Removing plaster with drill but avoiding a section?

[CluelessDIYer1]

Basically the plaster needs to come off in our living room. The chimney breast & to the left of it is plasterboarded. To the right is just plaster (a mix of sand/cement, original 1930s whatever they used - soft stuff & multifinish/bonding in there too). The window is boarded ... i think. Doesn't sound boarded but the plasterers said they were going to have to board it out so i guess it's boarded.

The wall opposite the chimney breast is plaster except for a doorway that was boarded up & this is where my question comes in.

The plaster is coming off for damp reasons, but the doorway that's been boarded up will be fine.

Now if everything was coming off i could go a bit nuts & get the drill on the lot. As it is, i want to avoid the doorway that's been boarded up as it's fine.


So how do i be precise around this (avoiding it) without wiping this out too? It'll be one of those SDS drills with bolster attachment that i'll be hiring.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

You knock-off all the plaster using SDS chisel attachment and when you get close to the good area around the door, you stop! You can then use the gentler approach of hand held tools.
I would most probably work away from the door.
With regards to window, just because the plasterer say it will require boarding does not mean that is the current method being used.

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

You knock-off all the plaster using SDS chisel attachment and when you get close to the good area around the door, you stop!

Well, indeed! But i was meaning more for anything i should be careful of - beginner error etc. I've never used one before or done this before.

The door is no longer there. It's just a stud wall now. I don't want to blast the plaster & go through the plasterboard.

With regards to window, just because the plasterer say it will require boarding does not mean that is the current method being used.

They never said it will require boarding, they said they were boarding around the window (this was earlier in the year - the job's been done).

When i knock it with my knuckles it doesn't sound like board like the other wall. It sounds kind of solid-ish. Still, they said they were boarding round there as the old board had turned to mush.

Does this drill take to plasterboard ok like it does with just straight plaster?

 

[roughcaster]

If you mean would you remove plasterboard with an SDS? No. Remove all the solid plaster/render with an SDS no problem, but you can take off the old plasterboard by hand. Just remember to pull out/remove all the nails etc with a hammer or similar.

 

[Nozzle]

Do a cut with an angle grinder with concrete cutting disc then you can chop away merrily as you like with any tool as the rest of it is now "isolated" away.

nozzle

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

Thanks.

So for the board that's been skimmed on top & stuck to the wall by dot+dab, you'd just angle grind into this & then pull it off?

& then for the other section which is plaster, you'd just dig in with the SDS drill?


What then of the window area, which we were told they were boarding but it doesn't really sound like board? (they said they were going to do a few things which they didn't).

 

[Nozzle]

What I'd do it cut a slit to give a neat edge for the bit I want to keep - the rest of it doesn't matter how it is removed. Use of the angle grinder should be minimised as it'll make a lot of dust.

Nozzle

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

Are there any tips you guys would give?

Eye protection & dust mask obviously. Steel boots & crappy clothes but i mean beyond that.

There's only 1 window with 2 small openings, so i guess it'd be best to have these open fully but that'll only do so much.

Get my wife to cover the rear of the doors so that the dust that makes it way through the gaps is minimised.

Is there anything i can do beyond this?

 

[NickB_99]

Is there anything i can do beyond this?

Make sure you know where any electrical cables, or other dangers are likely to be.
When using an angle grinder in my last house to cut out a chase for a new socket spur I found there was a 15mm gas pipe under the plaster. I knew where all the cables were, but had no idea the pipe was there.
Fortunately I was only using the grinder to go down a couple of mm to break the skim and then using a Stanley knife to easily cut through the remaing undercoat plaster (which was crumbly). Therefore the grinder didn't touch the pipe, but is a mistake I won't make again to get that close!

If what you have underneath is a lot of plasterboard, running the grinder to break the surface may be all you need to get you going and will minimise dust.

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

Make sure you know where any electrical cables, or other dangers are likely to be.
When using an angle grinder in my last house to cut out a chase for a new socket spur I found there was a 15mm gas pipe under the plaster. I knew where all the cables were, but had no idea the pipe was there.
Fortunately I was only using the grinder to go down a couple of mm to break the skim and then using a Stanley knife to easily cut through the remaing undercoat plaster (which was crumbly). Therefore the grinder didn't touch the pipe, but is a mistake I won't make again to get that close!

If what you have underneath is a lot of plasterboard, running the grinder to break the surface may be all you need to get you going and will minimise dust.

Thanks.

Yeah i intend on only inching it & not diving in. Just taking the surface off, blowing out the dust, have i exposed brickwork? No. Keep going. Blow it out. Brickwork exposed? Yes. Stop (or do another section, perhaps cut out a square, whatever).


Though i was actually referring to minimising the dust or just getting the dust out of the room as we're going along.