Plaster has cracked and lifted in places - having taken some plaster
off, the concrete behind has also come away and there is a strong smell
of damp - not good!

So, I thought either:

1. take off all of the plaster and concrete, re-screed and plaster
again
2. as above but instead of re-screeding and plastering, PVA and leave
bare bricks showing
3. as 1, but plasterboard then paint
4. something I've not yet thought of hence the post!!

Suggestions gratefully accepted from the fountain of knowledge as I am
not a builder by trade...

Bear

On 22 Jun 2006 11:37:33 -0700, "nonymouse"
wrote:

Plaster has cracked and lifted in places - having taken some plaster
off, the concrete behind has also come away and there is a strong smell
of damp - not good!

So, I thought either:

1. take off all of the plaster and concrete, re-screed and plaster
again
2. as above but instead of re-screeding and plastering, PVA and leave
bare bricks showing
3. as 1, but plasterboard then paint
4. something I've not yet thought of hence the post!!

Suggestions gratefully accepted from the fountain of knowledge as I am
not a builder by trade...

Bear

You are approaching it the wrong way. "Strong smell of damp". What
about curing this first?

nonymouse wrote:
Plaster has cracked and lifted in places - having taken some plaster
off, the concrete behind has also come away and there is a strong
smell of damp - not good!


It's not concrete, it's plaster...just a different plaster to the surface
plaster.


So, I thought either:

1. take off all of the plaster and concrete, re-screed and plaster
again

Render and skim.


2. as above but instead of re-screeding and plastering, PVA and leave
bare bricks showing

Bare bricks? - as a feature you mean?


3. as 1, but plasterboard then paint
4. something I've not yet thought of hence the post!!

Suggestions gratefully accepted from the fountain of knowledge as I am
not a builder by trade...

Is it a 'wet' wall? - is there a shower or bath against it? - if there is
then you don't have many options...personally, if it were my house I would
hack the lot off, allow it to dry (the water has probably been getting
behind it for years), PVA, two coats of render, then tile over

Thanks for your suggestions, but...

Render and skim.

....do I need to take off all of the plaster first then, or only the
loose stuff?

Is it a 'wet' wall? - is there a shower or bath against it? - if there is
then you don't have many options...personally, if it were my house I would
hack the lot off, allow it to dry (the water has probably been getting
behind it for years), PVA, two coats of render, then tile over

One part of the wall will be a wet wall which needs tiling and I don't
fancy tiling over manky plaster. The other part of the wall joined via
an L shape will just be tiled

nonymouse wrote:
Thanks for your suggestions, but...

Render and skim.

...do I need to take off all of the plaster first then, or only the
loose stuff?


If it's damp (and it sounds to me like you've had water running on it for it
to be damp, unless the bathroom is downstairs in which case it could be
rising damp, or possibly an outside source - leacky gutter, downspout etc)
then it will probably all be loose (another IF here - if it's oldish plaster
that is, if it's less than say 30 years old plaster than you may get away
with just taking the loose off and skimming over it all)

Is it a 'wet' wall? - is there a shower or bath against it? - if
there is then you don't have many options...personally, if it were
my house I would hack the lot off, allow it to dry (the water has
probably been getting behind it for years), PVA, two coats of
render, then tile over

One part of the wall will be a wet wall which needs tiling and I don't
fancy tiling over manky plaster. The other part of the wall joined via
an L shape will just be tiled

Anything that you are tiling will need a solid base, the general rule of
thumb is: if you think it /might/ be loose, even just a little bit, whip it
off, either down to bare brick or just the top coat of plaster, apply 2
coats of PVA and replaster.

Many thanks - it is an exterior wall with no guttering above. The
plaster is around 25 years old as this part of the house was renovated
in 1981 (I think) - and hasn't been re-decorated since!

There's no reason (other than it being an exterior wall) for it too be
damp as it has not been in constant (or even semi-constant) contact
with water; I can only think the damp has stemmed from the humidity in
the bathroom

Bear :-)

nonymouse wrote:
Many thanks - it is an exterior wall with no guttering above. The
plaster is around 25 years old as this part of the house was renovated
in 1981 (I think) - and hasn't been re-decorated since!

Um. How old is the house? Is it a cavity wall or not (look
for air bricks)? How thick is it?

nonymouse wrote:
Many thanks - it is an exterior wall with no guttering above. The
plaster is around 25 years old as this part of the house was renovated
in 1981 (I think) - and hasn't been re-decorated since!

There's no reason (other than it being an exterior wall) for it too be
damp as it has not been in constant (or even semi-constant) contact
with water; I can only think the damp has stemmed from the humidity in
the bathroom

Bear :-)

If it's an exterior wall, I would take a closer look at the outside
brickwork, maybe it needs re-pointing, 25 year old plaster shouldn't
deteriorate so much without a fairly substansial amount of water penetration
over a prolonged period....humidity from the bathroom shouldn't affect it,
after all, the plaster in our kitchen is 60 years old and that has had pots,
pans and kettles boiled in it thousands of times

If it's an exterior wall, I would take a closer look at the outside
brickwork, maybe it needs re-pointing, 25 year old plaster shouldn't
deteriorate so much without a fairly substansial amount of water penetration
over a prolonged period....humidity from the bathroom shouldn't affect it,
after all, the plaster in our kitchen is 60 years old and that has had pots,
pans and kettles boiled in it thousands of times

Worrying thought...the house was built in 1901!