Why can't you mechanically fix plasterboard to plastered brickwork?

[butwhowas]

I've done some searching and it seems to be a massive no no. But I don't see why.

Before I start, the walls are very straight and the plaster sounds solid all around.

I'm redoing the kitchen and I want to fix plasterboard over the current walls. They are plastered (about 20mm thick) and wallpapered, which would be a massive pain to remove. I would rather just overboard them and tape and joint.

It is an old Victorian house with big skirting boards. It sounds extremely bodgy but they are big enough to where a 9.5mm plasterboard could sit on top of them, if fixed with screws. The plaster/brick wouldn't be taking the weight of the boards. I don't want to lose any space by battening. Dot and dabbing would require me to remove the wallpaper and skirting, which I definitely don't want to do as it doesn't seem necessary.

If I absolutely had to, I could remove the wallpaper, but battening or removing skirting is out of the question. I really don't want to lose any space at all.

Basically, I know it would LOOK fine, but I need to know why professional tradesmen are so against the idea? Would putting that many screws in damage the integrity of the wall or something?

Could I remove the wallpaper, use a grab adhesive, and use less screws?

Again, I know it's pure bodge and far below any reasonable standard of building, but I just need to know if it would actually cause any damage.

Thanks.

 

[Mottie]

Before I start, the walls are very straight and the plaster sounds solid all around.

If the walls are straight and the plaster is sound, why are you thinking of over boarding them?

 

[butwhowas]

If the walls are straight and the plaster is sound, why are you thinking of over boarding them?

To avoid having to remove the wallpaper and I would be able to get a much nicer finish with plasterboard.

The wallpaper seems *extremely* stuck on. I could probably get most of it off if I had to, but I guarantee there would be bits that would refuse to budge. Also, it's entirely possible that bits of plaster could break off if I attempted to remove the wallpaper, etc. I don't even really know what else is under there. It's over 100 years old. It FEELS ok, but that doesn't guarantee anything.

But as I said, the wall wouldn't be taking (the majority) of the weight anyway.. if the bodge is possible.

 

[IT Minion]

If you're planning to plasterboard over the top, give the paper removal a go first, can't hurt. Removing paper with the little steam strippers you get should be painless.

If you do go for boards over the top you'll have to worry about the joints, taping and filling, or skimming over the top. Plus harder to mount things to it.

 

[noseall]

Dab it anyway to get it plumb and solid then put your fixings in on the dab lines. Make a note where the electric and plumbing drops are. Bring back boxes etc forward where necessary.

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

if your that intent on doing it , gripfill or multistik the boards to the paper and put some screws in . chances are though there will be damp content in your victorian walls which this method will make worse.

 

[23vc]

Or batten it

 

[butwhowas]

Dab it anyway to get it plumb and solid then put your fixings in on the dab lines. Make a note where the electric and plumbing drops are. Bring back boxes etc forward where necessary.

I know this would be the more sensible/higher quality option but the dabs would bring the wall out to where the boards wouldn't sit on top of the skirting properly. I would have to remove the skirting, or go all the way out over it and then fit new skirting. It's 100+ years old, at the very least it would be a long, hard, and messy job. I also like the idea of keeping original features. So I don't see the point, unless my original plan would be catastrophically bad for some reason.

Thanks for the replies though everyone.

The best option for what I want to do seems to be gripfill + screws. I'm thinking 9 to 12 screws per board.

All I'm basically trying to make sure is that putting this many screws into the brick wall won't affect it's strength or damage it in any way?