N
NW6 Renovation
Guest
Hi All,
Looking for a plasterer to do all the internal walls of a flat but hoping to get some advice before I ask for quotes.
46 square metre, one bedroom flat with 3m ceilings. The flat is in a semi detached house that was built around 1900 and converted into flats in 1974. The 1974 plaster was laid over the top of the original lime plaster. By 2020, all the plaster was blown off the brick and some of the ceilings had collapsed.
So... full renovation underway by the owner (me) with professional trades being hired for electrics, pipes, plaster, cabinets etc etc. Strip out is complete and back to bare brick everywhere.
Walls are all brick with lime mortar. The old mortar is quite soft. External walls are 3 courses and solid. The external surfaces are bare brick and will stay that way. Internal spine walls are one course brick. One new internal wall of timber stud will be installed where a 1974 stud wall was removed.
It is not a listed building. The flat is on the first floor and there is no evidence of damp problems. We lived in the flat for a year before stripping it out and it was always dry. No mould found behind the blown plaster.
Here are my questions:
Should the interior surface of the external walls be lime plastered so the building can breathe, or would gypsum based plaster be ok?
Is there a modern alternative to lime plaster that has the breathable properties of lime but goes on like gypsum (goes on fast, dries fast)?
I prefer the solidity of hard plaster, but haven't ruled plasterboard out completely. Would it be suitable?
I don't want to create a damp problem where one did not exist, but at the same time, I would prefer to save the extra time and money that lime will cost if a suitable alternative is available.
Many thanks.
Looking for a plasterer to do all the internal walls of a flat but hoping to get some advice before I ask for quotes.
46 square metre, one bedroom flat with 3m ceilings. The flat is in a semi detached house that was built around 1900 and converted into flats in 1974. The 1974 plaster was laid over the top of the original lime plaster. By 2020, all the plaster was blown off the brick and some of the ceilings had collapsed.
So... full renovation underway by the owner (me) with professional trades being hired for electrics, pipes, plaster, cabinets etc etc. Strip out is complete and back to bare brick everywhere.
Walls are all brick with lime mortar. The old mortar is quite soft. External walls are 3 courses and solid. The external surfaces are bare brick and will stay that way. Internal spine walls are one course brick. One new internal wall of timber stud will be installed where a 1974 stud wall was removed.
It is not a listed building. The flat is on the first floor and there is no evidence of damp problems. We lived in the flat for a year before stripping it out and it was always dry. No mould found behind the blown plaster.
Here are my questions:
Should the interior surface of the external walls be lime plastered so the building can breathe, or would gypsum based plaster be ok?
Is there a modern alternative to lime plaster that has the breathable properties of lime but goes on like gypsum (goes on fast, dries fast)?
I prefer the solidity of hard plaster, but haven't ruled plasterboard out completely. Would it be suitable?
I don't want to create a damp problem where one did not exist, but at the same time, I would prefer to save the extra time and money that lime will cost if a suitable alternative is available.
Many thanks.