Apologies if this has been addressed before - but how does one go about removing the plaster from an internal wall (with windows) to get that 'loft apartment' look, with exposed brick work?

Many thanks.

Gioconda wrote:

Apologies if this has been addressed before - but how does one go about
removing the plaster from an internal wall (with windows) to get that
'loft apartment' look, with exposed brick work?

Many thanks.



Crefully with a chisel.You can hire a kanga, which is basically a
motorised chisel, by be cereful of damaging teh bricks.

Once most is of, wire brush is gine for most of te resiude, unless
bricks are very very soft.

Then gallons of brick acid and water will get rid of the rest.

Soaking the wall in water may wll soften the plaster up enough, and
pressure washers also have their place.

Gioconda wrote:
Apologies if this has been addressed before - but how does one go
about
removing the plaster from an internal wall (with windows) to get that
'loft apartment' look, with exposed brick work?

A lot depends on the age/type of the plaster and brickwork.

I've been renovating the kicthen in our 100 year old house and the
thick lime plaster comes off quite easily. The best tools seems to be a
cold chisel to get started and smallish wrecking bar, once you have a
gap you can ease the thin chisel end of the bar in under the edge of
the plaster, working with the bar parallel to the wall, and pry away
the plaster with little or no damage to the brick. If it's proving
harder work, protect the brick with a thin piece of wood under the bar
and try to chisel on the joints as you'll probably want to re-point
later anyway.

In our case it was only the plaster that was holding the wall together.
The think beds of lime mortar could be removed with pencil and vacuum
cleaner.

And be prepared for more dust tahn you can ever imagine.

In article , "Gioconda"
says...

Apologies if this has been addressed before - but how does one go about
removing the plaster from an internal wall (with windows) to get that
'loft apartment' look, with exposed brick work?

If you don't want to remove plaster (e.g. you've just stripped the
wallpaper and you want to patch a couple of areas before repapering)
then you can pull it off by hand in large pieces. If you do want to
remove it then you will have to attack it with a bolster and lump
hammer, and lots of it will be so securely attached to the underlying
masonry that you end up removing bits of brick as well.

"urchaidh" wrote in message
oups.com...
Gioconda wrote:
Apologies if this has been addressed before - but how does one go
about
removing the plaster from an internal wall (with windows) to get that
'loft apartment' look, with exposed brick work?

A lot depends on the age/type of the plaster and brickwork.

I've been renovating the kicthen in our 100 year old house and the
thick lime plaster comes off quite easily. The best tools seems to be a
cold chisel to get started and smallish wrecking bar, once you have a
gap you can ease the thin chisel end of the bar in under the edge of
the plaster, working with the bar parallel to the wall, and pry away
the plaster with little or no damage to the brick. If it's proving
harder work, protect the brick with a thin piece of wood under the bar
and try to chisel on the joints as you'll probably want to re-point
later anyway.

In our case it was only the plaster that was holding the wall together.
The think beds of lime mortar could be removed with pencil and vacuum
cleaner.

And be prepared for more dust tahn you can ever imagine.

my plaster came off easily enough by whacking the wall with the side of a
hammer and then ploughing through the soft grey render with a bricklaying
trowel.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Gioconda wrote:

Apologies if this has been addressed before - but how does one go
about
removing the plaster from an internal wall (with windows) to get
that
'loft apartment' look, with exposed brick work?

Many thanks.

depends a bit on the age and thus hardness of the bricks. An SDS run at
reduced speed should make quick work of it, but real care is needed to
not damage the bricks. Use the chisel to push the plaster sideways
rather than straight into the bricks.


Crefully with a chisel.You can hire a kanga, which is basically a
motorised chisel, by be cereful of damaging teh bricks.

you dont think that would be liable to tak the whole wall down? Even an
sds can knock the wall down if used enthusiastically on a lime mortar
wall.


Once most is of, wire brush is gine for most of te resiude, unless
bricks are very very soft.

yes, but never do that unless you know the bricks can take it. A good
50% of housing would be very damaged by that, mostly Victorian houses.


Then gallons of brick acid and water will get rid of the rest.


NT

Similar query, but for removing paint from brickwork (internal) - what works
the best? Acid, paint stripper, or drill attachment wire brush? Approx 2 sq.
m

Cheers guys

--
KEVIN BRADY, Oxford
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"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article , "Gioconda"
says...

Apologies if this has been addressed before - but how does one go about
removing the plaster from an internal wall (with windows) to get that
'loft apartment' look, with exposed brick work?

If you don't want to remove plaster (e.g. you've just stripped the
wallpaper and you want to patch a couple of areas before repapering)
then you can pull it off by hand in large pieces. If you do want to
remove it then you will have to attack it with a bolster and lump
hammer, and lots of it will be so securely attached to the underlying
masonry that you end up removing bits of brick as well.

"Gioconda" wrote in message
...

Apologies if this has been addressed before - but how does one go about
removing the plaster from an internal wall (with windows) to get that
'loft apartment' look, with exposed brick work?

