"David" wrote in message
om...

Is it advisable to take down the old plaster or, as a whole entity,
would you expect 50 year old plaster to be strong enough to hold
plasterboards dotted&dabbed into place? If the latter, should I repair
the old blown plaster first (seen the method in the FAQ list)?

I think unless it's *really* badly blown, the plasterboards would hold fine,
without repairing the old plaster. The plasterboard will act like a splint
to hold it all together. If you're really worried, one option might be to
hack away a few smallish areas of plaster to expose the brick, so that in
some areas at least, the plasterboard adhesive is bonding the board directly
to brick.

However, you'll make the room quite a bit smaller by doing it like this
rather than removing the old plaster - does that matter to you? Having said
that it's a very messy job!

Finally, as an alternative solution, have you considered repairing the blown
plaster as per the FAQ (PVA solution and syringes IIRC?!), and then covering
the whole lot with heavy duty lining paper before painting or wallpapering,
whatever you'll do? That would cover a multitude of sins with a lot less
hassle than either of the above, and I suspect even cope with a toddler
bouncing round the room (been there, done that).

hth
David