Is it possible to cut into plaster coving already in situ

FFHillbilly

I remember floorboard saws, haven't bought one in over 10 years, multitool has taken over those jobs

Eldi_Dos

plumb1_2 said:

Eldi_Dos said:

Op, my preference would be cut the wardrobe to suit the cornice and leave that intact.

If you do want to cut solid cornice, there is a old woodworking tool that looks like a pizza wheel with serrated edges, it was often used by plumbers and electricians to cut floorboards in situ, that would be suitable.

Cannot remember name of tool so having difficulty find link but maybe another poster may know name of tool.

Never seen a pizza slice for flooring 
but I have a floorboard saw.

Have not seen one for many years.

The last time I saw one being used was by a older telecomm engineer who had a sideline of fitting extensions,especially for people who did not want extension wire stapled to skirtings. He had to do the homers on the qt though as GPO/BT frowned on their staff doing work for themselves.

Alanp

I used to use a floorboard saw many years ago when I was a sparky, we used to call it a knee saw 

GDB2222

I will add my vote for cutting the wardrobe rather than the coving. 

MikeJXE

GDB2222 said:

I will add my vote for cutting the wardrobe rather than the coving. 

You might find the backing if there is one goes to the top of the wardrobe, you would have to cut along the back length and possibly upset the stability. 

35har1old

greensalad said:

I want to cut into plaster coving to remove it in two corners of a room. This is so I can push a wardrobe fully into the gap. The IKEA PAX wardrobes already in the room (left by previous owners, fine by me!) almost reach the ceiling, they're about 2cm off! But they don't go back all the way to the wall because of the coving. 

I have a dust allergy so everything for me I prefer to be sealed off, hate any little gaps that I can't get a hoover down. I considered if I could somehow add filler pieces shaped to fill in the gaps. But I'd prefer just to set them deep back against the wall, and secure them properly. 

Skirting board isn't an issue, as we're redoing the floor and will be redoing the skirting boards as part of that. So I can fit the skirting boards right up to the wardrobe edges and add a filler piece there for them to sit against. Similar to what I've already done elsewhere in the house.

But the coving... I had hoped it was the foam cheap type but having knocked it with knuckles I believe it's plaster. Is there a way to cut into it in a neat-ish line so that I can remove that whole section out? Any ideas?

 You say you think its plaster it may be a run cove made by a plasterer which would be solid.
At the corner of the room can you see any hint of a line approx 100m out from the wall as these where made with a mold so the corners had to be hand finished so you might see the join

 Is it just a curved cove ? This could be cut with a Stanley Blade Knife as others have said. Usually made of chalk
If it is a molded with a design like egg and dart this will be a much harder material and usually has  heavy duty hessian to add strength with timber inside this usually is cut with a saw and screwed into position.

victor2

GDB2222 said:

I will add my vote for cutting the wardrobe rather than the coving. 

I wouldn't. It's IKEA furniture and will have been designed to have just enough structural integrity when fully assembled (if you're lucky!)
OP could drill a small hole in the area of coving considered for removal to establish if it is hollow behind. A cheap multi tool, or handyman with one, might then be the best option.

Norman_Castle

MikeJXE said:

GDB2222 said:

I will add my vote for cutting the wardrobe rather than the coving. 

You might find the backing if there is one goes to the top of the wardrobe, you would have to cut along the back length and possibly upset the stability. 

It should hopefully be pinned to the baseboard and any fixed shelves and uprights. Its also easy to fix it to the wall once in place.

Resolving minor problems with an Ikea wardrobe is far simpler than restoring coving at a later date for either the op or the next owner.

greensalad

Having thought about it a lot more, I think I've decided I'm not going to cut the coving. For the future, I may not want the wardrobes in that location forever, so it'd probably be best not to change the fabric of the building.

FWIW, it's very simple C-curve coving. Nothing fancy. 

I don't want to cut the IKEA wardrobes either but instead I will try and add some sort of filler pieces to fill the gap. I'm thinking similar to when I hacked PAX into built-in wardrobes, I'll glue a batten to the side of the wardrobe and then put a thin piece of MDF on top of the batten to give the wardrobe a little flank that can be set into the wall. I have a jigsaw, so if I can copy the profile of the coving then I should be able to shape that MDF piece to match. I even have paint that matches IKEA white anyway so it should be fine. 

Thanks for all your help though. One day I will finally buy a multi-tool. It seems to be the answer to everything!

Ganga

greensalad said:

Having thought about it a lot more, I think I've decided I'm not going to cut the coving. For the future, I may not want the wardrobes in that location forever, so it'd probably be best not to change the fabric of the building.

FWIW, it's very simple C-curve coving. Nothing fancy. 

I don't want to cut the IKEA wardrobes either but instead I will try and add some sort of filler pieces to fill the gap. I'm thinking similar to when I hacked PAX into built-in wardrobes, I'll glue a batten to the side of the wardrobe and then put a thin piece of MDF on top of the batten to give the wardrobe a little flank that can be set into the wall. I have a jigsaw, so if I can copy the profile of the coving then I should be able to shape that MDF piece to match. I even have paint that matches IKEA white anyway so it should be fine. 

Thanks for all your help though. One day I will finally buy a multi-tool. It seems to be the answer to everything!

I keep saying the same then it can sit in my shed with the angle grinder ,jig saw and battery drill i bought because they were a bargain AND might need them one day