"Loft apartment" look?

This weekend we've been camping in Lincoln Castle. Because the grass was
waterlogged and we got there first we pitched on the only patch of gravel.
No other tents were allowed.

A hundred or more others were allowed to sleep in the Victorian prison
cells. They had said 'loft apartment' look.

A rose by another name!

Mary



Many thanks.


--
Gioconda

In article ,
Gioconda writes:

Apologies if this has been addressed before - but how does one go about
removing the plaster from an internal wall (with windows) to get that
'loft apartment' look, with exposed brick work?

Bare in mind that the walls which were intended to be plastered
will have been built by the apprentice using the B-grade bricks.
Don't presume you'll necessarily have nice tidy brickwork behind
the plaster.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Gioconda writes:

Apologies if this has been addressed before - but how does one go about
removing the plaster from an internal wall (with windows) to get that
'loft apartment' look, with exposed brick work?


Bare

Bear

in mind that the walls which were intended to be plastered
will have been built by the apprentice using the B-grade bricks.

B garde bricks? Rubbish. They will be built of rubbish.

Don't presume you'll necessarily have nice tidy brickwork behind
the plaster.

Or indeed bricks at all!

Flints, bits of broken brick, the odd rock, essentially what we would
call 'hardcore'

urchaidh wrote in message
....
. The best tools seems to be a
cold chisel to get started and smallish wrecking bar, once you
have a gap you can ease the thin chisel end of the bar in under
the edge of the plaster, working with the bar parallel to the
wall, and pry away the plaster with little or no damage to the
brick.

We have a little home made tool for this job, well several actually so
that more people can work at the same time. It is basically a 4/5" nail
with a big flat head welded at right angles onto a steel bar about 9"
long, with a wooden handle. You hit the nail in at an angle with a
hammer and then lever the out the mortar. Hope that makes sense. It is
the best thing we have tried for softer mortar and fiddly bits. For
heavier work we use an SDS drill.


Holly, in France.
Holiday home in the Dordogne,
website: http://la-plaine.chez.tiscali.fr

Thanks folks, for the replies....

"Bare in mind that the walls which were intended to be plastered
will have been built by the apprentice using the B-grade bricks.
Don't presume you'll necessarily have nice tidy brickwork behind
the plaster."


Quite...It is a Victorian house, and I'm guessing the brickwork won't be spectacular - any ideas how to spruce it up, in case it looks like it's been used as a firing squad wall?

BTW 'Brick Acid'???? What on earth..?

In article ,
Gioconda writes:

Thanks folks, for the replies....

"Bare in mind that the walls which were intended to be plastered
will have been built by the apprentice using the B-grade bricks.
Don't presume you'll necessarily have nice tidy brickwork behind
the plaster."


Quite...It is a Victorian house, and I'm guessing the brickwork won't
be spectacular - any ideas how to spruce it up, in case it looks like
it's been used as a firing squad wall?

BTW 'Brick Acid'???? What on earth..?

Hydrochloric acid, probably not very clean, in a large container
from a builders merchant. I wouldn't personally use it on a
Victorian lime mortar wall, as I suspect it will dissolve the
mortar (which is essentially just chalk) very quickly ;-).
The rate of CO2 generation might even pose a suffocation hazard,
just before the building collapses on you...

--
Andrew Gabriel

Gioconda wrote:

Thanks folks, for the replies....

"Bare in mind that the walls which were intended to be plastered
will have been built by the apprentice using the B-grade bricks.
Don't presume you'll necessarily have nice tidy brickwork behind
the plaster."


Quite...It is a Victorian house, and I'm guessing the brickwork won't
be spectacular - any ideas how to spruce it up, in case it looks like
it's been used as a firing squad wall?

BTW 'Brick Acid'???? What on earth..?


30% hydrochloric formulated for removing cement stains from bricks OK?

Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Gioconda writes:

Thanks folks, for the replies....

"Bare in mind that the walls which were intended to be plastered
will have been built by the apprentice using the B-grade bricks.
Don't presume you'll necessarily have nice tidy brickwork behind
the plaster."


Quite...It is a Victorian house, and I'm guessing the brickwork won't
be spectacular - any ideas how to spruce it up, in case it looks like
it's been used as a firing squad wall?

BTW 'Brick Acid'???? What on earth..?


Hydrochloric acid, probably not very clean, in a large container
from a builders merchant. I wouldn't personally use it on a
Victorian lime mortar wall, as I suspect it will dissolve the
mortar (which is essentially just chalk) very quickly ;-).
The rate of CO2 generation might even pose a suffocation hazard,
just before the building collapses on you...


Get a little hydorgen suplhide as well.
Its not as aggressive as you think. you can appluy with a paint brush
and miss out the mortar.

It is a perfectly sane approach, and a lot les disty, though very wet...

howeever else you do the job, you will need to finish up with it to
bring up the brick color.