Removing conservatory, possible to restore brickwork?

_Sam_

We made a (difficult) decision to remove the conservatory, however inside it the brick wall of the house was plastered (I think). I'm wondering is it possible to remove this plaster so that the bricks are restored back to normal (and look like the rest of the house wall)? The area is not very large, about 30cm wide on one side of the patio doors and 120cm wide on the other side. And there is also a dwarf wall to remove, could this also affect the house brickwork? Many thanks!

_Sam_

Not sure if this makes a difference, below is a photo of the original brickwork which has little crevices throughout:

stuart45

It's not always easy to do without damage to the brickwork. It depends on the type of plaster, and type of bricks. 
Do you know what type of bricks they are?
Have you a photo?

stuart45

It's worth checking you can get a few replacements before you start.
You can't really tell how it will go until you start.
Textured bricks are a bit more difficult.

_Sam_

The house was built in 1950s, I've been told it is possible to order special size bricks but not sure they could make them to match the originals in terms of texture?

What would be the best way to go about it - I was thinking of finding a builder to dismantle the conservatory (then hopefully sell some of it off!) Should I also ask the builder to remove the plaster, or could I do it myself. I'm thinking if a slow careful approach would be better, then builder is unlikely to want to mess with it and I don't mind spending the time providing it's doable.

And removing the dwarf wall, is it relatively straightforward, or is there a particular approach to avoid damaging bricks where the conservatory is joined with the house. Hoping to avoid the builder just knocking the whole thing off without consideration...

stuart45

Take the plaster off yourself. The dwarf walls should be tied into the other walls. They could be toothed in, tied using wall starters or other ties, or just butt jointed to the wall.

FreeBear

stuart45 said: Take the plaster off yourself.

Assuming it is something like Multifinish, it should scrape off without too much difficulty. Give it a good soak first to keep the dust down. Any plaster left on the bricks should come off with a vigorous rub with a wire brush. As gypsum plaster is water soluble, a jetwash could even be used, but be careful around any doors, windows, and air bricks.

If there is a layer of cement render underneath, good luck in getting it off without doing any damage.

_Sam_

Thank you!  Can I start tackling the plaster after the conservatory is dismantled - so if it gets wet from the elements etc, it should help loosen it up?

Planning to do the project closer to spring time or even beginning of summer, “two in one” removing the conservatory and building a raised patio. So once all is finished and patio laid up and builders are gone I can start removing the plaster?

FreeBear

Getting gypsum plaster wet will certainly help in its removal as long as there isn't a cement render behind it.

As for the raised patio - Be careful no to make it too high. Ideally, it needs to be 150mm below the level of the DPC of the house or you run the risk of getting penetrating damp.

stuart45

Baking soda will help clean gypsum off, once most is removed.

_Sam_

FreeBear said:

As for the raised patio - Be careful no to make it too high. Ideally, it needs to be 150mm below the level of the DPC of the house or you run the risk of getting penetrating damp.

Building a raised patio is one of my worries because the house is built on the down slope both left to right and front to back. So the patio would be level with existing ground on one side and iirc 500mm high on the other side. Then as it extends towards the garden it will again be raised by some mm. I'll take some photos and make a separate post about it, by the looks of it the DPC is right underneath the air bricks, and the ground level at its highest on one side is 2 bricks below that. So I'm hoping to maintain that level of ground/patio across the whole length of the house, it would still mean a step or two down from the patio doors but it's ok.