SeamusMcGinty
Member
- Messages
- 5
- Location
- Newhaven
Hi all, my first post here, hoping for some sage advice.
We've just bought a Victorian terraced house (1898-99) with a few jobs needing done. I'm assuming there is no dpc of any kind, especially as there is spalling on the external bricks at the back where someone had painted it all with a waterproof paint - that's another job later to remove all that and, I guess, lime render at some point. It's not a beautiful "period" property as such, ie it's a pretty run of the mill terraced house with UPVC windows, etc, but worth looking after. There's a bit of mild damp on the lower part of walls at the extended back, which I'm assuming is caused by the waterproof paint outside and modern emulsions and wallpaper inside, which I'll get around to fixing later. There's a small basement at the back - slightly fusty smelling but nothing major.
In the meanwhile, my current dilemma is at the fireplace on the party wall in the livingroom at the front.
I've just spent two days knocking out an ugly 70s brick and stone shelf/mantelpiece thing that had been constructed all around and over it (with electric fire-effect fire), plus some awful cheap wood panelling on the walls at either side. I'd been hoping that all I'd then need to do is do some minimal repairs to the cracks and holes in plaster below, using a lime plaster. However, of course, I've now discovered that most of the original plaster is falling away from the wall in places so it's a much bigger job than anticipated. And as is the way of these things, we have very limited time to get all this ready so we can actually move in (we're both working full-time and are far from financially comfortable). I also intend to put some engineered wood flooring down once the walls are ready.
My dilemma is - can I get away with boxing it all in with plasterboard? The fireplace cavity is pretty large, and not beautiful (cement on the hearth, holes for back-boiler pipes, etc), so it would need to be covered over anyway (with vent). I'm looking online and seeing claims that some gypsum plasterboards are "breathable", so I'm wondering whether it's a reasonable compromise to fix battens to the walls and then box in with plasterboard. But I'm unsure about how effective that small air cavity can be when there is little to no venting to it (other than a vent in the centre for the fireplace cavity). It's a party wall so there wouldn't be the temperature difference as you'd find at an external wall (except perhaps a thermal bridge where it joins the external wall?).
I am aware that a proper lime plaster job (not in my skillset really) would be ideal and a more attractive finish, but I'm really strapped for time. Does anyone have any suggestions for boxing it in, or do I really need to bite the bullet and attempt to lime plaster on the brickwork?
Or are even those two options ill-considered?
We've just bought a Victorian terraced house (1898-99) with a few jobs needing done. I'm assuming there is no dpc of any kind, especially as there is spalling on the external bricks at the back where someone had painted it all with a waterproof paint - that's another job later to remove all that and, I guess, lime render at some point. It's not a beautiful "period" property as such, ie it's a pretty run of the mill terraced house with UPVC windows, etc, but worth looking after. There's a bit of mild damp on the lower part of walls at the extended back, which I'm assuming is caused by the waterproof paint outside and modern emulsions and wallpaper inside, which I'll get around to fixing later. There's a small basement at the back - slightly fusty smelling but nothing major.
In the meanwhile, my current dilemma is at the fireplace on the party wall in the livingroom at the front.
I've just spent two days knocking out an ugly 70s brick and stone shelf/mantelpiece thing that had been constructed all around and over it (with electric fire-effect fire), plus some awful cheap wood panelling on the walls at either side. I'd been hoping that all I'd then need to do is do some minimal repairs to the cracks and holes in plaster below, using a lime plaster. However, of course, I've now discovered that most of the original plaster is falling away from the wall in places so it's a much bigger job than anticipated. And as is the way of these things, we have very limited time to get all this ready so we can actually move in (we're both working full-time and are far from financially comfortable). I also intend to put some engineered wood flooring down once the walls are ready.
My dilemma is - can I get away with boxing it all in with plasterboard? The fireplace cavity is pretty large, and not beautiful (cement on the hearth, holes for back-boiler pipes, etc), so it would need to be covered over anyway (with vent). I'm looking online and seeing claims that some gypsum plasterboards are "breathable", so I'm wondering whether it's a reasonable compromise to fix battens to the walls and then box in with plasterboard. But I'm unsure about how effective that small air cavity can be when there is little to no venting to it (other than a vent in the centre for the fireplace cavity). It's a party wall so there wouldn't be the temperature difference as you'd find at an external wall (except perhaps a thermal bridge where it joins the external wall?).
I am aware that a proper lime plaster job (not in my skillset really) would be ideal and a more attractive finish, but I'm really strapped for time. Does anyone have any suggestions for boxing it in, or do I really need to bite the bullet and attempt to lime plaster on the brickwork?
Or are even those two options ill-considered?
