Am I causing unnecessary damage to the walls?

headpodd

Please help as I really don't know what I'm doing.

I bought my first house last year (mid-terraced Victorian). I'd guess by the style of the decor that the last time it was decorated was in the 70s.

I'm not shy of hard work and enthusiasm but am sadly lacking in skill and know-how.

I've started stripping the wallpaper off in the main bedroom (it's that old textured stuff that came in white and you painted a colour over it, it's like vinyl and as thick as thin cardboard and frankly hideous, so must go). In places it has been easy to take off as the plaster has come off with it (!) to the extent that you could actually peel the remaining plaster off the whole wall if you wanted to. I'm actually a bit worried that I am doing some serious damage, in some places the plaster has 'peeled' off so you can even see the bricks of the wall. In other places on the same wall the paper has come off leaving the plaster and backing paper firmly glued on to it.

My questions are:

1) I think the plaster is shot and the whole room will need to have the old plaster removing and then replastered, on this basis can I continue stripping the wallpaper regardless of the chunks of plaster coming off or should I stop and get the professionals in on the basis that I could cause some serious damage? I'm keen to do as much as I can due to costs but clearly if what I'm doing is going to cause more damage in the long term, then I will stop.

2) Is it worth trying to steam/peel off the wallpaper lining where the plaster has not come off or would a plasterer be able to strip off the plaster with the liner on it if the diagnosis was that all the plaster has to come off?

3) In a situation where great big sections of plaster are 'peeling' off the walls, is the solution actually a complete replaster or could it be 'patched up'?

4) In researching my problems, I've come across the concept of 'plaster boards'. What are these please? I obviously don't have them if the exposed bricks are underneath?

I appreciate your time in reading this and would much appreciate any advice.

Thank you

Oldsoak

If the plaster is coming off in chunks then it has probably 'blown'. This leaves 3 choices.

1. repair the sections that have blown.
2. take it all back to bare brick, get a plasterer to put a bonding/browning coat on then a finish coat of plaster (skim coat).
3. take it back to brick, get a plasterer to dry wall the walls (process involves dot and dabbing plasterboard to the brick work) then have it skimmed with finnish plaster.

It would depend on affected area as to the cost effectiveness. Best to get a plasterer round to advise you.

Hope this helps.
Good luck.

Owain_Moneysaver

As it's that bad, take it back to bare brick and get it replastered.

Get the external walls battened with insulation and plasterboard - you will lose a couple of inches in room size but gain warmth.

evokit

If its shot in places you can patch up.
Still get a plasterer to do this he will / should chip off all the surrounding plaster untill its sound, bond the areas thats needed and skim the rest of the wall.
If you do go this route taking off the vinyl/thick paper will be easy.
Get a stanley knofe and score the top layer lots, go mad on it.
Get a water spray gun and soak with hot water.
walk off ofr 15mins and do it again, do it a few times then hget one of these.
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Painting%20&%20Decorating/Wallpapering/Heavy%20Duty%20Scraper%20150mm/d150/sd3252/p45621

The big one - let the water do the work.
Then repeat for the second layer.
Then let the trade take over

evokit

soz for typos - you know what i mean

paddy's_mum

You might feel happier about this 'disaster' if you realise that often that type of anaglypta or heavy woodchip wallpaper was put up to hide deteriorating plaster.

I once stripped off some old vinyl in a grotty rental property and the curtain track fell down as it was only the wallpaper that was holding it to the wall!

I'd bet money that when you do get a plasterer in, he'll tell you that he's seen exactly this scenario hundreds of times in his career and that nothing you did or didn't do caused the damage.

27col

This is a very comon problem, it happened in my first house, which was only 23 years old at the time. So, by no means limited to houses of the Victorian period.