Removed electric fireplace & surround. How to repair the wall?

hgnsvd

Hi all,

Apologies if this isn't really the right place for this sort of question. If anyone could suggest another online DIY forum that might be helpful!

Anyway... My lounge had an ugly electric fireplace in exactly the spot where I'd like to put the telly so I'll pulled it all off the wall and it's made a bit of a mess.

Here are some pictures:
http://imgur.com/a/WqGOB

I'm a complete novice as far as DIY is concerned (in fact I'm not even a novice - that's overstating my skills). As far as I see it I've got three problems to fix now:

1. The wall and plaster and so on. I need to get it so it blends in with the rest of the wall so that when I paint it all it won't look like someone tore a fireplace off the wall there. Is this something I could do with sandpaper and polyfilla after looking at some tutorials online?

2. The skirting board. I think maybe I should saw the end bits so they're even then buy a length of skirting board and fit it in and then maybe polyfilla over the join then paint it all?

3. The hole in the carpet. I'll just put a rug there I think and then stick the telly stand on top.

What do you think?

Cornucopia

Yep - pretty much sums it up.

Depending on the difference in depth between the old & revealed bit of wall, you *may* get away with sanding away the knobbly bits of plaster to get to a smooth level. If not, you can use a straight piece of wood to achieve a level by placing it across the gap, and using it to smooth off new plaster.

Polyfilla the holes.

You should easily be able to match that skirting board. You may find it too hard to saw the bits that are stuck on the wall, but it should be easy enough to cut a new piece to match. Fill with wood filler for flexibility - it'll avoid cracking.

Short of re-carpetting, a rug will do the job.

securityman

Sounds good to me and just what i would do.
You could take one of the skirting boards off so you only have one join. But up to you if you can get a short bit of s/board.

Another tip is cut the s/board to length, before fitting, paint with primmer, under coat, coat of gloss. Then paint the screw holes and ends/corners once its fitted. Saves pulling up your carpet and cutting in up to the wall.

Use decorators caulk along the board and the wall to finish it off nice as well.

hgnsvd

Thanks very much to both of you for reply. Very helpful and reassuring... And I'm making notes on the little tips that might seem obvious to you but really aren't to me!

If I could just ask two more things:

If the difference in depth between the bare plaster and the surrounding wall is too much to sandpaper, what does the next step involve? Plastering sounds waaaaaay outside my capabilities. Also is it true that I'd have to leave that patch to dry for six weeks if I plastered it before I could paint it?

Final question - what do you reckon I'd have to pay for someone to come and do this whole thing for me so the board and the wall are all fixed and just ready for me to paint?

tony6403

I'm fairly sure from the pics that the plaster was done straight through and that you will just need to scrape off the nibs of paint ,fill and sand.
Squaring the skirting as said in post 2 can be awkward and is probably best done first so that you can deal with any damage when you have got the filler ready for the rest.
I bought £30 multi tool from Aldi as below. Very impressed with it. It makes cutting fitted skirting a doddle; it did some tricky cuts very cleanly with the straight cutting blade. Scrapes well too.

jellie

hgnsvd wrote: »

3. The hole in the carpet. I'll just put a rug there I think and then stick the telly stand on top.

What do you think?

Unless the tv stand will cover all of the gap in the carpet, I wouldn't just put a rug on the top as it will sink into the space which has been left and won't look good. I'd get an offcut of carpet, fit it into the gap and then put the rug over the top.

Cornucopia

hgnsvd wrote: »

If the difference in depth between the bare plaster and the surrounding wall is too much to sandpaper, what does the next step involve? Plastering sounds waaaaaay outside my capabilities. Also is it true that I'd have to leave that patch to dry for six weeks if I plastered it before I could paint it?

Using the straight piece of wood simplifies it a lot - much easier covering a gap like this than getting a smooth surface across an entire wall. You could also do it bit by bit. And you could also use filler instead of plaster (they don't recommend skim layers, but it usually works, and you could score the surface underneath first).

Final question - what do you reckon I'd have to pay for someone to come and do this whole thing for me so the board and the wall are all fixed and just ready for me to paint?

£75- £150? Depends on where you live.

hgnsvd

I've had a closer look and the difference in depth is almost nothing - it's the edge of sealant/caulk that's making it look worse than it is. Bit of filler in the holes and some paint and it should look fine (the wall at least).

Stooby2

If it was me doing this I'd look to replacing the whole length of skirting with one piece if possible. It won't be much more expensive and a whole lot less hassle. You can probably glue it with Stixall straight to the wall without using nails and will look a lot neater in the end.

hgnsvd

Stooby2 - What would be the least-damaging way to remove the remaining skirting board on that wall? I don't really want to damage the plaster any further but I can see how fitting one long skirting board could be a lot neater and hassle-free. Also - are places like b&q and wickes okay for skirting boards?

hgnsvd

Maybe something like these?
http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/162739
http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/162740

Haven't measured up yet so not sure on specifics.