- Thread starter Caitlyn
- Start date
Gervase
Member
- Messages
- 1,500
- Location
- North London
If it's haired plaster that implies that it's old - i.e. lime plaster - and it should come off easily, even if it was originally guaged with a bit of plaster of paris. Why are you wanting to remove it if it's sound and sticking so well?
Lime plaster is usually all too easy to remove.
I have had terrible trouble trying to remove some patches of gypsum plaster. Hammering at it with a bolster chisel and 4lb hammer made hardly any impact - I had to resort to an SDS drill with a chisel attachment to get it off.
If, like me you live in a terrace, wait until the neighbours have gone out for the day first.
I have had terrible trouble trying to remove some patches of gypsum plaster. Hammering at it with a bolster chisel and 4lb hammer made hardly any impact - I had to resort to an SDS drill with a chisel attachment to get it off.
If, like me you live in a terrace, wait until the neighbours have gone out for the day first.
It's not lime plaster, it's hard to describe really, it looks very like concrete with horsehair in it. I'd love to leave it on but it has so much woodchip on it, 4 layers with gloss, that it won't strip and the plasterer can't skim it, most of it is blown it's just the outside walls that are a nightmare.
C
C
biffvernon
Member
- Messages
- 4,607
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Putting horsehair in concrete is a tad unusual - but there's no accounting for some builders.
4 layers of woodchip?! What were they thinking of?
It was a hell of a job to remove the wallpaper in parts of my house - scored it, steamed it, scraped it and it came of in half-inch square pieces, if I was lucky. A test of patience and endurance, particularly with the steam and summer heat. Mind you, people pay good money for steam baths at these health spars, and I did lose a few pounds all for free.
Silver foil glued to black emulsion is another favourite wall covering of mine to remove. Try getting that off!
I expect you've tried scoring the layers of paper and steaming, or trying to saturate the layers to make them easier to remove? `
It would be terribe to have to resort to removing the render/plaster to get this woodchip off- that's going to be a mess and very expensive to rectify, i.e. total replastering of the wall.
It was a hell of a job to remove the wallpaper in parts of my house - scored it, steamed it, scraped it and it came of in half-inch square pieces, if I was lucky. A test of patience and endurance, particularly with the steam and summer heat. Mind you, people pay good money for steam baths at these health spars, and I did lose a few pounds all for free.
Silver foil glued to black emulsion is another favourite wall covering of mine to remove. Try getting that off!
I expect you've tried scoring the layers of paper and steaming, or trying to saturate the layers to make them easier to remove? `
It would be terribe to have to resort to removing the render/plaster to get this woodchip off- that's going to be a mess and very expensive to rectify, i.e. total replastering of the wall.
The hallway in the house is fairly similar in terms of the woodchip angle. So far it's taken us 4 years to do half! I think they must have used superglue not paste. Then you get back to the original wallpaper and that's hard work to get off too. Steamers done do diddly squit because of the several layers off gloss, all that happens is the ceiling starts to come down... I love my house!
I'm fine with the cost of replastering, you can't put any units in straight until it's done anyway, the walls currently make you completely sea sick. I'm getting a good rate from a friend for dot, dab and skim and at least the ceilings don't need to come down, they were boarded in the 80's.
Made a bit more headway today, a friend came over and had a go, it's only the bottom of that one wall that is concrete, must have been done when the DPC was done. This house is full of bizarre little things like that but I got a 1/3 of the room done today. So at least I'm making a little more progress, seems to be easier taking it off with a spade.
I'm fine with the cost of replastering, you can't put any units in straight until it's done anyway, the walls currently make you completely sea sick. I'm getting a good rate from a friend for dot, dab and skim and at least the ceilings don't need to come down, they were boarded in the 80's.
