Plaster Disaster

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Bobdebilde

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Hi all,

Had a late 60's semi re-skimmed during that freezing cold period December/January time.

Painted all the walls and had several flakes/cracks appear and the plaster has fallen off, which I have filled as they weren't anything too problematic.

I have since rollered my living room ceiling. On getting to the last section, I heard a crack and you guessed it, the plaster fell off in two patches. I had this repatched and thought everything was ok, only to find hollow spots almost on every wall!!

The skim on the living room ceiling I tapped and could feel was hollow, pushing it up and then stuck a pin in it....came off like a piece of paper. I have also since noticed trowel marks on a lot of the walls.

Any suggestions as to what has happened? Has the PVA been effected by the cold weather (stored in a car during the cold period). Has there been enough PVA applied? Is the skim to thin? Should the PVA'ing and plastering be completed in the same day?

I'm really and a loss here, and pretty much devastated having spent about £300 on paint (a lot of money to me) and facing the prospect of having to start again. The question is, how far do you take it back?

We have also found hollow spots on the kitchen units side (under the extractor, where we were hoping to have a glass splashback).

Anyway, apologies for the waffle. Any advice/ideas greatly appreciated.
 
which will be everywhere i bet and really to get the best result you cnt just patch it (well you can but its a chance) youll have to reskim the lot mate
 
Sounds like the plaster hasn't adhered to ceilings and walls.maybe glue wasn't tacky or strong enough or maybe just perished in cold conditions.plasterer was on a price I guess?reskim inorder or fill and sand!
 
soundss like it was a bonding problem possibly a un frozen pva thing,it also sounds like it needs patching and then re skimming which is no problem but an expence you shud nt have had to have.i have recently moved away from pva and now use the specialised bonding product such as my prefered choice "soveriegn plasprime" unfortunatly is a lot more expensive and people are penny wise and pound foolish but for an extra £100 -£150 you cud pretty much 100% guarantee none of your problems.saying that there will be spreds along to say they ve used pva for 50 years and never had a problem buyt i believe british gypsum do not advise to plaster over it.

good luck and have you had the plasterer back and if so what did he say
 
Have you spoke to the plasterer? Ive had pva freeze in the van around the same time as you had your job done and it was never right and it killed me to throw it coz im a tight ****. The bond has failed so its the plasterers fault give him a bell and give him the chance to put it right if he doesnt come back on here and name and shame unless its me.
 
by the sounds of it if you fill it there will be more filla than plaster haha then the reskim was completly pointless (well the one you had was anyway sorry), ive ha to throw away tubs of pva unmixed and pre mixed cos its frozen and even once its defrosted it goes lumpy like curdled milk. has the plasterer you had been back in or have you called him back to show him your substandard job?
 
so he turned up in a car not a van.not saying you have to have a van but an experienced domestic /site plasterer really needs a van to operate i would of been a bit nervous about hiring him and would of at least wanted to see his work
 
jrplastering said:
by the sounds of it if you fill it there will be more filla than plaster haha then the reskim was completly pointless (well the one you had was anyway sorry), ive ha to throw away tubs of pva unmixed and pre mixed cos its frozen and even once its defrosted it goes lumpy like curdled milk. has the plasterer you had been back in or have you called him back to show him your substandard job?
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Called him back to have a look at it - at which point he said he'd come back which is fair play. Not in the process of naming and shaming as the way I see it, is that he's acknowledged his error. The reason I'm asking the questions is for a second opinion really. I want to know why it's happened, and how to rectify, as the plasterer only acknowledged it may have been the PVA he left in the car.

We have since discovered more issues, the problem is more than just the orignal 'patching' we've shown the plasterer, so thought I'd better ask the questions here.

Another thing I'm disappointed in, is the trowelling, the finish is not good at all.
 
bubbles65 said:
the plasterers car, or yours? and who pva'd the walls?
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The plasterer has 30 odd years of experience, but as of recently it's no longer is primary job. We looked at his work in one room and it looked good (and had recommendations) It's since then that we've painted and it's shown up the trowel marks and the skim has cracked and come off in places.
 
