Don’t crack up about plaster

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 Don’t crack up about plaster



Problem walls can drive tenement owners crackers.. here are some simple solutions to save your sanity

My mailbag is full of questions about problems with internal tenement walls.

The most simple of tasks can lead to big problems, such as trying to hang a picture on to a lath and plaster wall. Before you know it, the plaster is falling off.

Or when removing skirting boards and the plaster wall above the skirting falls away, suddenly half the wall is stripped of plaster and there is dust everywhere.

There are two types of wall in a tenement – the solid brick wall and the lath and plaster wall.

Both have the same sand and lime plaster, which is mixed with horse hair to bind it together. Because the building is old, when you start disturbing the plaster, it can easily become boss and fall off.

Plaster lath falls off a lot easier than plastered brick as the wooden lath strips tend to bounce between the timber studs and the vibrations loosen the plaster.

The way lath and plaster works is that the sand and lime plaster is forced through the gaps in the lath and the plaster forms a grip behind the wooden lath, which looks like a mushroom from the back. When the mushrooms fall away over time, due to vibrations usually from knocks, there’s very little keeping the paster on the wall.

When you try to hang a picture the slightest knock will remove the plaster from the lath.

The key to this problem is to stop and fill the plaster with Carlite bonding plaster at the first sight of a hole forming.

This will tie the surrounding old sand and lime plaster to the modern carlite bonding plaster – but you must remember to PVA the hole before filling with plaster or the bonding plaster can’t grip on to the dust.

For that matter, any plaster repair requires PVA to be brushed into the hole with a large paintbrush before filing. If the hole becomes too large – especially when a kitchen or bathroom is being removed – then sometimes the best solution is to strip the wall completely of the old sand and lime plaster.

It’s a very quick and easy job – just hit the surface with the side of a hammer and it will fall away. But be prepared for the amount of dust involved. You’ll need to remove the furniture and wear a face amsk.

The easiest way to put the wall back together is to sheet over the wooden lath with plasterboard, using the existing timber studs which the lath is fixed to, then skim coat the plasterboard with multi-finish or board finish.

Brick walls are a bit more robust than lath walls but the plaster can still easily fall of if care is not taken.

As soon as the old plaster falls off, PVA and patch with carlite browning to tie in the old sand and lime plaster. In the case where all the plaster falls off a brick wall, you have two options.

You can re-plaster the full wall with renovating plaster, which will require the skill of a time-served plasterer.

Or you can dot and dab plasterboard on to the old brick wall using drywall adhesive and then skim the plasterboard with a finish plaster. This can be achieved with a modest amount of DIY skill.

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