Precision plasterboard & plaster cutter? Such a tool?

JustAnotherSaver

So we set to removing the plaster off the walls. The left of the chimney breast & the chimney breast itself are D&D plasterboarded. The right is plaster.

Story short, the ceiling was boarded AFTER the walls were done so the ceiling butts into the wall, not the other way around.

The ceiling is fine & i don't want to damage it, but the walls have to be taken back to brick & i want to get as close to the ceiling as possible without damaging the ceiling.


I was going with an SDS drill but i didn't want the vibrations or a slip to wreck the ceiling.
I went with an angle grinder which ate through the board, but it was hard getting a straight line. Plus a little dangerous on top of a step ladder.

So is there such a tool where i can get quite close & cut in a line that i can drill UP TO but without damaging the ceiling?


I guess i could spend the rest of my living days & also all my money on stanley blades & constantly score a line in & i may get finished some time this millenium but i was wondering if there was a tool that'd make it much easier so i can go to a tool hire shop & ask to loan XYZ.

Thanks.

YorkshireBoy

Something like this perhaps...


http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7111112.htm


...with the grout removing attachment.

vaio

yep, the multi tool above with one of the cutting blades will do it. Rest the blade on the ceiling and you'll be able to cut the wall pb/plaster flush with the ceiling.

If the RHS was rendered then angle grinder is the only sensible solution as I doubt even the diamond/TC grit multi tool blade will do it

BlueC

I've just done pretty much the same job with the multi-tool suggested above. It blunted the blade but got the job done quite effortlessly. Those multi-tools are great for odd jobs like this.

JustAnotherSaver

Thanks for the response.

A picture can speak 1000 words so just to make sure we're all on the same page here, i've taken photos of exactly what i'm talking about:

Left of chimney breast:


Right of chimney breast:


Panorama view of the entire wall:


The board to the left of & the chimney breast itself has been skimmed on top of & the boards were put to the brickwork by dot+dab - you can still see the remains.

The wall to the RIGHT of the chimney has been skimmed & underneath this skim layer is what i suspect to be the original 1930s plaster. It's quite lightweight stuff with loads of little bitty grit in it & horsehair. It comes off quite easily with a shovel/spade, but then halfway down the wall isn't the problem, it's the upper section close to the ceiling.

So just to check now i've uploaded the photos - that tool is still fine for the job now you've seen what i'm on about?

It'll just be quite tricky with the angle grinder on the RHS. Not looking forward to that.





As you lot are multi-talented when it comes to DIY I'll double up my question...
FFWD to the point when the wall has been totally stripped to brick. Rather than going hand-held with a wire brush to clean off the face, i was thinking of getting one of those wire attachments for a drill & cleaning all the brickwork that way.
I don't anticipate any problems using this approach but i thought i'd check here to see if your experience knows of any? Our damp report suggested taking the mortar joints back 15mm (in case you were concerned about the wire brush removing mortar). Or should we be fine to go ahead with that?

Thanks

A.Penny.Saved

I wouldn't be without my Fein multimaster with quick tool change. I have cut a upvc window frame rear panel off to make it into a single window, sanded, cut through wall tiles, cut laminated flooring, cut through floorboards and intend cutting through some ceiling plasterboard at some point.

The Fein is more expensive than the cheapy brands but has more options including a depth stop attachment and vacuum attachments among many other things.

Ruski

Althoug it's nice to try to keep a straight line, on a job like this you're being too picky. Use a bolster chisel/angle grinder/whatever you're hapy using to take it to the ceiling on the RHS - if you take a few nicks out of the ceiling, so be it - when it's re plastered those will be filled.
Don't forget that your D&D will be 'thicker' than the original, so will cover the 'cut' edge of your ceiling.
Don't worry about cleaning the wall either, waste of time, maybe a coat of PVA or stabilising solution before you D&D.
Sort out the damp issue first and foremost - what are you doing for that? If you're repointing the whole wall invest in a grinder with a mortar rake - it's bleedin' messy but will get that done in 10% of the time against manually raking out the joints.
Invest in a mortar gun - again time saved is phenominal - and as all of this is going to be covered, it doesn't matter about appearance.

You're doing a cracking job - and hopefully enjoying it - take on board advice - there's plenty of 'trades' on this board to help you along the way.

HTH

Russ