Victorian Kitchen - Plaster or Plasterboard?

Legacy_user

20ft x 10ft Victorian kitchen stripped to brick.
Does it need traditional lime plaster?

FreeBear

gabriel73195 wrote: »

I've a 20ft x 10ft Victorian kitchen that's stripped down to bare brick. Does anybody know the correct building technique that's required? Does it need a traditional lime based plaster before a skim coat or can plasterboard be applied and then skimmed? The kitchen has an external brick wall and an internal wall, it's a terraced house.

Would anybody hazard a guess at how long it would take to plaster this type of area and what kind of ball park budget I should be thinking of to board and skim or plaster a room this size including the ceiling?

Solid brick walls - If you don't care about possible damp problems, just dot & dab plasterboard and then skim.


If you want to maintain breathability of the walls, then I would suggest lining the walls with wood wool boards and coat with lime plaster - The boards would provide a flat surface to plaster on to and give a small amount of insulation. As for cost, I wouldn't like to guess. Much of it would depend on finding a reputable plasterer that has experience of using lime.

kdtvn

You should use a corrugated iron instead of plasterboard as your idea.

ryanmaryland

Both choices have their own strengths. If you have the time and money, the wet plaster would give you a higher quality finish. On the other, the plasterboards are also good, as it can be cut and installed faster than plaster.

If you want quality then it is better to choose plaster on your Victorian kitchen. Just my opinion.

Doozergirl

Now the plaster is off, I'd be insulating as well on the external walls!

We never use wet plaster anymore - haven't done for a long time. We do as freebear describes, but add insulation to external walls.

If I don't think damp is a risk, then we'll use insulated plasterboard. If I do, then we attach metal gyproc battening studs to the wall, insulate with wool or hemp, attach wood wall boards and then lime over.

ed110220

Victorian kitchens tend to have very cold walls due to the solid construction that offers minimal protection from heat loss. Combine that with moisture from cooking and you soon get condensation and mould.

Definitely insulate the walls while they are bare to prevent this. It's amazing how many people complain about high heating bills, cold walls and condensation, but insulation doesn't cross their minds!

FreeBear

Doozergirl wrote: »

Now the plaster is off, I'd be insulating as well on the external walls!

If the work affects more than 25% of the building envelope, then building regulations kick in. Insulating the external walls becomes a necessity to meet the thermal requirements. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/47/roof/6

Leon_W

In our old kitchen I used Gyproc Thermaline Plus 40mm boards.

https://www.british-gypsum.com/products/gyproc-thermaline-plus?tab0=1

Obviously just on the external walls. These were dot and dabbed on with a skim of wet plaster over.

I've since done every external wall in the upstairs bedrooms and can quite categorically state they are excellent ! The house is much warmer.

Doozergirl

The 25% thing is irrelevant, really. It's a demand but you don't need to calculate it, you just need to insulate because it's silly not to.

Insulated plasterboard is a thing.
https://www.roofingoutlet.co.uk/collections/pir-insulated-plasterboard/products/ecotherm-eco-liner-pir-insulated-plasterboard-50-5mm

That goes on a wall with 'dot and dab'

For breathability we use these as battens - they don't attract water:
https://www.buildingmaterials.co.uk/92mm-metal-c-stud?gclid=Cj0KCQjw19DlBRCSARIsAOnfReiTrTnAkYai-tOMDxhFcubcppNZ8ySChpmpjTnzQmEep5KCWDadyA0aAgWIEALw_wcB
Stuff with insulation, natural, breathable:
https://www.mikewye.co.uk/product-category/natural-insulation/
Attach wood boards:
https://www.mikewye.co.uk/product/savolit-plus-wood-wool-board/
And lime plaster:
https://www.mikewye.co.uk/product-category/lime-products/lime-putty-plaster/

And yes, it doesn't matter if you're worth £500k or £75k. If the room is susceptible then it's worth doing it properly.

I have specified it on a few walls in our current project where someone decided to lay a patio five courses above the DPC and then inject a DPC over it, as if that was going to work. We've removed what moisture we can, starting with the patio(!), the floor is breathable but the main affected walls (including some internal where it has tracked through the house) are now lime, to continue to give it time to breathe.

Everything else, where the house is well above ground level with plenty of subfloor ventilation, we've done modern method because I don't feel it's a risk.

Davesnave

gabriel73195 wrote: »

Is this a real thing or a tongue in cheek kind of thing?

Hard to say, given the location of the poster, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it!

Leon_W

gabriel73195 wrote: »

Is your house an old house like mine and did you use insulation inbetween the brickwork and the plasterboard? What do you mean by "plus 40mm boards do you mean 40mm thick battens that you fixed the plasterboard to and so you used an airgap as a natural insulator?

Yes it's an old house. Red brick with no damp course.

What I meant by 40mm boards is that they are 40mm thick. Essentially a piece of ordinary plasterboard but it has a layer of insulation bonded to it.

This sort of thing https://www.british-gypsum.com/products/gyproc-thermaline-plus?tab0=1

The boards are available in various thicknesses, with the thicker ones being more expensive but better at insulating ! The more expensive also have a moisture barrier.

I dot and dabbed these directly onto the red brick and damp hasn't been an issue. As long as the plasterboard part of the board doesn't touch the floor or come into contact with a damp surface they're fine. The insulation part of the board is plastic after all and won't absorb water.

I used 40mm boards but you can get thinner ones. They just won't be as good but anything is better than nothing.

If you dot and dab ordinary unlined plasterboard to a damp wall it won't be long before your boards are absorbing all that lovely water !