patching old grey plaster

by **goforit** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 12:46 pm

hey everyone....

just bought a house (built 1914) and now attempting to renovate it... in the dining room i removed a zillion layers of border which took off the wallpaper (fine) and (not so fine) loads of plaster... now found loads of blown areas (that i have since removed) so do i patch the holes or do i strip it all off and start again???

my manual tells me that, because i have old grey top coat plaster, i need an anhydrous plaster. a young b&q guy told me anhydrous plaster was only stocked by specialists and that i should strip it all off and get it all replastered with the newer plaster.

also, the plaster has come away above the door to expose the chunky wooden lintel behind... do i need to patch this with base coat then skim with top coat plaster??? incidently the base coat plaster is intact around the rest of the walls...

i'm a complete novice but my husband is living 200 miles away at the mo and i don't have a tv so i'm happy to wade through any task, large or small...

cheers

sam

by **kbrownie** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:48 pm

Hi Sam,
What area in size is the plastering your undertaking and how do you intend to decorate these wall when complete. If most of the plaster is in good nik just get some normal plaster and plaster patch, anhydrous plaster thats for broken bone me thinks?
KB

by **goforit** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:54 am

hi kbrownie,

i see you're a prolific diydoctor 'paramedic'! ;-) i feel honoured you've taken my issue on board!

well, on the worst wall the area is like a big cumulous cloud that starts at about where the border used to be (halfway up the wall) and stretches horizontally for about 8ft with a width of about 6in... then in the middle of the wall the 'cloud' begins varying in width between 4ft and 1ft billowing towards the ceiling reaching a total height from the border of about 4ft... in diy terms the total area is probably about 12ft square. I was hoping I could patch it as I would be able to keep some consistency in depth... the anhydrous plaster thing came from a trusty diy book I have... as for decor, i bought some lining paper just in case it all goes a bit pete tongue but to be honest i'd rather just emulsion straight on top if i can...

so if i do just plaster patch, what plaster do i use and where do i get it from? wickes and b&q have their ranges that roughly are multi-purpose, base and finishing... what do you reckon??

thanks for taking the time to reply to my cause

sam

by **kbrownie** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:19 pm

Hi Sam, sounds like your due for one hell of a storm!!!
If the plaster is completely knackered i'd knock it off but that's easy for me to say.
Tap away at the plasterer if it sounds a bit hollow underneath it's most probally needs replacing. But if you just want to patch and some of the wall is okay, knock the bad stuff off from the wall. You'll need browning as base coat and wall finish to skim over with. Not a fan of the multi-purpose. I think there's some projects on plastering on this website.
Most probally explain it better than I can and maybe have pictures too.
Good Luck it's a messy job and I think it's great that your willing to have ago. That's what this site is all about. But be carefull and watchfull of Electrical cables and water/Gas pipes burried in the wall!
Kind Regards
KB

by **goforit** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 8:59 am

hello!!

i've already tapped about at various other bits of the wall and it seems solid enough so i think i shall take your advice and patch it... as for the cables, etc, the previous people weren't fans of hiding cables and pipework, however i do have a detector at hand just in case! i'll let you know how i get on..

cheers for all your help

sam