Coving removal

Grouchy

Hi
I've got coving between wall and ceiling. It's a modern house so I expect that this has been put in by a previous owner within the last 3-4 years. I'm assuming from how the rest of the house has been redecorated that it is budget stuff. One room with a C version and another with a more a more convex shape with a bit of moulded pattern. I don't like either and want to remove them before repainting.

I've never removed these before and wondering a) how best to approach removal to avoid damaging the wall/ceiling and b) what to expect along the way.

I know I can only assume that the previous owner has done it by the book and used the best known adhesive method, so that is what I have to work with before launching into the work. I'm making a bit of an assumption I know about how it has been put up. I'll discover as I go along I guess but want to be best prepared.

Any tips on how to approch this to ensure minimum damage?

I looked online it seems the videos refer to coving in older houses, the more substantial and ornate wooden coving.

Thanks in advance.

27cool

How can you possibly be prepared. The only way is to start removing it. Then you will find out and can work out a plan from there. A flexible filling knife inserted under the edges on the ceiling and on the wall is probably your best bet. If it is a modern house it will be easy enough to fill any damage(there is almost certain to be some)

vansboy

I used a club hammer and chisel, initially, when I tried to remove it.

Actually resorted to a garden spade, as the adhesive was doing a really good job.

As the walls were solid blockwork and ceiling concrete slab, it didn't do any damage to either.

If you have plasterboard though, it might be more sensible to go for a more gentle approach.

VB

TheCyclingProgrammer

Hard to do it without some damage. When we removed some I had most success with a hammer and bolster chisel - go straight through the middle of the coving along the length of it, score the edges where they meet the wall and then pry off from the middle.

Grouchy

Thanks for replies. I have most of the tools mentioned so it is good to have feedback on how others have managed. Was hoping that it might just 'pop off' once I start prizing it as it is all plasterboard in a modern property. Wishful thinking maybe ... Hope it doesn't come down to the bolster chisel! Still it has got to come off as it is hideous looking.

Thanks.

Furts

Grouchy wrote: »

Thanks for replies. I have most of the tools mentioned so it is good to have feedback on how others have managed. Was hoping that it might just 'pop off' once I start prizing it as it is all plasterboard in a modern property. Wishful thinking maybe ... Hope it doesn't come down to the bolster chisel! Still it has got to come off as it is hideous looking.

Thanks.

Coving can serve a purpose - insulation, preventing cold bridging, preventing mould, hiding cracked wall and ceiling joints, forming a feature ... yet OP has got to remove it. The removal is going to lead to wall damage so all walls will need patching, or perhaps a scim coat of plaster. The ceilings will also be damaged so all the ceilings may need repairing or renewing and then a scim coat of plaster. This removal may reveal other problems which will then need remedial work. This is fine by me because it keeps the construction industry in work, However this is a money saving forum so with a common sense hat perched firmly on my head any sensible person has to ask why do it?

Grouchy

Furts wrote: »

Coving can serve a purpose - insulation, preventing cold bridging, preventing mould, hiding cracked wall and ceiling joints, forming a feature ... yet OP has got to remove it. The removal is going to lead to wall damage so all walls will need patching, or perhaps a scim coat of plaster. The ceilings will also be damaged so all the ceilings may need repairing or renewing and then a scim coat of plaster. This removal may reveal other problems which will then need remedial work. This is fine by me because it keeps the construction industry in work, However this is a money saving forum so with a common sense hat perched firmly on my head any sensible person has to ask why do it?

Your post is both presumptuous and irrelevant. If you cannot be pertinent then why post and waste everyones time? If you cannot see this, perhaps hitting the Logoff button for a period of quiet self-reflection would be more beneficial for you.

LandyAndy

Grouchy wrote: »

Your post is both presumptuous and irrelevant. If you cannot be pertinent then why post and waste everyones time? If you cannot see this, perhaps hitting the Logoff button for a period of quiet self-reflection would be more beneficial for you.

Looked to me like a perfectly reasonable appraisal of the reasons you might want to consider not removing it.

One thing is certain, living up to your username won't win you any friends or elicit much help.

Cloth_of_Gold

LandyAndy wrote: »

Looked to me like a perfectly reasonable appraisal of the reasons you might want to consider not removing it.

One thing is certain, living up to your username won't win you any friends or elicit much help.

The OP was very polite until someone came in with an answer to a question he hadn't asked. Even then he wasn't exactly rude, just assertive in response to a rather patronising post.

LandyAndy

Cloth_of_Gold wrote: »

The OP was very polite until someone came in with an answer to a question he hadn't asked. Even then he wasn't exactly rude, just assertive in response to a rather patronising post.

You mean when someone pointed out some of the downsides of his intended action he became offensive?


I think 'shut up and go away' is quite rude.


Do you think it appropriate to only answer the question originally asked regardless of knowledge that there may be a better course of action?

Furts

Cloth_of_Gold wrote: »

The OP was very polite until someone came in with an answer to a question he hadn't asked. Even then he wasn't exactly rude, just assertive in response to a rather patronising post.

I work in the construction industry and know there can be valid technical reasons for coving being fitted. Basically coving will have been fitted for a reason, and before removing it one first has to ask what is its purpose? This is no different to a risk analysis undertaken on all sorts of issues. It follows that if the coving is removed there can be considerable work, and issues, which people frequently do not foresee.

But there is another issue here. OP has asked how to remove the coving. The answer is nobody has seen the coving so nobody can answer this. Why ask a question which cannot receive an answer? I have come across coving spiked through with cut nails, others fixed with masonry nails, others screwed, others glued with Gripfill, others fixed with Fastset to name a few that spring to mind.

I am simply trying to remind folks of fundamentals of building and also of common sense and money saving. It seems OP does not want to hear any of this. Fair enough that is their prerogative.