Speculate why this wall is bumpy?

BellyButtonFluff

We bought an Edwardian terrace a few months ago. We are slowly starting redecoration. One of the upstairs party walls, the lower part has got anaglypta type paper it seems, on this wall it is really lumpy.

Can anyone speculate why this might be?

My guess is the plaster underneath has been patched really badly, or are there any other possible causes?

There are a few metres where it is really bad like this, then other stretches elsewhere in the house the same style are fine

I guess I am trying to decide whether to paint over again for the time being, or open the pandoras box of stripping the paper and whether the plaster might fail, it has likely been on there a long time.

Warwick_Hunt

Damp........

Lorian

Damp 2.....

tiz

Poke it with a pin, if it's lumpy plaster it will be hard. That would be weirdly lumpy plaster though.

BellyButtonFluff

Interesting thanks. There is no smell, no apparent dampness to touch (nothing in surveyors report either) hasn't got worse since we have had the property, no immediate problem. Presumably this could be historic as well? This is on a 1st floor. No evidence below nor above particularly.

Pin test suggested in a dozen places shows all material is "hard", there are no air pockets or similar so maybe it is just crap really really old plastering someone has covered with the wallpaper. #strange

thanks for your thoughts.

FreeBear

I've got a couple of lumps like that on my walls. It is badly applied filler in my case, and when I get round to it, it will be chiseled out and patched with lime plaster.

You state it is a party wall that is affected - Unlikely to be damp.

Doozergirl

That looks like bad filling to me too.

JohnB47

Might even be bits of old wallpaper or lining paper not removed before re papering. I've got something similar.

I would look for a seam with a lump nearby, then damp the wall repeatedly with a sponge until you can peel back the paper to have a look. Or if the paper has been applied in one long horizontal run without a seam, use a sharp knife and make a cross over one of the bumps, dampen and lift to inspect

You could have a small amount of wallpaper paste ready to stick the paper back down.

Mr.Generous

That's either lumpy plaster / filler or old wallpaper left on. That is not damp.

Niv

FreeBear wrote: »

I've got a couple of lumps like that on my walls. It is badly applied filler in my case, and when I get round to it, it will be chiseled out and patched with lime plaster.

You state it is a party wall that is affected - Unlikely to be damp.

In my last house the only walls that had damp were the party walls so I would not use the fact it is a party wall to aid conclusion that it is unlikely to be damp.


Personally I would take the paper off and look as it needs to come off anyway if you want to fix the problem.


I have seen that spotting be due to previous paper not being taken off fully and poor filling. When I have seen damp behind wallpaper it is normally in bigger patches rather than lots of little spots like that (but not saying its impossible to be damp)

ROY47

Personally I would take the paper off and look as it needs to come off anyway if you want to fix the problem.

best answer given there