Removal of plaster - entire room

[danroach]

Hello there.

I was hoping I might get a bit of advice about how to proceed with the removal of the plaster in one of our bedrooms. I apologise if I should have posted in the building forum.

We moved into our house about 18 months ago and it was clear that the plaster needed completely stripping back and re-skimming. The people who had the house before us had had one of their 'friends' in to replaster the front room. It appears he has skimmed over the old plaster and now you can play the walls like a set of drums. There are solid spots and hollow spots all over along with a wonderfully decorative set of hairline cracks.

I'd rather have a job done properly so even though it will be extremely messy/dusty, I'm going to strip all of the old plaster off my sons bedroom and have the lot done.

I was hoping that there may be some plasterers out there who could offer some guidelines or tips on how to go about prep'ing the walls before my builder comes in and begins to skim.

many thanks in advance,

Dan

 

[joe-90]

If you are hacking the lot off you'll need more than a skim. Get the guy out who is going to do the job and talk to him. There are different ways of plastering a room. You'll probably wish you'd never started. If the existing plaster isn't falling off I wouldn't bother if I were you.

 

[danroach]

Thanks for that. The guy did come out and say that he could either re-plaster completely or fix some kind of boards over the existing plaster and skim them??

The problem is that the current plaster has been on the walls since the early fifties and there are cracks all over. There are medium sized patches that would, if coaxed with a screwdriver or the like, simply fall off in a large dusty, crumbly slab I'm sure. I think to strip the whole lot off would be the best thing (or at least that is my thinking). The other thing is that when the walls were originally plastered, the walls weren't scrim taped to the ceiling so now there are significant cracks where the wall meets the ceiling...I think this is due to material movement as all of the other rooms appear to have the same thing going on.

Anything other than taking the walls back to the brick seems to be a bit of a shortcut...or perhaps I just like the idea of making more work for myself.

 

[Richard C]

I apologise if I should have posted in the building forum.

Actually you should have posted the Plastering Forum but no matter.

Striping it all back to brick is only necessary if the base plaster/render is completely shot, if it’s still basically sound the finish, including the cracks, can be easily sorted by a decent plasterer without the need to strip it all back. Don’t do any prep work without the agreement & instruction of your spread, it might sound like a good way to save a little cash but in reality you will save very little if anything. I always do my own prep & if anything goes wrong, it’s my fault; if you do the prep & it goes wrong, whose fault do you think it will be?

What age is the property? Be aware that if you change/modify/rebuild more than 25% of a thermal element (in you’re your case striping off all the plaster from an external wall), Building Regulations require you to upgrade to the latest insulation standards which can be an expensive “surprise”. It’s not normally a problem unless you get caught out but it’s easily done if you’re having other notifyable work inspected as part of a general renovation but be warned as it happens quiet frequently!
If you do strip off back to brick, go for a base coat & skim not the cheaper but less resilient dot & dab plasterboard job.

 

[Richard C]

Time Snap ; some of my questions answered but have a read of my post anyway.

 

[joe-90]

Insulated PB is the way to go - heat is going out of your walls like anything (unless you've had them cavity insulated).

 

[danroach]

Thanks Richard.

Property was built in late 1940s. The dot and dab sounds like the kind of thing I'm not looking for. If I'm spending cash having this done, I don't want to have to have it re-done in 7 or 8 years.

I'll perhaps speak to the guy coming in again.

 

[danroach]

Thanks Joe.

Insulated PB is the way to go -

Is that the stuff like Kingspan??

unless you've had them cavity insulated

Just had the cavity guys out. Apparently, we can't have the cavity re-insulated as it was done some years ago and as we are unsure of the material used, insulation company didn't advise it being done again incase there is a disparity in insulating efficiency which apparently might cause moisture/damp within the wall.

 

[joe-90]

You can get Kingspan type PB. It makes a lot of difference.

 

[danroach]

Hmmm, dilemma now. By the way, thanks kindly for all the input.

The plaster is pretty bad in said room. So, in theory, the guy coming in to plaster could bond/screw insulated Kingspan (or equiv) board to the walls and then skim?

 

[joe-90]

You'd have to ask him that. If the existing wasn't too bad then you could. It makes the room a tad smaller mind - but much warmer.

 

[danroach]

Nice one - I'll do just that. Thanks again.

 

[sparkwright]

The only drawback of fitting plasterboard then skimming is that all the skirting boards and architraves will have to be removed. The skirting boards will then have to be re-cut to size, or replaced. The door linings will have to be made wider, the door will also have to be rehung if it opens into the room. Then the architraves can be refitted or replaced.

Window sills may also get 'lost' if the plasterboard protrudes over them.

If it were me, I would remove all the dead plaster, base coat, then skim. Assuming I was happy with old woodwork, I would keep it in place.

Plasterboard is rubbish stuff to fix things to as well.

 

[danroach]

Thanks for all the messages. I started to take a bit of the plaster off the walls today. Got a bolster chisel and gave it a little tap with a hammer. The entire layer of plaster came off leaving the brickwork exposed completely.



Hopefully the rest of the room will be as easy.

 

[danroach]

Hello.

Just to keep things tidy and update for any other users thinking about replastering...

I went with the dry-lining option and out plasterer has just finished today. It's a brilliant job, really pleased. It took me just over a week to strip the entire room of all the old plaster with a hammer and bolster chisel (roughly doing an hour a day after work). Plasterer came in, boarded and skimmed in just over three days. The rooms looks great and we're waiting for it to dry out before we paint it with a 50/50 water-emulsion mix.

A LOT less work than we expected and we've now a smart new room for our son to move into (once skirting board and carpets are in!).

Incidentally, thanks to all on here for the advice and words of wisdom.

Dan