What can I do to these ugly kitchen walls behind units pls?

[daisy12345]

FTB bought an old house recently. Vendors removed their white goods, and now I'm looking at the horrible kitchen walls behind the units...

This one is an external wall, behind washing machine and dishwasher. I'm wondering if I should/can plaster it as it's exposing some brickwork already:

This one is in the corner. Is the black stuff mold? If yes, what should I do to it pls?

Thanks a lot and any comment/advice is much appreciated.

 

[Burnerman]

A right pain, that one....ideally you need to shift all of that pipe work temporarily to allow you to plaster behind ( one pipe is gas, of course) and lose the remainder of the crumbly stuff too.
The mould you see may just be a historic cold spot but it would be good to see what the laminate is hiding!
John

 

[Bodgedbuild]

That "T" piece on the waste looks to be the wrong way around.....why don't you tile the backs where the appliances were? You could probably get away without removing too much stuff if you do..

 

[endecotp]

Hide it all behind new appliances !

Or if you must, brush off the cobwebs and give it a lick of paint.

 

[daisy12345]

A right pain, that one....ideally you need to shift all of that pipe work temporarily to allow you to plaster behind ( one pipe is gas, of course) and lose the remainder of the crumbly stuff too.
The mould you see may just be a historic cold spot but it would be good to see what the laminate is hiding!
John

Thanks John. Not sure if we can shift the pipeworks, but will probably get a plasterer to have a look and see if he can deal with it... Good point on lifting the laminate!

That "T" piece on the waste looks to be the wrong way around.....why don't you tile the backs where the appliances were? You could probably get away without removing too much stuff if you do..

Thanks... there have been a lot of things in the house tradesmen came in and told us they are wrong... tiling is a good idea indeed

Hide it all behind new appliances !

Or if you must, brush off the cobwebs and give it a lick of paint.

Thanks! That'll be our last resort

 

[tel765]

As Burnerman above - the condensation might only be the tip of a damp problem in the floor/walls.

Depends on how far you want to go - remove the run of units, temp remove and sort out the supplies and waste, and hack off damaged plaster, render the wall - and then tile behind the appliances, would be best practice.

Tiling or painting over damp or crumbling plaster is not good practice.

The stand pipe inlets & the elec DSS is a safety shout.
Whats the second gas hose for?

 

[Burnerman]

It’s going to be a fair bit of work just for cosmetics, tiling onto such a surface would be iffy at best.
Anyway, the damp patch could be important so consider looking at that first, which could involve more remedial work with the units..... I’d definitely lift the laminate. It does look like its been coated over before?
If the drain does exit to the right the swept Tees are the wrong way round but for small volume water they should work.
John

 

[Alec_t]

The mould you see may just be a historic cold spot but it would be good to see what the laminate is hiding!

The laminate seems to curling upward in the corner, so presumably there's still damp there.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Sort out the damp.
Paint it white
Fit appliances or units.

 

[daisy12345]

Thanks a lot guys. Strangely the building survey didn't pick up any damp readings in the property though. Which trade shall I seek out for the damp issue please?

 

[daisy12345]

As Burnerman above - the condensation might only be the tip of a damp problem in the floor/walls.

Depends on how far you want to go - remove the run of units, temp remove and sort out the supplies and waste, and hack off damaged plaster, render the wall - and then tile behind the appliances, would be best practice.

Tiling or painting over damp or crumbling plaster is not good practice.

The stand pipe inlets & the elec DSS is a safety shout.
Whats the second gas hose for?

What's DSS pls? Not sure about the gas hose... Boiler guys will come over tmr to install a new boiler. Will ask them to have a look. Thanks!

 

[cdbe]

Very typical, leave it and deal with it properly when you replace the kitchen, the whole wall will need tanking with waterproof render and possibly other damp treatment - if you can hide/live with it in the meantime then save your money for that.

When you do get round to replacing the kitchen don't expect kitchen fitters to sort it - you'll need a decent builder to strip out the kitchen and carry out the remedial works first.

 

[Nige F]

The stand pipe inlets & the elec DSS is a safety shout.?

Double Switched Socket