Blown plaster or not?

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jesteh

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[TD="colspan: 2"]Extension built two years ago - brick on outside, aerated block inside. Extension has been plastered inside with sand, cement & lime scratch coat and multi-finish top coat.

On one wall I have a hairline crack along the length of wall which keeps re-appearing after I fill it. When repairing it yet again I've noticed that the plaster 'creaks' as I push it - this doesn't take a lot of the pressure, just pushing it with my thumbs causes a creaking noise. It also sounds hollow when I tap it (but this is more or less throughout rather than in particular place - this could be down to nature of underlying blocks used?).

Does this mean the plaster's blown? There are no major cracks or issues anywhere after 2 years - in fact apart from few hairline cracks it looks perfect. Am I worrying about nothing here?[/TD]
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It's off the blocks mate if it's hollow an why would you lime inside don't get it lime would of prob dryed the mix out as well hence that's why it's coming off also a suction prob prob dried out too quick
 
It's blown. Give whoever did it a bell and explain. If you're lucky they'll come back and do it again. If they dont, send them a pre county court letter asking again.

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It's blown , can't see a problem with lime inside unlike above,lime has been used since day dot, lots of possibilities, one it been too strong for the background,two background had dust on it, three, it dried too fast, needs hacking off. Replacing with weaker sand cement mix or hardwall
 
Yes lime is used inside sometimes even though I've never used it inside but why would you use it over thermalites which are designed for dabbing in any case why not hardwall
 
madmonk said:
Yes lime is used inside sometimes even though I've never used it inside but why would you use it over thermalites which are designed for dabbing in any case why not hardwall
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My reasoning is to weaken the mix, 6/1/1 I would use for floating, nothing wrong with hardwall but if its an area with l bricks as well I refer sand cement
 
Thanks for the answers so far - not what I was hoping for. Does the fact it is still stuck to the walls everywhere after 2 years not tell me its ok though? If it was blown wouldn't it have come off already? If it stays next 15 years that would be good enough for me :RpS_biggrin:

Mix - I didn't do the job myself - it was done by professional plasterer. - I would imagine they would have used 6/1/1 mix but they could have used anything - the whole house was floated at the same time and only the extension is blockwork, rest is brick.

I can't fault the quality of finish - its as good as it gets but obviously this is not good. Not sure what to do - if I get plasterer back he'll say whats the problem if its blown, why is still on the wall two years later.
 
jesteh said:
Thanks for the answers so far - not what I was hoping for. Does the fact it is still stuck to the walls everywhere after 2 years not tell me its ok though? If it was blown wouldn't it have come off already? If it stays next 15 years that would be good enough for me :RpS_biggrin:

Mix - I didn't do the job myself - it was done by professional plasterer. - I would imagine they would have used 6/1/1 mix but they could have used anything - the whole house was floated at the same time and only the extension is blockwork, rest is brick.

I can't fault the quality of finish - its as good as it gets but obviously this is not good. Not sure what to do - if I get plasterer back he'll say whats the problem if its blown, why is still on the wall two years later.
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it doesn't just fall off if its blown
 
It will stay in place because of its own weight holding it there,if its hollow, it's blown, if you are happy enough leave it on, you could screw eml over it and plaster that or just keep filling it
 
It gone mate,,, hollow,debonded from the background.
If the whole lot has been done at the same time but its only blown in the extension where it is thermalites,then I would guess they've used the same mix for the brick and the block??? Too strong for the block...? It will fall eventually ....don't be hanging any pictures etc on it.:RpS_thumbup:
 
We've used 4-1-1 loads of times over lightweight block just get a plasterer to cut it out and hard wall and skim it the rest will be fine if it's on there
 
Just to be clear - its not a particular small area thats hollow - the whole extension is - in places its ok, but majority of it sounds hollow. Because it was throughout and it hasn't fallen off yet I assumed its ok. But now it sounds creaky as well - who knows :-(.
If anyone lives locally to Newcastle-under-Lyme and could have a look/provide advice, I'd happy to pay petrol/beer money :-)
 
An update on this. I have now fetched off all of the plaster off the blockwork in the whole extension. It was definitely blown as I could fetch most of it off with a trowel - slide a trowel behind plaster and twist. This would break off whole sections in large chunks. Keep repeating and I am now back to square one - empty extension with no plaster.


One thing I have also noticed is that plaster was blown in couple of places on the old house brick wall where the extension adjoins the original house. This is engineering brick wall and seems nowhere near as bad as blockwork - few small areas sounded blown and I was able to fetch them off with a small chisel. I have no idea if it was blown or not - it sounded hollow but had no cracks like extensiion. Anyway, after chiseling off these areas - what plasterer seems to have done is to put a thin coat (3-4mm) of hardwall on brickwork (smooth engineering brick) followed by a sand & cement coat skimmed with multifinish. In places where its blown, hardwall has stuck really well to brickwork, you can scrape it off but it won't fetch off if chunks. Sand & cement on the other hand has come off the hardwall quite easily in big chunks - I only tried where it sounded blown and have left it everywhere else. I am guessing that sand & cement don't stick too well to engineering brick which is why plasterer did it this way but at the same time - I thought sand & cement over gypsum plaster such as hardwall is a big no? It seems to be sticking Ok but not sure if this likely to cause more problem in the long term?


