Old House internal skim - can I get some feedback

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GST

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Afternoon all,

I have a 3 bed red brick semi built in 1910 (solid brick walls). I bought the house of an elderly woman (now deceased) who had lived in it for over 70 years.

I'm renovating upstairs and all rooms are in severe need of a replaster. The house hasn't been touched in many many years as the old lady lived in one room with an electric heater. Surprisingly the house also lay vacant for over a year after her death before I bought it, yet there are no signs of any damp.

The plaster in all bedrooms is falling off in places revealing the bare brick walls, with old plaster coving also badly damaged. I have no desire to retain any "age" to the rooms, I want it looking new.

I had a plasterer come in who advised it is old lath & plaster style and the ceilings are badly cracked and hanging off the lath. He has advised we overboard all rooms, PVC the walls, and skim the lot. For x3 rooms it's £1100 all in.

I am happy enough with the price, but after some googling I am convinced that I have lime plaster and now I'm concerned I'm doing the wrong thing eg suffocating the house.

Attached are some pictures. To give them context they are all taken in the rear corner bedroom (x2 walls are stud L&P and x2 walls are solid brick).

Is this merely old cement based plaster or lime ?

Is the plasterers approach correct ?

Would really appreciate all advice before this job is started next month.

Kind regards
 

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£1100 are you sure he,s a plasterer do the job properly and take it all back to brickwork you will be glad you did a rekim wont hold the old plaster on the wall
 
So is it lime plaster on top of a cement base coat so to speak ?

judging from the pink patches over the walls I'm guessing someone has skimmed over in previous years, followed by a million layers of wallpaper.

i don't mind putting some effort into doing a good job, even if that means stripping the lath and going back to bare brick.

My query is what to do after that ? Cement render the brick walls and plasterboard the stud walls / ceiling and then skim the lot. ?

I'm on a tight budget here so a back to scratch and full lime job on x3 rooms is going to be beyond my means I feel.
 
Overboard the laths or patch with bonding and sand and cement the brickwork with a WP in it then reskim the lot but I would go with a pregrit instead of PVA
 
If your thinking of making it your home,do like gibbo said strip back to brickwork,if your on a budget do one room at a time but PROPERLY,otherwise its purely cosmetic and your throwing good money after bad
 
I'm in Belfast, sunny N.I.

Downstairs my builder stripped the dining room and kitchen walls back to bare brick, then knocked them into one open plan room. He cemented (i recall the walls being grey) and then skimmed the whole lot before fitting a new kitchen.

Other than the above I haven't really touched any other room in the house yet. The living room,hall, stairs, landing I merely stripped 5 layers of wallpaper off (including ceiling) and then painted with matt emulsion. Bathroom is getting replaced as well.

I also noticed that the upstairs main bedrooms have a boarded over fireplace. I checked outside and there are air bricks in the chimney breast area.
 
Are you sure it was sand and cement? HArdwall is also grey :D

If it was my house and i was planning on hanging about I woudl do as @Gibbo said and rip it back to brick :-) that will last your lifetime :D
 
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Ok gents, so a quick skim isn't the right approach but I'm not quite following the advice on what to do.

Am I right in saying that I overboard the x2 stud walls & ceiling (currently L&P), and sand & cement the x2 brick walls, and then skim the lot ?
 
What about the pictures I posted, is it lime or hardwall ?

i appreciate the advice, just want to guard against cowboys / poor advice.
 
rip it all out and re-board and skim , gives you a chance to see what your going over. its bit more mess but if its your own house be worth the extra
 
yes dot and dab , you always find something on an older house IMO start from scratch you know what your going over then
 
eleven hundred sounds fine and dandy. overboarding the ceilings as well. i'm guessing he's just going to knock out any loose on the walls and dub out with bonding, maybe even patch the lathe with a bit of board where needed, maybe screw a couple of loose lathes back with drywalls and penny washers etc. skim the lot. sounds good to me. throw some fibres in as well. others will say it has to be sand and cement, solid walls etc. or to pull the ceilings etc. but that doesn't sound like it's included in his quote. if you take it back to the brick it will be a different job altogether.
 
Welcome GST,

Would just like to say your approach to the forum is so refreshing and as such you will get excellent advice from some cracking spreads.

After a succession of general public enquires on the forum with attitudes and vague information its fantastic that you have attached pictures and given the required info and listening to the responses.

If more people took your approach mate, they would learn a hell of a lot more!

Nice one Zombie:RpS_thumbup:
 
ryanswart said:
Go with your plasterer - dot n dab as cheapest option (you say your budget is tight) as lime plaster is more expensive and longer to dry - if money / time no factor I'd go with lime technology to make house breathable esp with old bricks (they don't like cement) - why don't you ask @mikeadams1985 to put up lovely Edwardian / Victorian cornice to spice up your house character ?
Click to expand...

He's off again lads!! :rolleyes)
Anyways what's this parcel you've sent Mike !!?? :huh:
 
So in conclusion the only thing I know for use is that I wish I had more time and money !!

I'm concerned that porous solid brick walls would bring moisture through to the back side of the plasterboard if I dot'n'dabbed them. Although no signs of damp in all these years so maybe I'm misguided and don't understand board properties.

If I opened the fireplaces back up in each room it should help air flow / moisture evaporation in the solid brick walls, so maybe that is a good idea to balance out the lack of lime render ??

Wife wanted them opened anyway, I said no for cost saving.

the irony.
 
zombie said:
Welcome GST,

Would just like to say your approach to the forum is so refreshing and as such you will get excellent advice from some cracking spreads.

After a succession of general public enquires on the forum with attitudes and vague information its fantastic that you have attached pictures and given the required info and listening to the responses.

If more people took your approach mate, they would learn a hell of a lot more!

Nice one Zombie:RpS_thumbup:
Click to expand...

Well when you're getting professional advice for free the least you can do is be clear and courteous.

Appreciate the words.
 
If it were my house, I would pull down any damaged ceilings and stud wall plaster,hack off any blown plaster on the externals, insulate ceilings where needed, gives the electrician and plumber Access also, use fire board or sound board if budget allows, on external walls float with a weak 6/1 /1 mix with fibres, sand cement lime,it will expose the house too you, yes its a semi gutting off the house but you will know the house better and might even remodel it when its bare,
 
GST said:
So in conclusion the only thing I know for use is that I wish I had more time and money !!

I'm concerned that porous solid brick walls would bring moisture through to the back side of the plasterboard if I dot'n'dabbed them. Although no signs of damp in all these years so maybe I'm misguided and don't understand board properties.

If I opened the fireplaces back up in each room it should help air flow / moisture evaporation in the solid brick walls, so maybe that is a good idea to balance out the lack of lime render ??

Wife wanted them opened anyway, I said no for cost saving.

the irony.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't dot and dab I'd board ceilings and the lath walls as the lads suggested and sand cement/skim the rest (materials cheaper sand cementing) just need a professional to do it as its a skilled job and plenty opt for the dit dab approach because they can't wet plaster properly !? :RpS_thumbup:
 
Forget dabbing you will get cold spots showing through and forget any lightweight backing plasters on the bricks these will hold moisture and never release it. Overboard ceilings less mess and less skips, patch studs or overboard and then just skim
 
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