Made a bit more headway today, a friend came over and had a go, it's only the bottom of that one wall that is concrete, must have been done when the DPC was done. This house is full of bizarre little things like that but I got a 1/3 of the room done today. So at least I'm making a little more progress, seems to be easier taking it off with a spade.
biffvernon
Member
- Messages
- 4,607
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Caitlyn said:
Oh dear, this all sounds very worrying. I know someone who has recently gone to the most enormous trouble to get rid of all the modern, flat, dotted and dabbed plasterboard and gypsum skims to get the building back to its originally character with walls that have haired lime plaster that follows the contours of the building, has soft corners and leaves the building breathable for suitable water vapour management. I do hope you are not about to destroy the historic fabric and character of your house. You could always move to a new build if you want flat non-breathing walls.
I am keeping as many original features as I can. All the beautiful coving has stayed as has the original plaster in the front of the house, and we took out the brick monstrousity that passed for a fireplace, fake concrete stone, and replaced it with a cast iron one. What you have to bare in mind is that the back of this house was totally ruined in the 80s, much of the walls have had lumps hacked out and a bit of plasterboard stuck in and I am trying to put back some character, like a stove in the kitchen hearth and sympathetic kitchen units. I don't intend to have all sharp corners, my plasterer is an expert on softlines or I wouldn't be using him.
I would absolutely hate to live in a new build. The biggest problem is that to restore this house completely sympathetically would cost more than the house is worth several times over, in the end it is a very low cost terrace in a not entirely great area of the north east and I don't have so much money as to just throw it at the building.
I'm sure a purist would cry at some of the things that have been necessary but in the end the house has to be habitable and my gf is disabled so there are a few things that just had to be done.
I would absolutely hate to live in a new build. The biggest problem is that to restore this house completely sympathetically would cost more than the house is worth several times over, in the end it is a very low cost terrace in a not entirely great area of the north east and I don't have so much money as to just throw it at the building.
I'm sure a purist would cry at some of the things that have been necessary but in the end the house has to be habitable and my gf is disabled so there are a few things that just had to be done.
Nigel Watts
Member
- Messages
- 1,779
- Location
- London N7
If you have many layers of wallpaper with an impervious paint layer on top one approach is to use a thin bladed instrument to get underneath the paint layer and slice it off. Try a narrow bladed flexible filling knife or a small dog-legged artists pallet knife.
Oops - I think I meant health spa, and not spar!!!! See previous.
If poss, try to avoid dot and bad board Caitlyn, a bit of wobblyness and imperfection is good in an old house, and keeping as much of the much repaired plaster as you can is cheaper too.
A neighbour has recently removed all the plaster in his 1830 cottage and plasterboarded it - must've cost a fortune.
Anyway, nigels idea with a filling knife is a good 'un - done that myself but it was still a lot of work.
It sound like you have a real job on with your house - just like mine!!!
Good luck, and let us know how you get on!!!
If poss, try to avoid dot and bad board Caitlyn, a bit of wobblyness and imperfection is good in an old house, and keeping as much of the much repaired plaster as you can is cheaper too.
A neighbour has recently removed all the plaster in his 1830 cottage and plasterboarded it - must've cost a fortune.
Anyway, nigels idea with a filling knife is a good 'un - done that myself but it was still a lot of work.
It sound like you have a real job on with your house - just like mine!!!
Good luck, and let us know how you get on!!!
Gervase
Member
- Messages
- 1,500
- Location
- North London
thiambal
Member
- Messages
- 464
- Location
- Walmer, Kent
I can whole heartedly support the use of one of the tools suggested by Gervase. I had a hell of job getting some woodchip off until I got one of these. I find it cut the top layer off quite nicely and then some wallpaper stripper/water mix brushed on soon strips the backing off. The layer of lining paper I found underneath has been a real s*d however.
Just a couple of tips.
1) You need to buy some spare blades - I found they dulled quite quickly and the work became harder
2) I found the woodchip flew off some walls and was stuck like, well, glue to others
3) Watch out for the blades - when new they are devilishly sharp!
Just a couple of tips.
1) You need to buy some spare blades - I found they dulled quite quickly and the work became harder
2) I found the woodchip flew off some walls and was stuck like, well, glue to others
3) Watch out for the blades - when new they are devilishly sharp!