Fixing uneven wall

TheCyclingProgrammer

Please take a look at this photo:
http://m.imgur.com/g14KpEa

As you can tell, the small wall separating the two rooms is pretty wonky! The fireplace is too but I'm not bothered about that as im going to be building a frame around it.

Is this something that can be straightened up by a good plasterer, or is it beyond that? If so, is it a big job? Thanks.

StuC75

What kind of house is it? as some cottages 'thrive' on that kind of quirkiness...

Other than that looks like its been re-plastered without using edge strips properly. for which I would also worry if the ceiling above has been supported properly if shortcuts have been taken on the plaster below. The bowing 'could' be a sign of other problems, is the dividing wall the same thickness throughout? or is it the line that that makes it look that way..

The fireplace probably just needs new edging and a skim, but that room divider looks out..

martinsurrey

StuC75 wrote: »

What kind of house is it? as some cottages 'thrive' on that kind of quirkiness...

Other than that looks like its been re-plastered without using edge strips properly. for which I would also worry if the ceiling above has been supported properly if shortcuts have been taken on the plaster below. The bowing 'could' be a sign of other problems, is the dividing wall the same thickness throughout? or is it the line that that makes it look that way..

The fireplace probably just needs new edging and a skim, but that room divider looks out..

I guess its just a builder doing dodgy "making good" after putting the steel in. the lack of cracks makes me think its not structural (from what I can see).

If this was my 1887 house, I would leave it, as it'll match every other wall, if its a newer house, a plasterer could make good in a day or two

TheCyclingProgrammer

martinsurrey wrote: »

I guess its just a builder doing dodgy "making good" after putting the steel in. the lack of cracks makes me think its not structural (from what I can see).

If this was my 1887 house, I would leave it, as it'll match every other wall, if its a newer house, a plasterer could make good in a day or two

As both of you have suggested, if this was a very old house I'd expect some unevenness throughout.

The house is late 1930s and is in a generally good state of repair. I don't think this is a structural issue, our surveyor didn't mention it as being anything untowards and there is no cracking.

I appreciate its hard to judge from one photo but its just generally uneven without there being any kind of pattern to it. Given how bad the plastering is on the fireplace, I'm wondering if they were done by the same person!

As I said, the fireplace/chimney breast is going to be hidden as I'm planning to build a stud frame around it to conceal wires for a mounted TV (the fire is being removed) which will be plasterboarded and skimmed anyway.

If the dividing wall can be fixed by a plasterer, great - I guess I'll know when I get one out to give me some prices. I guess the alternative, if they can't, is to strip all the existing plaster off and start from scratch or possibly board over it?

I'm sure some people would just leave it but I'm a bit OCD about this kind of thing.

Gra76

The corners need angle beads fitting and the walls re-skimming to make them 'square' again. Whoever has skimmed the walls previously clearly couldn't be bothered to fit angle beads. Pure laziness on the behalf of whoever did it.

You shouldn't need to remove the existing plaster to get this nice and straight again. Any decent plasterer will be able to sort this problem.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Gra76 wrote: »

The corners need angle beads fitting and the walls re-skimming to make them 'square' again. Whoever has skimmed the walls previously clearly couldn't be bothered to fit angle beads. Pure laziness on the behalf of whoever did it.

You shouldn't need to remove the existing plaster to get this nice and straight again. Any decent plasterer will be able to sort this problem.

Thanks. Will be interesting to see the quotes to fix it. I wonder if it was a DIY job by a former owner.