Altogether, gutted by the whole thing, this is a big setback and the same plasterer has done the rest of the house too (thankfully its all sand & cement over normal brick and seems ok). His finish actually looks really good including extension - even other trades commented what a good finish he has. He's also not inexperienced - he's an old fashioned plasterer thats been doing this for 30+ years so I don't get how he could have made such a big bodge of it. Confused and gutted by the whole thing.
 
Have you got someone to sort it jest I could have a look in the new year for ya if your stuck mate no chance before Xmas smashed out cheers
 
Jurek said:
It's blown. Give whoever did it a bell and explain. If you're lucky they'll come back and do it again. If they dont, send them a pre county court letter asking again.

I'm using The Plasterers Forum Mobile App
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well helpful....jesus talk about solidarity!!!!
 
jesteh said:
An update on this. I have now fetched off all of the plaster off the blockwork in the whole extension. It was definitely blown as I could fetch most of it off with a trowel - slide a trowel behind plaster and twist. This would break off whole sections in large chunks. Keep repeating and I am now back to square one - empty extension with no plaster.


One thing I have also noticed is that plaster was blown in couple of places on the old house brick wall where the extension adjoins the original house. This is engineering brick wall and seems nowhere near as bad as blockwork - few small areas sounded blown and I was able to fetch them off with a small chisel. I have no idea if it was blown or not - it sounded hollow but had no cracks like extensiion. Anyway, after chiseling off these areas - what plasterer seems to have done is to put a thin coat (3-4mm) of hardwall on brickwork (smooth engineering brick) followed by a sand & cement coat skimmed with multifinish. In places where its blown, hardwall has stuck really well to brickwork, you can scrape it off but it won't fetch off if chunks. Sand & cement on the other hand has come off the hardwall quite easily in big chunks - I only tried where it sounded blown and have left it everywhere else. I am guessing that sand & cement don't stick too well to engineering brick which is why plasterer did it this way but at the same time - I thought sand & cement over gypsum plaster such as hardwall is a big no? It seems to be sticking Ok but not sure if this likely to cause more problem in the long term?


Altogether, gutted by the whole thing, this is a big setback and the same plasterer has done the rest of the house too (thankfully its all sand & cement over normal brick and seems ok). His finish actually looks really good including extension - even other trades commented what a good finish he has. He's also not inexperienced - he's an old fashioned plasterer thats been doing this for 30+ years so I don't get how he could have made such a big bodge of it. Confused and gutted by the whole thing.
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jesus all you had to do was fill the crack with decorators cork and paint!!! talk about over kill!!!
 
jesteh said:
An update on this. I have now fetched off all of the plaster off the blockwork in the whole extension. It was definitely blown as I could fetch most of it off with a trowel - slide a trowel behind plaster and twist. This would break off whole sections in large chunks. Keep repeating and I am now back to square one - empty extension with no plaster.


One thing I have also noticed is that plaster was blown in couple of places on the old house brick wall where the extension adjoins the original house. This is engineering brick wall and seems nowhere near as bad as blockwork - few small areas sounded blown and I was able to fetch them off with a small chisel. I have no idea if it was blown or not - it sounded hollow but had no cracks like extensiion. Anyway, after chiseling off these areas - what plasterer seems to have done is to put a thin coat (3-4mm) of hardwall on brickwork (smooth engineering brick) followed by a sand & cement coat skimmed with multifinish. In places where its blown, hardwall has stuck really well to brickwork, you can scrape it off but it won't fetch off if chunks. Sand & cement on the other hand has come off the hardwall quite easily in big chunks - I only tried where it sounded blown and have left it everywhere else. I am guessing that sand & cement don't stick too well to engineering brick which is why plasterer did it this way but at the same time - I thought sand & cement over gypsum plaster such as hardwall is a big no? It seems to be sticking Ok but not sure if this likely to cause more problem in the long term?


Altogether, gutted by the whole thing, this is a big setback and the same plasterer has done the rest of the house too (thankfully its all sand & cement over normal brick and seems ok). His finish actually looks really good including extension - even other trades commented what a good finish he has. He's also not inexperienced - he's an old fashioned plasterer thats been doing this for 30+ years so I don't get how he could have made such a big bodge of it. Confused and gutted by the whole thing.
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Have you told him about it? From how you've described him he'd probably he gutted himself. Give him a bell.

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If you can't get hold of him, give Madmonk a bell.

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Don't call Zombie. Do it yourself before you do that.

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Zombie - are you suggesting I should have spent a week sponging in caulk into numerous cracks that were appearing while trying not to move it too much as new cracks appear. Not sure what you are on - the whole thing was like a kid's wobbly tooth - as I said I fetched it off with hands only, didn't even need a chisel just a pair of strong gloves.

Trying to get the guy back but not answering so far. I'll have to sort that out later.

So what next - I guess I'll board it myself and pay a plasterer to skim it. Whomever I end up calling, I'll make sure he's not 'zombie' from plasterersforums LOL - sorry mate !
 
Jetesh - Please accept my apology I thought it was just a sporadic hair line crack ive just re-read your post.

Jurek - Again after reading post back again your comment was justified.


Love to all xxx

Zombie
 
Jurek said:
It's blown. Give whoever did it a bell and explain. If you're lucky they'll come back and do it again. If they dont, send them a pre county court letter asking again.

I'm using The Plasterers Forum Mobile App
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Could you please explain that again? I think it's the rain on the window pain that's making it hard to hear you explain
 
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