What to do over this wood surface?

[Sharpey]

Hello all

About to get a house completely re-plastered and on one of the walls it sounded hollow. Under the lining paper I have discovered what appears to be some sort of wood, perhaps MDF (it's not shiny or anything, doesn't appear to be a finish product), and I get the impression that this makes up the wall, as opposed it being on top of anything else (plasterboard or whatever), although I can't be sure until I have dug further.

Here is a picture:

Untitled

• Sharpey
• 8 Sep 2013
• 1

I'm guessing you can't skim over this product so what would you guys recommend I do in preparation? I intend to remove the lining paper as best as I can, then I'm not sure. I'm thinking

1) Remove the stuff completely, put new plasterboards in (it must be screwed in to something so I assume there will be adequate battens)

or

2) Overboard the whole thing. Would save having to remove it and the lining paper.

I would really appreciate some advice on this, and perhaps a name for the product so I can research it further myself (I've never seen a wall covered in it).

 

[roughcaster]

If it's well fixed to the battens, then overboard it. Locate and mark the battens/studs underneath the "board", then screw some new plasterboard to them, either 9.5mm or 12.5 mm. Once fitted, either tape and fill, or skim.. If there are sockets in the wall then you might need a sparky, plus, maybe a new length of skirting. Quite a straightforward job overall.

 

[dann09]

I agree with the above.

However, is this an interior or an exterior wall?

Perhaps more investigations before doing anything else.

If you can locate screws or fixings perhaps pull one of the boards & investigate. Or, removing the skirting often tells a tale

 

[Sharpey]

Thanks for the replies guys, really appreciated.

It is an interior wall, one side is the living room and the other is the side of the stairs. I am replacing all the skirting/plugs etc so that's not a problem.

I will look in to it further and update this thread if I find anything troubling, but thanks for the advice so far.