of what Dot and Dabbing entails.

 

[Richard C]

Sounds like your plaster man maybe trying to “grow” himself a lucrative little job there! Although some plaster may sound hollow, it’s probably been like that for years & it probably hasn’t fallen off yet; & believe me, some of it can be quiet difficult to shift. It’s rare that the whole of the plaster will be shot to the point where stripping it all back & starting again is the only option, it may just be a case of stripping back the worse parts, making local repairs & then re-skimming; the other 2 options given so far would also give a satisfactory result, depending on how far you want to go.

I would certainly NOT advise striping all the walls back & starting again; this may at first seem like the best (but most expensive) solution but BEWARE; the plaster on an external wall is a thermal element as far as Building Regulations (part L1B) are concerned & you can only remove 24.9% (less than 25%) of it or the work your doing will fall under Part L1B. This means you will (can) be forced to upgrade the thermal insulation of the external walls of the entire house up to current insulation standards, even more expensive than you at first thought; if they find out of course!

& get at least 3 quotes for ANY work you are doing

 

[lkh]

thanks for these replies - you've set my mind at rest that this probably isn't the way to go
I'll contact some more plasterers and see what they say, but I like the first option of filling the chasing to just below the surface and polyfilling the rest ourselves.

LKH

 

[amyboo]

That sounds a bit crazy. We have a 1930's appartment and a similar situation - woodchip on walls, house has been rewired by previous owners, and the walls are in a bit of a state under the 4 layers of wallpaper.... We've simply stripped the wallpaper off, and then had a couple of plasterers in to skim the walls. The plaster is blown and cracked in some places, but the guys just knock off any loose bits and re-render them before doing the skim. We've already had 2 rooms done like this, and are just in the process of having the hall and lounge done and have had no problems so far with any cracks or anything (other rooms were done 18 months ago). It sounds to me like your plasterer wants more money/work out of you.