Anna Kettle wrote:
On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 16:57:57 GMT, fred wrote:

So before I put the plasterboard up in the bathroom I thought I might
have a stab at some remedial work. Ideally the landing wall wants to
come down too, but that ain't gonna happen any time soon! I thought I'd
try chucking 1:4 PVA all over the back, and then essentially applying a
very rough coat of Carlite bonding plaster to the back of the laths with
a view to it holding the blown plaster. All that will be concealed as
soon as the bathroom wall goes up.

It's got to be worth a go; has anyone tried this or got any refinements
to suggest (eg which type of plaster)?

Yes I've done this but not on a wall, I have done it on a ceiling from
above. Hoover the wall well before PVAing, propping the wall on the
good side sounds sensible, on a ceiling you'd use a runny mix of
gypsum and perlite which gets in holes easily and is lightweight but
on a wall bonding might be just as successful - worth a try anyway

Would you let me know how you get on?

Did the job at the weekend - TBH I delegated it to the plasterer I'd
hired to do the whole bathroom. Hoovered the back of the affected wall,
PVA'd it, then he slapped on a layer of bonding plaster. We had to
cover the bathroom side with plasterboard before this plaster was solid
and dry, so I can't really report back as to how well it's now stuck,
but certainly the landing side seems very rigid now.

I decided against propping it from the landing side, because that side
already had two thick layers of wallpaper which held the wall pretty
flat anyway; and I thought that if there were any small gaps between the
blown plaster and the laths then it would be better if some plaster got
in there. The landing side is certainly still flat now, and there's much
less of a hollow sound than before when you tap it.

Next time we decorate the landing I'll do the proper job with
plasterboard, but I'm confident this bodge has staved off collapse of
the wall for a good few years!

David