Lime plaster under cement and the pink stuff

[Alex]

Hello All,

I havent been on here for months (have been working in North East Yorkshire) but its good to be back now. I arrived back here on Friday evening and smashed the last of the 'mock Swiss chalet fireplace' out of the alcove on Saturday afternoon. I have now found out that there is lime plaster on at least 3 of the walls in the room but this is covered in the modern pink plaster over a layer of cement. I tried to chip some of this off but in the process I damaged the limeplaster underneath. Has anybody on here found the same thing and successfully managed to remove the modern stuff please ? I did try steaming it with the wall paper steaming hoping to blow it off but unlike steaming off woodchip, when you blow the plaster off the wall underneath, it didn't work.

Thanks in advance,

Alex

 

[JohnB]

Is the lime plaster in good condition? I'd have thought it could be damp and crumbling if it's been sealed in by cement. I've got patches of lime plaster under some of mine, although most of it has gone, and the walls are wet when exposed. It will certainly need replastering.

 

[Alex]

Thanks John,

I don't know how wet it is as its all completely covered up.

I suppose I was just clutching at straws, wanted to save as much of the original fabric as I could, its out with the drill and chiesel attachment then.

Thanks again,

Alex

 

[JoceAndChris]

Welcome back Alex.

Very difficult to judge what's going on with your walls without being there! I've got patches skimmed here and there, as well as whole walls that have been redone in gypsum alongside walls in lime plaster. My view is a thorough assessment should be made of dampness, using your nose, fingers and possibly a small chisel, loose flaking plaster ought to be removed, and walls made good before redecoration. Removing all cementitious plaster in order to create a fully breathable house, if there isn't obvious damp - life's too short in my opinion. Plus you risk losing the history underneath.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Unless you live in a one room house, I should imagine that some of those 3 gypsum-coated walls are actually internal walls.

If you can't remove the gypsum without damaging what is underneath and the internal wall isn't damp, then I would be inclined to leave it in place and focus efforts elsewhere.

There is of course an alternative view, that just because something old is there lurking underneath the gypsum, doesn't mean it would be sacrilege to remove it and replaster in new lime. There are enough examples of lime plaster around, that if you can't remove the gypsum without damaging the lime plaster and it is in poor order decoratively, then the balance can fall in favour of replacement instead of conservation. Period properties do have to be lived in as well.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I agree, if it isn't sound and looks a total mess, it's got to come off. But if it's just a bit uneven that adds to the character in my opinion.

I was very very excited to find large chunks of brown horse hair in the old lime plaster here, and had happy wonderings about whether this horse was a BC horse or a horse the plasterer knew, and what was happening in the country when that plaster was done - not to mention all the evidence of decorative finishes on the plaster, which are just fascinating as you can trace the original colour design to now -it's very evocative and moving and makes up the special atmosphere and ingredients of the house, not to be chipped off lightly. But then I am a silly romantic fool. :lol:

 

[Alex]

Thanks Joce and Chris & Family Whiggs,

I didn't expect anymore answers, I thought that was it, I'm also using my daughters laptop as mine has given up the ghost so I can only use it when she is not essay writing.

The 3 walls that I mentioned are all external walls, its one of those cottages that you have to walk through one room to get to another. 2 of the walls were really damp at the bottom but we have removed the cement from the outside so hopefully they have been drying out for almost a year now but the inside has the usual cement, gypsum, wallpaper and what appears to be magnolia emulsion with the mould growing on top. The reason I really wanted to keep the original lime plaster is because we have lime plaster skirting boards and I really want to save them.

Alex

 

[skier-hughes]

Not sure how thick your covering is, but I've been scraping a skim of gypsum and/or a few layers of gloss/emulsion off our lime using a stanley knife blade. It does take an age, and my thumb is in shreds, but it does look ever so good when it's done.
When I've got into it, I then use one of these http://www.screwfix.com/p/heavy-duty-scraper/16530
I'm doing lime panels between studs, so only about 13" by 5' panels.

 

[Alex]

Hello Skier,

This is a stone cottage which has lost most of the original features when it was modernised back in the 70's so knowing that there is lime plaster under the cement and gypsum is so frustrating. I don't want to live in a museum but it would be nice to keep something that could be original, especially when we have lime plaster skirting boards, like Joce and Chris I probably am being a bit of a romantic about it.