Bobdebilde said:
The plasterer has 30 odd years of experience, but as of recently it's no longer is primary job. We looked at his work in one room and it looked good (and had recommendations) It's since then that we've painted and it's shown up the trowel marks and the skim has cracked and come off in places.
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Plasterer PVA'd the walls and plastered a large portion of the house in one day.
 
well even if he patches it up you still havent got a proper reskim and if his finish is no good wen hes doin the whole area i dread to imagin what his patching into exsisting will look like.
my bet and i dnt want to be a nob to ya but ya house is goin to look like a dogs dinner once its done
 
rockhardsolidplastering said:
so he turned up in a car not a van.not saying you have to have a van but an experienced domestic /site plasterer really needs a van to operate i would of been a bit nervous about hiring him and would of at least wanted to see his work
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Thanks for the reply and fully acknowledge what you're saying. He came on recommendations from work colleagues, no longer his primary trade so no longer has a van.
 
you do get crazy cracks in re skims especially over pva thats why i would noe recomend the plasprime.why they happen is a bit of a mysteryyou say he plastered most of the house in a day what on his own. a decent size bedroom / or a lounge in a day done to a decent standard is about all you shud expect in a day
 
im just worried thaat if his finish is crap then his patching will be crap and itll look like a patchwork quilt
 
jrplastering said:
im just worried thaat if his finish is crap then his patching will be crap and itll look like a patchwork quilt
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Yep, very valid point mate. He has already patched a piece in the ceiling, this will be the 2nd time he's been back (obviously we lost confidence after the first time round and went around checking - found several other weak spots/cracks).

The re-patch in the living room ceiling has stuck, and stuck well. Doesn't look unsightly. We have been down tonight and scraped off, in some places with our hands, the skim around it. You can see the PVA has adhered around the newly patched piece.
 
I think the question I need answering now, is where do we start?

Do I ask him to go for the Lounge/Dining room ceiling (which is quite large), if that's OK proceed with the walls?

Or do I ask him to start on the bathroom ceiling, which is much, much smaller, and see if he can get a good finish there?
 
Bobdebilde said:
I think the question I need answering now, is where do we start?

Do I ask him to go for the Lounge/Dining room ceiling (which is quite large), if that's OK proceed with the walls?

Or do I ask him to start on the bathroom ceiling, which is much, much smaller, and see if he can get a good finish there?
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i think you tell him to get 20 bags of finish to do a full reskim let him bring them to the house then tell him to do one and get another spread
 
i dnr really know what to say mate if i had naused summit uo i would want the chance to re do it but all i keep thinking is i wouldnt bother with gettin him back, what is the general plan patch all the holes then reskim the lot or just patch it in a paint it??
 
jrplastering said:
i dnr really know what to say mate if i had naused summit uo i would want the chance to re do it but all i keep thinking is i wouldnt bother with gettin him back, what is the general plan patch all the holes then reskim the lot or just patch it in a paint it??
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I think the Living room ceiling needs a complete re-skim. The walls have hollow spots, but there isn't anything to the extent of the ceiling. Some of the hollow spots are round the sockets, where the electrician has channeled his sockets in (which has perhaps disturbed the existing board).

The hall ceiling needs a re-skim, flaking off, the hall walls have poor trowelling.

The landing ceiling needs a re-skim.

The bathroom ceiling needs a re-skim.

The small bedroom - poor trowelling on the ceiling and walls but plaster still on walls (2 of these walls are stud walls)

The study - 2 walls have just flaked (skim just come off like paper). One of these is an outside wall, the other a stud wall (which I just cannot get my head round).

The master bedroom - No flaking, plaster looks like it's stuck, but trowel marks all over.

He made about 3/4 visits, but did a significant chunk in one day which seems to be where the trouble has started (living room, hall, landing, study).
 
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